Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Saturday, 07 March 2026, 08:24 / Updated on Saturday, 07 March 2026 08:24
The North Macedonian footballer Stefan Ashkovski (34 years old), former player in the Super League, at FC Botoșani and Sepsi, winner of the Romanian Cup, together with the Covas team, publicly thanked the Albanian player Jasir Asani for the decisive help he offered him to leave Iran, after the outbreak of the armed conflict at the end of February.
Stefan Ashkovski, who came to Romania in 2019, at FC Botoșani, was now playing in the Iranian championship, for Mes Rafsanjan, while Asani, who helped him escape from the middle of the war, was registered at Esteghlal, one of the biggest clubs in Iran. The two have an older connection, from the time when they played together at FK Vardar, during their junior years.
Three days after the start of the war and the escalation of the situation, the two footballers managed to leave Iran. At the time of the conflict, they were approximately 15 hours away by car from each other, according to telegrafi.com.
The player who went through the Superliga told the nightmare he lived in the last week and how he managed to escape, after an extremely complicated week.
Stefan Ashkovski, the former Super League player, managed to flee Iran
Ashkovski reached the border with the help of a driver who was provided by his good friend, Asani. The Albanian national footballer has star status in Iran and benefits from three drivers from the club, available 24 hours a day.
“On the last day I was out. When I'm there, I have three drivers from the club, they're at our disposal 24 hours a day,” Asani said.
Ashkovski's situation was extremely difficult. In a statement to Macedonian media, he revealed that for three days he did not eat or drink anything because everything in the country was closed and the club did not offer him any support during this whole period.
“I traveled 15 hours from Rafsanjan to Tehran, then from the border I took a plane to Istanbul. It was very difficult to cross Iran. Jasir helped me, he had his driver and I managed to leave with him. Every time we play away, we stay in Tehran,” Ashkovski began his story, for sport1.mk
During the journey to the border, he experienced terrible moments, seeing almost all the “faces” of the war. The situation was further complicated by problems with the exit visa, but in the end everything was resolved for the player who performed in Romania during the period 2019-2022.
“There were attacks everywhere, even near me, they had just started. For three days I had not eaten or drunk anything. I was only thinking of leaving the country. After the killing of their leader, nothing worked anymore, everything was closed.
It was very difficult, but it ended well. Now I can't wait to get home, sleep and rest a bit,” he added.
Ashkovski's figures in the Superliga
61of matches he collected for FC Botoșani, having 9 goals and 8 assists
42of matches he collected for Sepsi, two goals and two assists, winning the Romanian Cup with Transylvania
