May be severely punished! It is revealed that Indian team refused to go to Iran to participate in the AFC Champions League for the second consecutive year

On September 29, 2025, a major event occurred in the second division of the AFC Champions League: Indian champion team Mohenbagan announced that he would not participate in the group match against Iranian team Sepahan, which was originally scheduled to be held on September 30.

According to the Times of India, the showdown could no longer be held as scheduled. After the team's players and coaching staff met, Mohenbagan Club confirmed that the team's six foreign players - from Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and Brazil - collectively refused to go to Iran to participate. Their decision was based on safe travel warnings issued by their respective countries. An official from the

club said: "We always put the safety of players and their families first. This collective decision was made after fully assessing the potential risks and official suggestions from various countries."

In response, the home team Sepahan responded that Iran has applied for a visa for the entire Mohenbagan team and there are no obstacles to entry. As of now, the AFC has not issued a formal statement, but according to relevant regulations, if Mohenbagan fails to participate in the competition, he will be sentenced to lose 0-3 and face the risk of being disqualified.

It is worth noting that this is the second consecutive season of Mohenbagan's controversy for similar reasons. In the 2024/25 season, the team also refused to go to Iran to play against Tabriz Tractor, and was eventually ruled by the AFC as "voluntary withdrawal". Therefore, they were directly disqualified from all competitions throughout the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Division II.

In contrast, another Indian team, Mumbai City, went to Tehran last season, but chose to leave the main foreign aid behind at that time and did not send the strongest lineup to play.