Azadi Stadium – Persepolis FC & Esteghlal FC
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The Iranian national team’s home stadium is a top-drawer arena forming part of the all-encompassing Azadi Sports Complex.
Once capable of packing 120,000 people, its capacity is still an impressive 95,000. It is also the battleground for Iranian football’s biggest crosstown rivalry – the Tehran Derby!
It’s a rivalry borne down from their ancestral clubs, Taj and Shahin FC; the former having changed its name to Esteghlal and Persepolis being the resurrection of the latter after a major dispute with the IFF. Whereas Taj were perceived to be a gentlemen’s club, Shahin FC had a much wider fanbase. That’s reflected in the fact that Persepolis have subsequently become the most popular football club in Asia – but Esteghlal boasts twin stars above their crest; testament to their Asian Championship victories.
One of Asia’s most heated rivalries, a notoriously controversial 2-2 draw in 1995 called for drastic action. Despite playing in the same stadium, the fixture was so toxic that the Iranian League only allowed foreign officials to referee it, to reduce suspicions of bias.
For FOURTEEN years – talk about fire!
