Reuters - Iran will play the opening match of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign behind closed doors, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Tuesday.
Iran, who play Qatar on February 18 in Tehran, have been punished by the AFC for crowd violence during an Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea last November.
North Korea stormed off an hour into the match at Azadi stadium and refused to return after one of their players was hit by a fire-cracker thrown by a fan.
The AFC awarded Iran a 3-0 victory but also fined Iran $10,000 for failing to control the crowd trouble. ` Iran have been drawn alongside Qatar, Jordan and Laos in the Asian zone preliminary round of qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.