Tag: FFIRI

Omid Team withdraws from the Islamic Solidarity Games!

The team that Mehdi Mahdavikia is managing in hope of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games 2024, has announced its withdrawal from the Islamic Solidarity Games that are supposed to be held in Turkey.

These games, were part of a long-term project to qualify the young Iranian team for the Olympic Games in Paris.

After some disappointing showings including the elimination from the AFC U23 Cup in the group rounds, the latest results have indicated that this team is far from challenging for any kind of title and has a long way to go to be taken seriously. According to Mahdavikia himself, “ If these are the conditions that we have to work under, we will be lucky to make Mehrabad airport let alone Paris!”
The difficulties that Mhadavikia, who has lost his foreign assistants and advisors, is referring to include but are not limited to the reluctance of the League clubs to release their players, many of whom are fixed, senior team players.

Omid Team foreign coaches left Iran after non-payment of their wages by the FFIRI or the Iranian Olympic Committee IOC, something which is quite normal in Iran. The breach of contracts between teams and coaches is affecting all levels of football in the country.

In the latest friendly match, the Omid team under Mahadavikia lost to Persepolis 4-2 with the reds playing some of the players that Mahdavikia picked for the U23 team. Kia claimed that he had only 14 to 16 players available to him and that number is quite insufficient for a team that is preparing for a major championship.

It has been quite a rough road for Mehdi Mahdavikia who reluctantly agreed to coach the Omid Team, while many others turned down this offer. The U23 or Omid Team has been a serious failing experience for the aspiring and even experienced Iranian coaches. All of them failed to achieve anything of worth for the team Melli of the future. Many of these coaches’ reputations were damaged beyond repair after experiencing failures with Omid, Mahdavikia is in danger of being added to that list too.

The FFIRI has not formally announced the withdrawal from the Solidarity games yet.

“Respect for values must be maintained by Team Melli players” says Yeke

In an interview with Mehr sports reporter, Morteza Yeke commenting on the current conditions of Team Melli these days, said: “Our football is going through difficult times. Every day we hear some sad news. I hope the management of the federation can fix this situation. ” The former Team Melli player continued: “The head coach of the national team should not allow players to dominate, he should have strong character and man management abilities in order to be successful in the World Cup.”

Criticizing the performance of the technical committee of the FFIRI, he said: “the so-called technical committee’s duties are clear and well defined. They should offer the best support for Team Melli, but unfortunately, we didn’t see any worthwhile action from the technical committee except for the sacking of Dragan Skočić, without offering the public any particular reason.”

Morteza Yeke expressed his regrets on the differences between the players of the national team: “Unfortunately, this has been happening in our football for several years. The player must know his limits. Understand why he is on the team and in what capacity. The jersey of the national team is sacred and should be worn by those who strive to serve the nation and work hard for the success of the national team, not to serve their self-interests.”  The Former Iranian football player also noted: “Now is not the time for differences. The opportunity is easily missed and with each passing day, we are getting closer to the World Cup. Therefore, the players should only focus on training hard to the start of the World Cup, any head coach should not allow the players to interfere in his work or comment on issues that do not concern them.”

“This trend is quite disturbing with Iranian players nowadays. Players who frequently protest at referees and get away with it, now dare to interfere with their coaches too”

What should happen now in Team Melli.

Mirshad Majedi and the rest of the board members of the federation, after a long and winding meeting , decided on the status quo and that the incumbent head coach of Team Melli shall remain in charge up to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and beyond.

That was the best decision possible under the circumstances and taken for the sake of Team Melli with crucial days left up to the world cup. Majedi did not succumb to pressure exerted mainly by the Minister of Sport and some other elements who were influenced by a group of Team Melli players.

To be clear, the categorical refusal of Ali Daei to take over from Skocic despite several attempts or pleas, was the catalyst in Skocic’s survival. There were no alternative viable options and the conditions of Team Melli would have been disastrous if Skocic was sacked.

Despite reaching the wisest decisions possible by the FFIRI leadership, the problem with Team Melli is far from over. There must be action by the FFIRI to eliminate the rebels in the squad else these disruptive elements will make the Croat job impossible in Qatar. There is no doubt among many experts that some players will not be happy with this decision while some begrudgingly will tag along.

Hamid Estili’s position

The man that should support Team Melli’s coaching staff has taken a side and worked against Skocic. He was a member of the Technical Committee that decided that the Croat is not qualified as a coach of Team Melli.  Hamid Estili must accept his poor insight and should resign his post immediately to save face. Estili however, is a man of thousand faces and changes positions in a blink. He will try to weasel his way out of this situation, however, it is better for the federation to sack him from the job before he inflicts damage.

The rebel players.

Including the rebel players who are led by Mehdi Taremi in the squad for the World Cup is a serious risk. In addition to Taremi, there are players such as Karim Ansarifard, Ehsan Haj Safy, and Saeid Ezatollahi, with some mention of Alireza Jahanbaksh being in this rebellion group.

No doubt that Jahanbakhsh and Taremi are key players and getting rid of them could be a disadvantage to Team Melli. Their experience and abilities are undeniable, however, much depends on how Skocic will perceive these players and likewise the player’s comfort level with the coach, especially after some bad feelings made publicly by some of them.

It is a difficult formula and there must be a middle-of-the-road solution. Keeping all the rebel players is certainly a risk. From the track record,  Skocic does not score high in the discipline department. He is not like Daei or Queiroz both of who are no-nonsense coaches and have no time for indiscipline. So, controlling the rebels and their effect on the whole squad could be a difficult task for him. The leadership of the football federation must come to his support and coordinate with the coaching staff and in consultation with Karim Bagheri, who was an assistant coach until lately when Persepolis pulled him back,  should come up with the right decision.

One school of thought believes that some of the rebel players are dispensable and could be thrown out as an example to the rest, while the two most valuable of them should be kept under strict behavioral restrictions and maintained discipline. The reputation and name of Iran especially at such a level of competition are far greater than the interest of some players never mind what European league they are playing in.

If a player is selected to represent his country, he has no right to decide who the coach is and must give 100% to the team under whichever coach is appointed, period.

FFIRI statement : The current coaching staff shall remain in charge until the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The Football Federation published a statement about the joint meeting of the members of the board of directors and the technical committee. According to the FFIRI website the statement of the Federation regarding the joint meeting of the members of the Board of Directors and the Technical Committee to determine the post of the Head Coach of Iran’s Team Melli under the title “Unity and Empathy until the World Cup” states:

“In view of the repeated previous assurances of the Football Federation in regards to the full support of the Coaching Staff of the national team and considering the acceptable results of the team, which were the result of the synergy and joint efforts of the players, the coaching staff, the federation and the support of the governing body of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the board of directors of the football federation once again declares the full support of the current coaching staff of the national team. Based on this fact, the cooperation between the two sides will continue. Obviously, from now on, the Football Federation will severely deal with any indiscipline, immorality, and attempts in creating divisions and differences in the national team at any level with force and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the federation. Based on this, on the eve of the important games of the World Cup in Qatar, we request all passionate fans of Iranian football, members of the media, veterans, and all those who have the heart to raise the proud flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for greater solidarity and unity in all elements of the national team. Have maximum companionship and empathy and refrain from spreading news that will aid in disunity.”

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Blatant interference by the Minister of Sports in deciding on Team Melli Head Coach!!!

The minister of Sports Hamid Sajjadi, stressing that the post of the head coach of the national team should be resolved sooner, announced an important meeting with the head of the football federation to determine the position of the national team bench.

Regarding the situation of Team Melli, he noted that “the uncertainty of the national team should end soon. Today, one of our meetings will be with Mirshad Majdi. They (FFIRI) have carried out studies and conducted inquiries. Today we are talking to each other and we are with the national team and we will help. We have received the necessary support from the government to provide any material and moral support to the technical decisions of the federation.”

Sajjadi continued “It is not advisable for the Ministry of Sports to interfere in any of the sports fields. Even in athletics, I don’t allow them to interfere in technical matters. We respect the technical point of view of the federations.”

In response to the question of whether Iranian coaches should be selected for Team Melli, the Minister of Sports said “During the past few days, there have been two schools of thought about the use of Iranian or foreign coaches, all of these are being analyzed, and a final decision taken by two committees of the FFIRI technical committee and the board of directors. The chairman will review these views and finally come today to make the final decision in our meeting”.

Sajjadi never explained why the appointment of Team Melli head coach must be decided with the presence of the government who always claims that they are not interfering in the FFIRI. The reality is that beyond any doubt much if not all major decisions in football in Iran are influenced by the government who are even not intelligent enough to disguise the fact.

This meeting announcement by Sajjadi is the biggest proof that the Ministry of Sporty is directly interfering with football, despite their repeated denials.

Team Melli needs a foreign coach at this time says Cheraghpour

A football expert says that Iran’s national football team currently needs a foreign coach.

In an interview with ISNA, Jalal Chiragpour, the former Team Melli Head Coach and veteran on Iranian football affairs, commented on the chaos surrounding Team Melli and the status of the bench particularly Skocic by saying ” First, we must follow logical reasoning for our conversation so that the reader can understand the situation well. Let us examine the issue from a technical and scientific point of view. In my opinion, the major problem lies with the decisions of the FFIRI Technical Committee which are neither scientific nor technical. This group of people, which now says that the Head Coach of Team Melli is not qualified, where were they in the last two and something years when Skocic took Iran to the World Cup? what criteria have they used to suddenly determine that he (Skocic) is not qualified? Did anyone see what reasoning they used? Did anyone question their logic or motives? Are there transparent and explicit requirements for the Team Melli coach?

He added: “The question remains that on that day when we were third in the group of five teams, we had lost to Bahrain and Iraq and there was a 70% chance of Team Melli being eliminated from Round 2, did this technical committee have the courage to determine right and wrong at that time?  They were nowhere near any type of decision. In any case, Skocic came and took the heavy burden off the ground and managed to lead the team to qualify for the World Cup. Now that the team has qualified comfortably and easily I might add, and is in a position where everyone knows who are the teams of its group, the technical committee raised its head. Those members of the technical committee, do not have the technical authority nor the qualification to say what is right or wrong.”

He added: ” Now they have decided that Skocic is not qualified!! Doesn’t that raise questions about the motives and authenticity of those people? in that scenario and after three games of the World Cup, the results of which are predicted. Who is the technical committee accountable to? They would say that we tried but it didn’t work. For these reasons, I say that the technical committee is not competent.  They lack authenticity, in any case, this technical committee does not have the authority to decide whether the Head Coach of the National Team of Iran should stay or leave. It is not in the term of reference and never was”.

Criticizing the management of the Football Federation, Chiragpour said: “The Federation should be helping solve national team issues such as preparation friendly games, camps that help improve the quality of the team, but it has failed in this responsibility. Their priority is the elections and who wins a seat. The delay by the Football Federation in determining the assignment of the national team’s bench with about 4 months before the Qatar World Cup is an example of their oversight.”

He added “It may be said that domestic coaches have the ability to qualify our national team for the World Cup. Well, let’s do this for the next World Cup and leave the work from zero to 100 to an  Iranian coach. Beware though, you have all witnessed the performance of the Iranian coach on the national team. “

“When a player was selected for the world team XI by FIFA,  the Iranian head coach of the national team at the time said that he was not convinced by the standard of that player and did not pick him for the national team. After that, that same player played in Europe for another 6 years and became the player of the century for Iran.”

Cheraghpour concluded: “the qualities and requirements of coaches differ in different disciplines. Wrestling is different from football. We are the leaders in the world in wrestling, but in football, we are ranked in the 50 countries in the world at best. For this reason, domestic wrestling coaches are considered among the top in the world, but it is not a reason that domestic football coaches have the necessary quality to lead the football team at the top international level. If you want to bring in a local coach, let’s do it immediately after the World Cup, when there is plenty of time for the next tournament. We also need to give that coach support moral and otherwise.” Chiragpour added: “At that point, you can prepare the team for the Iranian coach and let him work. But right now it is too late for these things. The new coach of the national team has practically only 17 days on the field to work with the team, not 110 or 120 days. On those 17 days, it is supposed to be an hour and a half of training, of which half an hour is warming up. A total of 17 hours are available to the next coach. On the other hand, Iran has a total of 6 players in a position like central defense, and everyone, from Nekonam to Queiroz and even members of the technical committee, will only invite those 6 players to the national team.”

Dragan Skočić continues as normal pending executive decision..

The status of the Team Melli coaching is still unclear as there was no executive decision issued on the sacking of the incumbent Dragan Skočić.

On Monday, the technical committee of the Football Federation, which is an advisory body,  met and called for the dismissal of Dragan Skočić as the head coach of the Iran national team. This decision, however, was not officially approved by the Board of the Football Federation. Majedi and the rest of the board members held a meeting with Skocic on Tuesday, and at the conclusion of this meeting, there was no decision made on the dismissal or continuance of Skocic’s work, as it was decided that this decision would be taken at the following meeting.

This issue even aggravated the differences between the technical committee and the board of directors. Skočić finally left Iran after presenting his case to the FFIRI Board of Directors, however, on his return to Europe, he had a meeting with a member of Team Melli.

A video of Skocic’s presence in Austria has been released, in which team Melli’s coach is discussing with Shahab Zahedi, the forward of the Hungarian club, Puskas Academy Zahedi, who was playing in Ukraine before the war, has joined the Hungarian team recently. The team has set up its pre-season camp in Austria.

Besides Zahedi, Skočić also held talks with the head coach of the Puskas team on the side of the football field. Zahedi was invited to Team Melli by Skocic for the first time.

As such. It seems that Skočić will continue to work as normal pending some decision by the FFIRI management.

for the time being until his assignment is officially determined by the federation.

Same old excuses repeated at FFIRI

According to Mehrnews, the cancellation of the friendly game of Team Melli against Canada has caused numerous criticism of Iran’s football federation (FFIRI) for not finalizing other friendly matches or considering other options. Meanwhile, the directors of communication of the FFIRI claimed that they had held talks with several associations, but in the end, due to various problems, these negotiations were fruitless.

Mohammad Javad Payendeh, Football Federation Public Relations Manager, said: “We negotiated with the Republic of Ireland, who declared their initial agreement, but later said that they could not assemble the players!.  Another association that did not qualify for the World Cup wanted us to bear all costs for a friendly match including transportation and accommodation which would have been close to $ 1.5 million.”  He added: “We negotiated with the major associations of teams from North America, South America, and Africa that did not qualify for the World Cup.  Among these countries, especially the Africans, there were some encouraging responses initially, and we are trying to hold two games on “Fifa day”.

Payandeh, who spoke to the “Stadium” Radio program, said that Mexico and Ecuador also wanted to play a friendly match with Iran: “The two countries offered to play in the United States, but the conditions for traveling to the United States are much more difficult for us than It was Canada”

For decades, such excuses have been passed to the fans. It comes from the same textbook regardless of which administration or who heads FFIRI. The end results were either downright failures or poor preparation. Queiroz suffered intensely from this federation however, he was proactive and realized the incompetency of the people in the Seoul Street building.  He, through personal contact and his network, managed to negotiate quite a few friendly matches during his tenure.

The Soccer Politics.

Why are we not surprised by the news that Canada has canceled the friendly match against Iran in Vancouver?

Competition-wise, it was an excellent test for Team Melli against a strong Canada team with similarities in style and physique to the Americans whom Iran would meet in Doha in the World Cup. In fact, despite the constant criticism that we have against the administration of the FFIRI, which remains quite poor regardless, pulling off such a friendly game was indeed a coup!

It was a long shot but somehow it was arranged to the credit of the FFIRI.

BUT…on the political side, it was a time bomb. Ultimately, politics won as it always does. Not very dissimilar to what we are experiencing against Russian football and athletes, except Russia claimed to be an aggressor in a war, while Iran has no such claims against it and has always been a target and a victim. Never mind the rhetoric of the self-proclaimed bearers of Human Rights, regimes like Canada cannot survive being independent of the American policies and Zionist influence hence Canada vs. Iran was always under threat. Iran playing right next door to the Americans would be a victory for the enemy and the Americans won’t like it. The US government would not allow that satisfaction for the Iranians.  Why would the Prime Minister of Canada intervene in a football match, doesn’t the man have more important things to do like running a country?

Trudeau simply did not want to upset his masters in Washington, the game was not going to happen, period. No doubt, Soccer Canada will come up with a bunch of excuses for canceling the game, but in reality, it is nothing but succumbing to political pressure no more no less.

In any case, this one-sided cancelation once again highlights the plight of Iran’s football lack of skilled and professional management. The FFIRI is in serious need of a competent cadre of highly experienced management personnel who have the skills, aptitude, and intelligence to run such an important organization in the country. Of course, we do realize that the government will never cease to interfere by pushing its own agents into the administration with all kinds of tricks, but there is still a great need to find a solution for this dilemma cum incompetency that is hindering the natural development of football in Iran.

Now that the Canada match is off, and that never officially confirmed match against Ecuador was also off, Iran has to scramble in the dustbin to find an opponent for the upcoming FIFA Day. It might even have to pay those pathetic Albanians after all to save Iran’s blushes and arrange a friendly game somewhere, possibly Doha.

In the end, it is no one except the FFIRI’s fault, no matter how many excuses they would come up with for Team Melli to be deprived of a strong opponent with only a few months left to the World Cup.

Former FFIRI President Azizi Khadem banned for two years.

The ethics committee announced its verdict in the case of the ousted president and some officials of the then Football Federation.

According to ISNA and quoting the Football Federation, the final verdict was made after careful deliberations on the Executive Committee of the FFIRI and based on the finding of the Investigation Team and the report by the special audit committee.  The Executive Committee has declared that several members of the Football Administration, headed by the President Azizi Khadem have committed violations of the rules, amounting to illegal transfer of money, payment for services not rendered, authorizing payment for Persepolis Club without the knowledge and approval of the Executive Committee of the federation as required by the bylaws plus several other misdemeanors committed during the short tenure of Azizi Khadem in the FFIRI

The Committee, also referring to the Code of Ethics of the FIFA announced that Ali Soleimani Sarmi  (treasurer), Hassan Kamranifar (secretary-general), Vahid Fadaei (head of  finance), and Mohammad Babazadeh Darvish (former head of the legal affairs) have been found guilty of violating the ethical rules of football and according to the lawsuit dated May 15,

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem has been sentenced to a total ban from all football and futsal activities for a period of 2 years and also to pay a fine of one hundred Million Toman

It also found  Ali Soleimani Sarmi to be guilty as charged and banned from all football and futsal activities for a period of 1 year and fined  30 million Toman

Hassan Kamranifar to pay a 40 million Toman fine while Vahid Fadai to pay 30 million Tomsn and  Mohammad Babazadeh to pay a fine of 30 million Toman.

Although the accusations against Azizi Khadem amounted to criminal negligence and misappropriation of funds which is punishable by Iranian laws, the FFIRI did not indicate if the case will be referred to the courts of law in Iran. The government, however, has the full right to investigate the case and has a track record in prosecuting corruption and funds misappropriation cases with severity in a country that is infested with financial corruption all across.