Kuala Lumpur, Oct 23 - Iran will compete
in the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) under-14 football festival,
which will be held in Oman from Jan 25-30.
AFC said a total of 29 countries will compete in the inaugural tournament
and teams are separated based on the four geographical regions.
The tournament places emphasis on the development of junior players.
AFC senior vice-president Asad Taqi, who attended the draw in Doha on
Monday, said that there was a long-term vision in staging the festival.
"We want the players to first enjoy playing the game and, for this
reason, we are calling it a festival rather than a championship,"
Asad said.
"Players from this age group will hopefully graduate to the under-17,
under-20, under-23 and eventually make the national teams. We are
confident that national associations will make special efforts to put in
place programs to cater to this group of bo ys."
Iran will play in the West Asian Zone festival. They are in group B with
Iraq, Lebanon, and Qatar.
