S Korea's assistant coach denied Iran visa ahead of tie

SEOUL, Nov 14 (Reuters) South Korea's Iranian-born assistant coach Afshin Ghotbi has been denied an entry visa to Iran ahead of tomrrow's Asian Cup qualifier, the Korea Football Association said.

Ghotbi, who left Iran in his early teens and now has American citizenship, has joined up with the team in Dubai and will try to get a visa before they move on to Tehran for the game.

''The Iranian Embassy in Seoul notified us that a visa for Ghotbi was not issued, without giving a specific reason,'' Yonhap news agency quoted Lee won-jae, a spokesman for the KFA, as saying today.

''He might have been denied because of his US citizenship, even though he was born in Iran.

''If he is unable to enter Iran in the end, we will have to consider protesting to the Asia Football Confederation,'' he added.

The United States is currently at loggerheads with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Global soccer Web site www.goal.com quoted Ghotbi as saying he was disappointed as he had been looking forward to returning to the country of his birth.

''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,'' he said.

Both South Korea and Iran have already qualified for the finals of the Asian Cup to be co-hosted by Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam next year.

Reuters PM GC1205