Ganaveh, Bushehr Prov., May 12, IRNA – Iraqi Football Association spokesman Kamel Zghayr said on Thursday that the federation supports Iran as the host of the former's home games in FIFA World Cup qualifiers describing it as an irreversible decision.

Every member of the the Group B of the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament (Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand), has to respect this decision during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Zaghayr stressed.

Iran is the host country for Iraq's home games in 2018.

During the arbitrary sanctions on Iraq depriving it from hosting foreign teams, Tehran has been the best host for Iraqi national football team and the president and other members of the Iraqi Football Association insist that Iraq's home games have to be played in Tehran, Zghayr told a recent press conference.

'We have nothing to do with politics and the disagreements between the countries and we do not want our national team to become a victim of these disagreements,' he said.

Selection of Tehran as the host city for Iraqi home games is nothing new and we had played against Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan in Tehran in 2015 without any problem, Zghayr said.

He added that his country's selection of Tehran has nothing to do with political issues. Its rather because of the proximity of the two countries, easy visa requirements for Iraqi players and a large number of Iraqi people living in Iran.

By IRNA