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Al-Ittihad's Asian Champions League match with Iran's Sepahan was called off on Monday after the Saudi team refused to leave their dressing room.

The Saudi side were opposed to a statue of assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani being placed at the entrance to the pitch.

Speaking to Sport Today鈥檚 Mike Williams, Asian football journalist Mohammed Quotb said: 鈥淭his match returned talk about politics and how influential this could be on the reproachment between the countries.

鈥淏etween the Saudis and at the Iranians, there is always a fierce competition when it comes to sport. It doesn鈥檛 need any political element to be added to it.

鈥淲e鈥檙e yet to see the consequences of it. I bet whatever the Asian Football Confederation will come up with as a decision, will start some sort of a reaction from the two sides.鈥�

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia mean that matches between clubs from the two nations had previously been played on neutral territory since 2016 due to security concerns.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said the game had been "cancelled due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances".

PHOTO: A bust of slain Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani is displayed before the pitch at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan during the AFC Champions League Group C football match between Iran's Sepahan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad on October 2, 2023. The football match between Saudi and Iranian teams was cancelled on the night of October 2 amid a dust-up over a statue of slain Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, a club source told AFP. However an official with Saudi side al-Ittihad said a dispute arose after club administrators objected to a bust of Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. (Credit: TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images)

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