Foolad Hormozgan had been scheduled to face Esteghlal on December 19 in the Round of 16, but the match was postponed following a request from Esteghlal.
The Tehran-based club asked the Iran Football League Organization to delay the fixture due to its upcoming match against Bahrain’s Al-Muharraq in the group stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two.
Following the rescheduling, Foolad Hormozgan announced it will withdraw from the competition.
Reza Mortazazadeh, head coach of Foolad Hormozgan, said, “Unfortunately, the postponement of our match against Esteghlal in the Hazfi Cup completely disrupted all of our plans. I don’t understand why our schedule had to be changed just because Esteghlal requested a postponement to play against Al-Muharraq. From that point on, we have constantly faced challenges and were forced to play matches every five days.”