GOAL said Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah reported that Al-Ittifaq planned not to travel to Iraq for their Gulf Club Championship match against Erbil on Wednesday 28 October after a postponement request was rejected. Al-Ittifaq were top of their group with 3 points before the second-round game.
Postponement request rejected
According to Arriyadiyah, Al-Ittifaq asked the Gulf Football Federation to postpone the match on the grounds that they could not travel to Iraq during the current period. According to Arriyadiyah, the Gulf Football Federation rejected Al-Ittifaq's request to postpone the match.
Plan not to travel
According to Arriyadiyah, Al-Ittifaq's management still intended to stay put, not travel to Iraq, not play the match on its scheduled date, and accept whatever penalties followed.
Expected penalties
According to Arriyadiyah, officials at Al-Ittifaq expected the team to be handed a 3-0 defeat along with a financial penalty, but did not anticipate their results being cancelled or an exclusion from the Gulf Championship.
Related fixture
The Asian Football Confederation announced on Sunday that the Al-Nassr and Al-Wasl match had been postponed until further notice. The Al-Nassr and Al-Wasl match had been scheduled for Monday evening. GOAL said the match fell through because Al-Wasl could not travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi Arabian Football Federation issued a statement confirming that every arrangement had been in place to receive the Al-Wasl delegation normally.
Al-Ittifaq had been top of their group with 3 points after a 2-0 win over Kuwait's Kazma in the first round.