Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-American who is assistant coach of South Korea's national football team, was refused a visa for entry to Iran for an upcoming Asian Cup preliminary there, a South Korean football organization said Tuesday, but the Iranian embassy here denied the decision was politically motivated.
"The Iranian Embassy in Seoul notified us that a visa for Ghotbi was not issued, without giving a specific reason for it," said Lee Won-jae, a spokesman for the Korea Football Association (KFA). "They said they have no choice but to comply with guidelines (for visa issuance) from their home country."
"He might have been denied because of his U.S. citizenship, although he was born in Iran," Lee said. Iran and the U.S. do not have diplomatic relations.
But the Iranian Embassy in Seoul told Yonhap News Agency later in the day that there was no political reason for Ghotbi's failure to receive a visa.
"Ghotbi's failure to get a visa has nothing to do with political reasons. In fact, he didn't even need a visa," Koh Chu-hwan, an official at the embassy, said by phone.
Koh said Ghotbi, a U.S. citizen who still holds Iranian citizenship, did not need a visa to enter Iran but only had to have an Iranian passport, which Ghotbi said he had lost during his years of life in the U.S.
"We tried to expedite the issuance of a new passport for him, but Ghotbi said most of the necessary documents were in the U.S. with his family, and he was unable to have them delievered in time before his trip abroad," Koh said.
Ghotbi was born in Iran in 1964 but he left the country at age 13 to get U.S. citizenship, according the KFA.
The South Korean team left for Dubai, where the team has a stopover before heading to Iran, Monday night. Ghotbi also joined the team with a plan to try to get an Iranian visa in Dubai. The team is scheduled to fly into Tehran on Wednesday for a qualifier against Iran the following day for the quadrennial Asian Cup finals next July.
An Internet football site, www.goal.com, quoted Ghotbi as saying; "I am disappointed...to say the least. I was looking forward to returning to my homeland. We always hope that politics and football are separated but in some parts of the world, that's not the case."
Ghotbi added, "I hope FIFA takes action against the Iranian football federation as I feel that it was responsible for me not being able to sit on the bench and do my job."
Meanwhile, South Korea and Iran in Group B have virtually secured berths in the Asian Cup finals regardless of the result of their imminent match as they lead Jordan and Taiwan, the other teams in the group, in points.
Seoul, Nov. 14 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's Iranian-American coach denied entry to Iran |
