TEHRAN – Iran national football team are set to participate in the first edition of Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championships but the tournament is not helpful for Team Melli.

Iran are drawn along with Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan in Group B, while Group A consists of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Oman.

Iran are to take part in the tournament as part of preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup but it cannot be a serious tune-up event for Team Melli.

The football federation must announce withdrawal from the 2023 CAFA as soon as possible since the teams are not strong enough to test the National Team.

Team Melli, headed by Amir Ghalenoei, can arrange several friendly matches with the powerful teams ahead of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Without a doubt, Iran stars like Mehdi Taremi, Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Allahyas Sayyadmanesh will be reluctant to take part in the event due to the above-mentioned reason.

Russia football team were supposed to participate in the competition but officially pulled out of the competition last week.

Participation should pursue some goal, the main goal in this case is to prepare for Asian Cup, but the event is not a good test.

The CAFA Championships are scheduled to take place from June 9 to June 21 in the Uzbek capital Tashkent and Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.