Egypt decided to pull out of the game, which was scheduled to be played on August 20th, for political reasons.

An Iranian documentary about president Anwar Al-Sadat's assassination named 'Assassination of a Pharaoh' prompted the dismay of Egypt officials, who advised the Egyptian FA to call off the match.

Subsequently, Iranian federation president Ali Kafeshian was discontented with the African champions' approach of 'mixing sports with politics'.

"If the game gets cancelled then we will lodge a complaint to FIFA," Kafashian was quoted as saying by the state run television news website.

"This is a political issue and we will mention to FIFA that the Egyptians are mixing political issues with sports."