The Russian "Zenit" did not let footballer Serdar Azmoun go to the matches of the Iranian national team in the 2022 World Cup qualification, reports Eurosport.

“The presence of Azmoun is very important for the national team and for the federation. Unfortunately, despite the efforts made by the federation and the national team, “Zenit” did not cooperate with us properly, which looks strange and requires investigation. We have sent an appeal to FIFA and we want the investigation to be carried out as soon as possible. We will not leave this unattended, given that such cooperation is regulated by FIFA,” said FFIRI director of public relations Hossein Sharifi.

The Iranian national team will play two home matches in the third round of the AFC 2022 World Cup qualification. On January 27, the Iranians will play with Iraq, on February 1 - with the United Arab Emirates.

As a reminder, Serdar Azmoun signed a contract with “Bayer” last week. But he will join the Leverkuseners only in the summer.

Serdar Azmoun has been playing for “Zenit” since 2019. As part of the team, the striker became the champion of Russia three times, won the Super Cup twice and the Russian Cup once. In total, the Iranian of Turkmen origin played 104 matches for the club, scoring 62 goals and giving 23 assists.

The striker has been called up to the Iranian national team since 2014. Azmoun played 60 matches for the national team and scored 39 goals.