Paatoop - Three of the four coaches of the Iranian clubs that will compete in the 2017 AFC Champions League (including play-offs and preliminary rounds) will not be allowed to lead their teams.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that coaches who do not have professional licenses will not be allowed to accompany their clubs in the 2017 edition of the AFC Champions League.

Esteghlal Khuzestan with coach Sirous Pourmousavi, Zob Ahan with coach Mojtaba Hosseini,  Esteghlal with coach Alireza Mansourian, and Persepolis with coach Branko Ivankovic, are the four Iranian clubs in the upcoming AFC Champions League.

Among these four coaches, only Branko Ivankovic has a professional coaching license, and the three Iranian coaches only have Class-A Asian certificates.

Since Pourmousavi, Hosseini, and Mansourian will not have enough time to attain their required licenses, their clubs will likely be forced to replace them.

An anonymous official of the Iranian Football Federation had the following to say, “We hope that FIFA will allow these coaches to remain with their clubs, if they register for the required professional coaching classes.”