An Iranian football team has pulled out of a match with a Serbian club because the other side is coached by an Israeli.

Avram Grant, the former West Ham United manager, has been at Partizan Belgrad since last month.

The Serbian team is due to play Iran's Sepahan Isfahan on Friday, in a friendly match.

But the Iranians have told the Belgrade side that they will not take part any more.

In an explanation posted on the Partizan website, Mr Grant said that he had been told "unofficially" that the match had been cancelled because he was Israeli.

"I'm disappointed that the game was cancelled," he said. "They told me it was cancelled because I'm Israeli. I don't mix sports with politics and I'm not going to start now."