Fadi Zeraiqat , the secretary general of West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) announced that Iran has withdrawn from this years tournament because of objection by Carlos Queiroz.

Iran is a founding member of WAFF and has been ever present in this regional championship from the onset , winning 4 titles out of 7 played so far (2000, 2004, 2007 & 2008)  in addition to one runner up and one third place. This year’s edition is scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar from 25th December 2013 to 7th January 2014.

In the previous edition of the tournament  in 2012 hosted by Kuwait, Iran,  and for the first time, failed to qualify from the group stages. The team was coached by Queiroz.

While many teams , including Iran , use fringe players for this tournament to gain experience or for coaches to have a look at players that do not get opportunity in competitive A team matches, Iran’s absence from this edition is puzzling. Only a few days ago , the same Queiroz who has decided that Iran should not take part in this tournament , has bitterly complained about lack of friendly matches for Team Melli as part of their preparation for the World Cup. Queiroz has claimed that due to the absence of some of his players who are  in European teams , this tournament is meaningless without them !