The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Championship. After the revival of the league system, the champion of Iranian league qualified for Asian Club Championship and the winner of Hazfi Cup for Asian Cup Winners' Cup. The Asian Cup Winners' Cup merged with the Asian Champions Cup in 2002–03 to form the AFC Champions League and Iran was initially given two (and later four) slots in this competitions. The FFIRI decided to award one of Iran's AFC Champions League spots to the winner of the Hazfi Cup, and since then, the winners of Hazfi Cup have always been allocated a spot in the AFC Champions League.[1][2] Since 2024 and with the rebranding of the Asian club competitions, the FFIRI decided to send the winner of the Hazfi cup to the AFC Champions League Elite Qualifying play-off.
The competition was founded in 1976 as Pahlavi Cup but after the revolution continued as Hazfi Cup. Esteghal and Persepolis are the most successful clubs with seven titles each.[3]
Format
The rules for the final were exactly the same as the one for the previous knockout rounds. The tie was contested over two legs with away goals deciding the winner if the two teams were level on goals after the second leg. If the teams could still not be separated at that stage, then extra time would have been played with a penalty shootout (taking place if the teams were still level after that). Since the 2011–12 season, the final is always held as a single match.[4]
^Saba was formerly named Saba Battery in the Hazfi Cup.
^Damash was formerly named Pegah in the Hazfi Cup.
^Bahman held its home matches in Karaj. Before the formation of Alborz province in 2010, Karaj was one of the cities of Tehran province; Therefore, Bahman team was one of the representatives of Tehran province during the championship.
^ abSaba Battery moved to Qom (Capital of Qom province) in 2008 and its name was changed to Saba. however Saba team was one of the representatives of Tehran city and province during the championship.
^ ab"رده بندی جام حذفی ایران" [Iran Hazfi Cup ranking]. hazfi-cup.com (in Persian). Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.