A painful blow to the Lebanese national team before facing the Emirates and Iran in the World Cup qualifiers

The Lebanese national team will lose an important and motivating factor during the confrontations between Iran and the UAE in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, as they will be held behind closed doors for security reasons based on a decision by the International and Asian Federations.

And according to a media bulletin of the Lebanese Football Association on Wednesday, "Based on the decision of the Asian Confederation and the International Football Association, the matches of the Lebanese national team with the teams of Iran and the UAE will be held within the framework of the final rounds of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup "Qatar 2022" scheduled for November 11 and 16, 2021. On the Sidon Municipal Stadium, without an audience.

While Lebanon achieves positive results in the decisive round of the Asian qualifiers, it will face Iran on November 11 and the UAE on November 16 in Sidon (south of Beirut) in the fifth and sixth rounds of Group A competitions.

The rice team occupies third place (5 points), behind Iran (10) and South Korea (8), in front of the Emirates (3), Iraq (2) and Syria (1). In the second group.

In the past few days, the Lebanese Federation tried to dissuade the International and Continental Federations from the decision, as they made extensive contacts in an effort to secure the attendance of the public, but to no avail.

FIFA relied on reports from a specialized security company that had recently conducted an assessment of the security situation in Lebanon.

Haidar had said Saturday that the Lebanese Federation was surprised by a request from the International Federation that the next two matches be held without a public presence "for reasons described as security, especially after the Tayouneh events" that caused the death of seven people, following a protest demonstration in the case of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020.

Haidar revealed that the Lebanese Federation objected to FIFA's demand, after completing all arrangements and preparations for the Lebanese team to play its matches on its land and among its fans, and the Sidon Municipal Stadium was equipped according to FIFA conditions for this purpose.

The Lebanese Federation also provided guarantees, including a letter from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in which it confirmed the stability of Lebanon and the possibility of holding matches in the presence of the masses.

And the Minister of Youth and Sports, George Kallas, indicated that he had sent two books to the Ministries of Defense and Interior, to take the necessary measures in order to secure the return of the public by 60% in the matches scheduled for the Lebanese national team in the World Cup qualifiers, provided that the Lebanese Federation establish a health and preventive protocol To this end.

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