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The match between the two prominent football teams of the Iranian capital city-- Esteghlal and Persepolis -- which is to start at 16:00 pm local time on Saturday will be held in presence of the chairman of FIFA's Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina who was officially invited by the Head of Iranian Football Federation Mehdi Taj.
Upon arrival in Tehran earlier today, Collina said the derby was comparable to the games of Spanish premier teams of Real Madrid and Barcellona in terms of importance to the teams and their fans.
Branko Ivanković head coatch of Persepolis that will host the 89th derby called on his best 20 football players in the training camp. Ashkan Khorshidi as the referee will officiate the game.
Tickets for the match were sold out in the early hours of the sale online. It has been reported that a number of women football fans are also asking to be permitted in.
The two teams known as Red-Blue have previously played against each other 88 times in which Esteghlal won 26 games, Persepolis 23 games, and the two tied the other 39 matches.
Tehran derbies have always been the most exciting football matches in Iran. The thrill of the coming one would be doubled as it is coincided with Iranian two-week Nowruz holidays.
One moment silence, however, has been planned to commemorate the Iranians that were killed in the recent flood across Iran.
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