American Afshin Ghotbi, an assistant coach with South Korea’s national team, was denied a visa to enter his native Iran, where Iran and South Korea are set to square off in an Asian Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Ghotbi, 42, left Iran in his early teens and now has American citizenship. He joined the South Korea team in Dubai, where he will try to get a visa before the team goes to Tehran. He was denied a visa by the Iranian embassy in Seoul.
A Korea Football Association official said the KFA would file a protest with FIFA is Ghotbi is not allowed to enter Iran. South Korea and Iran have already qualified for the finals of the Asian Cup.
This is Ghotbi’s second stint in Korea. He was an assistant with the Samsung Bluewings in the K-League before joining MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004 when Steve Sampson was named head coach. He left just before the end of the 2005 regular season to join the Korea national team as a member of Dick Advocaat‘s staff. He stayed on when Dutchman Pim Verbeek replaced Advocaat as head coach after the 2006 World Cup.
For many years, Ghotbi ran the American Global Soccer School and was credited with developing U.S. international John O’Brien.