November 15-2013
The national soccer team is in Bangkok to play the next round of the Asian Cup against Thailand today and is complaining that the Thais assigned the team to a cheap hotel unworthy of the players.
All 20 teams in this elimination round of the Asian Cup are playing today and they will all play again Tuesday. At that point each team will have completed five of their six matches. They will play their final matches March 5.
The Iranian Football Federation has bitterly complained about the Thai treatment of the Iranian team in a letter to the Asian Football Confederation. The letter complained that the hotel accommodations assigned to the Iranian team in Bangkok were low class.
The letter said Iran put the Thai team up in a five-star hotel in Tehran last month, when Iran beat the Thais 2-1. It demanded similar accommodations in Bangkok for the Iranian team. It said the Iranian Football Federation has now booked rooms at an appropriate hotel and will bill the Thais for the accommodations.
Iran has periodically complained before about other Asian teams giving Iran third-rate hotel rooms and poor quality practice fields, on one occasion complaining that the hosts assigned them to a field without lights so they couldn’t practice after sunset. Some other counties have complained about Iran treating them similarly.
Thailand is in fourth and last place in the standings for Group B with zero points after losing all three of its matches so far. Iran is in first place with seven points after two wins and a draw.
Iran plays Thailand today (November 15) at 7 a.m. Eastern time. It will then fly to Beirut to play Lebanon Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.
