BEIJING (AP) - Iran’s wheelchair basketball team forfeited against the United States and avoided a possible game against Israel by withdrawing from the Paralympic Games on Saturday, but Iranian officials denied the move was politically motivated.

Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations and the U.S. government has led efforts to challenge Iran’s nuclear program.

The winner of the U.S.-Iran match would have gone on to meet the winner of Israel-Canada. Iran does not recognize Israel and bans any official contact with the Jewish state. Canada eventually beat Israel.

Iran said its forfeit was prompted by a change in scheduling.

The U.S.-Iran quarterfinal was originally scheduled to be played at 11:15 a.m., following the first quarterfinal game between Canada and Israel at 9 a.m. But the starting times were switched, with no official announcement as to why the change was made.

"Each match should be done one after another," said Iran deputy chef de mission Iran Doust. "But unfortunately, concerning our match they didn’t observe the order and that’s the reason (for pulling out)."

An official with Iran’s delegation said "this sudden change has made a lot of problem for us.". The official refused to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The game was to have aired live on Iranian television, and many Iranians in China had bought tickets, he said.

"It’s not a political action. As you know, we have had competition between the USA in goalball, there is no political action in this regard," the official said, referring to a Paralympic sport for blind athletes.

The U.S. team received notice of the time change about 24 hours before the match, said Jeannine Hansen, a spokeswoman for the American delegation. Teams were told before the Paralympics that competition times could change for television broadcasts or other reasons, she said.

"We agreed to the time change for the game with Iran, but we weren’t given a specific reason," she said.

The International Paralympic Committee said Iran withdrew because the team was unhappy about "the draw proposed for the crossover round and subsequent schedule."

The statement by the committee said the IPC and the International Wheelchair Basketball Association "regret this decision taken by Iran and the disruption caused to the tournament." The statement did not mention any possible penalties upon Iran.

It was not clear why Iran’s delegation and the IPC gave different reasons for the withdrawal. The IPC could not be reached for further comment; the mobile phone for spokeswoman Steffi Klein rang unanswered and their media office was locked.

The U.S. advanced into the semifinals with an automatic 20-0 win over Iran. The Americans will meet Canada, who beat Israel 55-47.

There had been other recent examples of Iran representatives pulling out of Olympic events involving Israel.

At the Beijing Olympics last month, Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei pulled out of a 100-meter breaststroke heat that included an Israeli competitor, citing illness. The International Olympic Committee said no violation had been found.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Iran’s judo world champion and gold medal favorite Arash Miresmaeili did not compete against an Israeli opponent, publicly stating it was for political reasons. Iranian government officials were quoted in state media as congratulating him for doing so.

Courtesy - The Island