Tag: Kaffashian

Kaffashian “We will present the Brazil Ambassador with good quality Team Melli Jersey”

Ali Kaffashian said that they are honored by the Brazil Ambassador in Iran recent statement in his support for Team Melli. “We will present the Brazil Ambassador with good quality Team Melli Jersey”

Senor Santiago Irazabal Mourao, Brazilian ambassador to Tehran , who is a staunch supporter of Pele, Brazilian legend, said that he would support Iran against Argentine, Brazil’s traditional rival, by wearing Iran’s national soccer kit. It is not clear if Mourao will be at the match or watching the match on TV.

Kaffashian was speaking at a ceremony honoring two of the Iranian referees who are selected for the World Cup duties, Alireza Faghani and assistant referee Kamaranifar.

Alireza Faghani 3 IRN

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry has requested some jersey with players and coaching staff signature , which they wanted to giveaway at ceremonies in Brazil. We obliged and used the best quality jersey for that purpose and the same that we will provide his excellency the Brazil Ambassador” added Kaffashian in his usual sarcasm referring to the controversies around the quality of the official kit.

Kaffashian denied that his administration do not want Queiroz , in response to a journalist statement by Queiroz. “If we get the support and I mean the financial support to continue with Queiroz , he is the number one and only candidate we have for the coaching job of Team Melli. We simply cannot afford his new demands without some backing , else it will be too embarrassing and difficult for both sides trying to get the resources from here and there.” Kaffashian responded.

The head of FFIRI also referred to the meeting with the government including vice-President Nahavandi and Minister of sport Jahangiri regarding the financial difficulties of the federation and the budget deficit. Kaffashian uttered the customary statement “It was a fruitful meeting and they promised to help.:. Of course , that has been said more than a few times with the government yet to inject any funds into the federation’s budget. In fact , Jahangiri was ultra critical of football federations lavish expenditure and demanded that they tighten the belt.

on the rumors that Mohammad Dadkan will take over the Presidency of the Football Federation after the Wold Cup , Kaffashian responded “After the World Cup and for the next 20 months , I will be the President of the federation according to the rules. After that , there will be an election. Anybody wins the most vote , I will gladly hand over my post to him. Till then , I am the President.”

Kaffashian has already expressed his interest to run for another term…..Heaven help us all.

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Kaffashian reveals “Rahmati did in fact write an apology letter!”

Shiraz.

Ali Kaffashian in a gathering at Shiraz university students, responding to demands and explanation of why Seyed Mehdi Rahmati was not selected for Team Melli, admitted that the goalkeeper has in fact written a letter of apology regretting his action.

“Mehdi Rahmati, has admitted his shortcoming and wrote a brief letter to us expressing his regret and apology. I , in the presence of Ayatollahei and Mansourian, gave this letter personally to Queiroz. However , he (Queiroz) did not accept the letter and insisted that Rahamti should have written the apology letter 3 times and in three separate sentences !!!” Kaffashian explained.

Rahmati , born in Shiraz , is quite a popular player in Fars province where he started his football career at the Shirazi club Fajr Sepasi. It was from there that he was first selected for Team Melli U-23 before his transfer to Sepahan and then Esteghlal. There has been reports that Ayatollahei , the vice-president of FFIRI who is himself from Shiraz , was severely criticized for his weak character and inability to protect Rahmati against what the local fans deem to be Queiroz vengeance.

Carlos Queiroz has recently indicated that he will consider Rahmati for selection right after the World Cup. It is not even certain that Queiroz will be the coach by then , but his rejection of the apology letter seemed to be nothing short of a draconian act.

Shehab Gordan, Mehdi Rahmati and Alireza Haghighi
Shehab Gordan, Mehdi Rahmati and Alireza Haghighi

In the same meeting , the head of FFIRI estimated that between 4000 to 5000 tickets will been sold for all Team Melli fans of which only 1500 were purchased by fans in Iran.

Responding to a question on Queiroz’s future with Team Melli , Kaffashian said that “currently , Queiroz and his coaching team cost the federation 8 billion Toman (USD 3,130,400  at official rate). For the new contract , Queiroz has demanded twice that value , which is beyond the capability of the FFIRI.”  Kaffashian said that out of contract value , Queiroz was personally receiving  USD 1.5. Queiroz new demand is 2 million Euros !”  It is not clear why Kaffashian is mentioning 3 different currencies in his statements , perhaps to confuse the audience!.

The expatriate Iranian footballers have the same right and we are proud of them.”

In a question about the insistence of Queiroz in using expatriate Iranians players ,  Kaffashian defended that by saying that “These players are as Iranians as the rest of  us. There are millions of Iranians in the world who are not necessarily residing in Iran. Our industries have used the expertise of many expatriate Iranian scientists to an excellent level , the result of which was a source of pride for the nation. The expatriate Iranian footballers have the same right and we are proud of them.”

 

On the question of maintenance cost of Team Melli , Kaffashian said “Approximately 15 to 20 billion Toman ( USD 7.8 million) was spent on the last 1 and half years on the team. We receive USD 3 to USD million from the AFC , while FIFA will be depositing USD 8 million after the World Cup.”

On the controversy associated with Team Melli kits, Kaffashian said “In the last six years , we had no official sponsorship from the world major sporting kit manufacturers. All of them feared the consequences of associating with us because of the economical sanctions.  We explored some Chinese and Italian companies, but they were not up to the standard, until we  struck a deal with UHLsport. The German company , is not willing to continue because the non-existence of patent and copyright laws in Iran and its inability to obtain permission to open a representative office in Iran.”

“Team Melli players have to buy their own shirts for exchanges.” claims Kaffashian !

Ali Kaffashian , once again defended the brand of the Team Melli kit and the sponsorship deal with the German sport clothing manufacturer UHLSport.

The never ending ominous topic of Team Melli’s jersey is becoming repeatedly asked on every interview sdid not escape Kaffashin on Thursday while attending a practice session of Team Melli.

Kaffashian spoke highly of the German company and insisted that the quality they are dealing with is at the highest “This is a European company with the highest quality German standards. I understand that some players have been complaining about the jersey and we have investigated the matter with the company. It turned out that those who complained did not follow the washing instruction and how to maintain the jersey. Apparels have such instruction that needs to be applied. We have expensive products here, not the disposable shirts and short that you dispense with after one wash! “

“The quality of our kit is high and can be compared to the industry’s best. We are proud of it and can do well in the World Cup using them. We also need to be reasonable on expenses. It not wise or clever to use a kit for a week then throw it out demanding a new set. Common sense must prevail”

Asked about the traditional end of the match shirts exchanges with other players, Kaffashian declared that players have to buy their own kits if they want to exchange with other players! That sounds shocking, but Kaffashian’s excuse was that his federation must also consider other expenses with many other Team Melli teams that need budgets and overheads.

On the question of Queiroz declaration of concern with all the rumors that has been surrounding him for the last 10 months, Kaffashian dismissed the issue and said that he is not aware or all this while his concern is focused towards important issues like the sourcing of the funds to pay the coach wages.

“We have to balance our expenditure. We like to continue with Queiroz , we are satisfied with his work. Queiroz qualified us to the World Cup and in Asia , we are the top ranking team while we were the fifth. However, we also need to pay him appropriately. If we cannot afford to do that, and don’t have the money then we have to lower the ceiling of our expectations. It is the same with arranging friendly matches. A top team demands something like US$ 2 million for a match. Mostly, we would not be afford to do that, so , we have to accept less than perfect friendly matches arrangement ”

Queiroz seeks the assistance of Edu for the World Cup

Team Melli’s coach Carlos Queiroz has requested the service of Edu Gaspar , currently the General Manager of the Brazilian club Corinthians, for the duration of FIFA World Cup 2014.
According to Mehrnews , Team Melli coach who has a close relation with the club directors is seeking the expertise of the 35 years old ex Corinthians, Arsenal and Valencia player. Edu, as he was known to many football fans across the globe, played 15 times for Brazil between 2004-2005.

The nature of Edu’s task with Team Melli remains unclear but most probably he will operating in an advisory capacity along with Queiroz. After his per-mature retirement from football, Edu did not seek a coaching job however , he was appointed as Director of football for his club.

There was no official word from FFIRI or Ali Kaffashian about this matter. It is quite possible that the Head of FFIRI is not even aware of this arrangement as he seems to be the last one to know of such matters and events of Team Melli..

Queroz in press conference.

Carlos Queiroz introduced his newly appointed assistant, the Portuguese Oceano Andrade da Cruz in a press conference on Sunday. Team Melli coach praised his compatriot and informed the press conference that He and Oceano have worked together before in Sporting Lisbon where Oceano was a player under Queiroz and then later when Queiroz selected him to be as assistant coach.   Queiroz said that Oceano will be a great asset for Team MElli and he is a valuable addition to the team. He welcomed Oceano on board and wished him the best.

Queroz then talked about Team Melli program and said the time is tight and they have to do their utmost best, He the said “You have all watched the matches in the AFC Champions League. I don’t need to comment on that, but we will be meeting much tougher opposition in Brazil(….)”

Queiroz then went on explaining how Argentina and Bosnia play their football and repeated his previous statement about how difficult it is to face these teams.

Team Melli coach then clarified the plan for the forthcoming training camp in South Africa. “We will start the camp in South Africa on the 12th of April and it should last for 3 weeks.  Our objective is very clear in South Africa, and that is to familiarize ourselves with African football and in particularly our first opponent in the World Cup, Nigeria.”

“We will be going to South Africa with 24 players. Our squad will be short by 8 to 10 players as our legionnaires will not be available for this camp.  Further to that we will increase the squad to 33 and up to 36 before we finally trim the squad to the mandatory 23 players. Thanks to the great efforts of the federation, the Austrian training camp is also finalized and we have enough financial support to carry on our program in Europe and also play 4 matches without having to pay fees for the opponents .”

“After the Austria camp , we will return to Tehran Before we finally fly to Brazil”

Queiroz denied that he told a newspaper “good riddance” when asked to comment on Mojtaba Jabbari’s intention to quit Team Melli. Quieroz said “You need to ask that newspaper where and how they came up with those words. Saying that, I really have no time for players who are not interested to play for Team Melli whatever are the reasons. I need to concentrate and focus on players who are willing to play for their country despite the difficulties, hardships and any problems they are encountering.”

Queiroz said that Javad Nekounam , has approached him to convey Mojtaba Jabbari’s decision to quit. Team Melli coach said that such decisions should be discussed by the player himself without any intermediaries. “Jabbari needs to inform the FFIRI and Kaffashain first. As far as I am concerned, I am not going to dig deep in the reasons behind a player’s decision to quit. It makes no difference to me whatever the reasons are for quitting” Querioz said. “I am just surprised that the media got hold of Jabbari’s decision before Kaffashian and the federation.”

twisted attitudes and indiscipline which is quite common here

Queiroz then continued his smear campaign against the ex-Team Melli assistant coach Omid Namazi “The only responsibility I take is for recruiting Namazi. I apologize for everyone on that. He is now working in USA. Let me tell you something funny. I guarantee you that we will turn up with 11 players against Nigeria with some media personal also supporting us. Because of some twisted attitudes and indiscipline which is quite common here, we had Rahmati , then Aghili , Namazi and now Jabbari leave us.”

“We have two ways to deal with this, either cry because of their absence or laugh. I chose the latter because it is easier and more productive. Working and smiling to players who are willing to be part of the team is much more interesting and rewarding. Let us talk about these players who are with us and are willing to defend the reputation of their country while accepting Jabbari’s decision.”

sqd-jabbari2013

“The irony of Jabbrai’s decision to quit is that his club president was quite supportive of Team Melli and was willing to release him for the training camp, while the player himself has quit. I will make a note of that in my memoir and mention how a Qatari citizen was willing to assist Team Melli while an Iranian player was quitting”

Queiroz once again, failed to mention that his compatriot, Toni Simoez also quit Team Melli and left the team for cold focusing on Namazi’s departure only as an act of malice!

Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be considered for the World Cup Squad

The Portuguese coach apologized for not being too transparent about the matches that will be played in South Africa but said it will be 4 matches and some might not last the full 90 minutes (…).

Asked about the proposed Iranian assistant coach appointment, he responded that he needs time to decide and does not want to make the same mistake as with Namazi !!!

On the question whether Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be considered for the World Cup Squad, Queiroz said that “there is a great possibility that the two players after gaining the experience of playing in Europe , will be included in the final list to Brazil”

Queiroz conveyed his thanks to the league clubs, coaches and administrators for supporting Team Melli, something that he has rarely done due to the recurrent disputes with the league clubs and coaches stemming from Team Melli disruptive scheduling of the league matches and due to the accusations by many coaches that Quieroz is sneering and undermining the domestic league.

Year’s end thoughts on Iran’s football.

Two days before the end of the year and Nowruz the ancient Persian new year’s day celebrated by people from diverse ethnic communities and religious backgrounds for thousands of years and the national holiday of Iran, we look at some of the ups and downs of Iranian football.

Qualification to the World Cup 2014.

Ando in a great scene
Ando in a great scene

Without a doubt, qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil was the biggest achievement of Iran’s football. It was not just the fact that Iran has qualified for the biggest event in the World Football calendar, as Team Melli has managed this feat and qualified 3 times before that, it was the manner of qualification that was just short of spectacular.

Very few gave Queiroz men a chance especially after some lackluster displays and results by Team Melli including a historic loss to Lebanon, a team that until that fateful day, never managed to score against Iran. Iran really needed to win its remaining 3 matches, including the most difficult one against its nemesis South Korea in Ulsan, to assure the qualification.

With perseverance, purpose, style and some wonderful defending work at the back, Team Melli did exactly that and won 3 out of 3 heading its group and qualifying directly to Brazil and leaving the South Koreans biting their nails awaiting the Uzbekistan match result to know if they have made it along with Iran.

 

Iran’s Beach soccer

champions beach soccer 2013

A historical achievement by Iran’s beach soccer team occurred in November 2013 , when Iran defeated Russia to win the championship of the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The Iranians beat the two-time defending Intercontinental Cup champion 4-3 in the final match of the tourney in Dubai. Players like Mohammad Ahmadzadeh , Peiman Hosseini , Mostafa Kiani , Moslem Mesigar, Hassan Abdollahei and Hassan Hajipour suddenly became household names in the Iran.

The Iranians love champions and championship pedigree. By winning the Intercontinental Cup , FIFA sponsored championship , Iran’s Beach soccer team ensured their names are engraved permanently in the hall of fame of Iranian football.

 

Persepolis and Esteghlal

No escaping the bipolar status of Iran’s football. The majority of fans, support one of these two teams wherever they are. Some even prefer the red or blue teams over their local teams. The destiny and fate of Team Melli depends largely on these two teams up to a certain extent. The success of these clubs normally is reflected on Team Melli.

Both these two teams are owned, managed and controled by the government since they took it over ( nationalized i) after the revolution. For 20 years, the government has been talking about the imminent privatization of these two clubs ,  especially during the two presidency terms of Mahmoud Ahmadineajd and his sports right hand man AliAbadi both of whom convinced the masses that the privatization is a done deal.

Not only such promises by the President never materialized, the two teams have faced immense financial problems, irregularities, poor management, anomalies and corruption. The extent of such has resulted in the migration of players out of Esteghlal , while Persepolis is virtually bankrupt unable to sustain its operation and hanging on a thread. No one knows exactly how these two clubs are actually functioning with debts in millions of US Dollars, unpaid bills and no revenue to even partially cover their debts or service the interest rates.

Active attempts by some old players to take control of the Persepolis , calling themselves the rightful owners of the club, has been met by skepticism and protests by many red fans. The New Year 1393 s expected to be a vital for these two clubs.

 

NAVAD program

Adel ferdowsipour

Arguably the most controversial media programs if Iran broadcast weekly on Iranian national TV. Adel Ferdowsipour, the anchorman of this very popular program NAVAD (90) is more famous than a lot of footballers in Iran. He is also more popular than quite a few of them. His popularity, however, does not extend to the administrators, coaches, politicians, club owners and some of the hierarchy,.

Many of his critics see him as instigator of quandaries, agitator, controversy seeker, and a whistle blower that Iran’s football can do without. Many called for his removal while even the MP’s of the Majlis demanded his ousted. However IRIB management, to their credit , wisely and shrewdly stuck to their guns and maintained the popular man and his program, untouched, unchanged and unaffected. Such is his program popularity that most of players and coaches interviewed on post-match, plead to NAVAD program to give them a fair judgment on controversial calls or issues because they believe it is a fair and free tribune.

The true vote of confidence for this program came in the last edition, which was the final program of 1392 , when a telephone SMS poll gave it a whopping 96% vote of confidence from the fans. Simply amazing support that even dictators such as Hosny Mubarak and Saddam Hussain could not fabricate during their reign.

Ferdowsipour , despite some shortfalls of his own and some unorthodox style of presentation , remains one of the most powerful and influential people in Iran’s football , although he has no official designation at all.

 

A football federation that is always begging for money.

Football_Federation_Islamic_Republic_of_IranWhile the news of qualifying for the World Cup made a whole nation happy and full of joy, the reality hit hard when the football federation started complaining about lack of funds. Years of frail management, failure to market a good and profitable product, lack of outside interest in investing in football, sub-standard management skills amongst many other things, resulted in a football federation begging for money to support Team Melli activities.

As the result, this football federation under Ali Kaffashian was unable to arrange meaningful friendly matches against quality teams, cancelled planned training camps for Team Melli and has difficulty honoring contracts and payments of wages, and lost two assistant coaches through resignations under peculiar conditions.

With the government that is reluctant to bankroll the football activities, for very good reasons, the lack of funds to support Team Melli preparation for the FIFA World Cup , remains the biggest source of concern for every fan of Team Melli.

Team Melli training camp in cone of confusion!

Tehran

The secretary general of the FFIRI Mehdi Mohammad Nabi in an interview with Mehr News Agency, said “The training camp planned for Team Melli in South Africa and the next one in Austria has not been finalized yet!!”

 This statement is in sharp contrast to what the President of FFIRI Ali Kaffashian has confirmed weeks back that the South African camp is definitely on and will be conducted per schedule. Kaffashian even mentioned that he will personally go to each of the Persian Gulf Arab countries where a number of Team Melli members are playing , to seek their release for the training camp..

Mohammad Nabi also added “Despite mutual agreement for the extension of Queiroz contract beyond World Cup 2014 , we have actually not signed any contract yet.”

The claims and counter claims by the members of FFIRI has been the Achilles heel of Iran’s football administration for years. It is always difficult to confirm anything with this federation as the goalposts changes position all the time.

When asked about the status of Team Melli camp, Mohammad Nabi , once again referred to financial difficulties faced by his federation. “We had no intention of canceling the South Africa Training camp because of the unavailability of 3 or 4 players; however the problem facing us is monetary. The camp has not been finalized yet.”

“All the money we got from different sources including the sponsors will only cover the Training Camp in Brazil. Our schedule camps for South Africa and Austria are in doubt unless we manage to get more resources to cover their costs.”

Confronted by the reporter about the whereabouts of 5 billion toman that the federation has received from Team Melli sponsor. Mohammad Nabi confirmed that FFIRI has received the first payment of 5 Billion Toman (approx. US$ 2 million) , from which we paid the coaching staff salaries , some outstanding hotels bills , airlines and utilities department bills. We had to pay the utilities else the FFIRI building would be without electricity !!”

The secretary general of the FFIRI was hopeful that the South Africa camp will be properly financed after the meeting of the “World Cup working committee” meeting which included government representatives.

Nabi denied that he or Kaffashian has recommended the name of Majid Saleh , currently one of  Esteghlal’s coaching staff, as the Iranian assistant coach.” We don’t interfere in technical matters and certainly not the appointment of coaches. Queriroz has been in Iran for 3 years and he knows best whom to pick.”

The question that begs an answer is who actually decided on the appointment of Queiroz if neither Kaffashian nor Mohammad Nabi interfere in technical matter!

“Don’t you think that the current status of confusion and uncertainty in regards to Team Melli preparation for the World Cup, including what you just mentioned about the uncertainty of the European camp, while selecting weak to modest teams for practice matches, is patronizing the players and depressing the fans? Don’t you think such poor preparation will have a negative effect and perhaps embarrassing shoreline against us?”.

“If we carry on with our original plans, then there should be no fear from our participation. I believe Guinea was a good opponent despite what many think.” The secretary general responded.

Despite the announcement by the FFIRI that two training camps with as much as 8 practice matches will be conducted by Team Melli , as of now, nothing is for certain. The calamitous affair of Iran’s football continues. Nothing is certain until it actually occurs.

Kaffashian “Queiroz must replace Simões with an Iranian coach”

After the confirmation of the departure of António Simões from Iran and his resignation from Team Melli coaching team , Kaffashian has announced that his replacement will be an Iranian coach.

António Simões who has worked beside Carlos Queiroz as an assistant coach decided to leave his job citing personal reasons. In a statement to the Portuguese website , the 70 year old coach has been with Team Melli since April 2011 , confirmed that he has no problem or disputes with the federation , but personal reasons had made him decide to leave Iran.

Although Queiroz is reported to have hand pick a replacement , the statement by Kaffashian would mean that Queiroz needs to find a local coach.

 

 

Kaffashian threatens clubs in AFC Champions League !

Ali Kaffashian , the head of FFIRI stated today that he will talk to the Iranian clubs about releasing their players to Team Melli.

The four clubs Sepahan Esfahan , Esteghlal , Tractorsazi Tabriz and Foolad Khuzestan have qualified for this year’s edition of the AFC Champions League  and should be starting their campaigns next week. The AFC Champions league will clash with Carlos Queiroz plan for Team Melli training camp. The 4 clubs have strongly objected to those plans and indicated their unwillingness to release their players while they are involved in this lucrative and important competition.

Kaffashian and his administration have always enforced the idea that the priority is with Team Melli and hence the clubs should cooperate with the coaching staff of Team Melli by releasing their players “I will talk to the clubs and try to accommodate their requests , but they need to release the players for Team Melli. If we do not reach an accord , I shall escalate the matter to the higher authorities to force them to release the players”  Kaffashian did not indicate whom does he mean by higher authorities. There is no law that can enforce the clubs to release the players for a training camp and FIFA rules are quite clear in such matters. The clubs cannot be forced into releasing their players and the international rules strongly rejects government interference in football. It is interesting to observe the development of this affair. The release of the 4 teams best players , will most likely mean their failure o qualify from the group stages of the AFC Champions league. The financial loss at a time that most Iranian clubs have difficulties is quite significant.

Kaffashian also confirmed that the South African training camp is on again despite Queiroz objection. The head of FFIRI said “The players in Europe and the Arab leagues are not able to join the camp , but 30 to 40 % of the team is still available . If we do not go to South Africa, then the clubs will use the players in the AFC Champions League and that is not desirable (..)” . He also confirmed the European training camp which will include two friendly matches with Belarus and Macedonia.

[quote]” The whole Team Melli coaching staff contract is US$ 2.5 million of which Queiroz receives US$ 1.5 million”  Kaffashian [/quote]

For the first time , Kaffashian has disclosed the contract value of Carlos Queiroz and his team of assistants.” the whole Team Melli coaching staff contract is US$ 2.5 million of which Queiroz receives US$ 1.5 million. Queiroz has stated that he is willing to consider extending his stay in Iran if the federation offers a better contract with substantial increase in the value.” Kaffashian said in reference to the various rumors surrounding the Portuguese coach contract value.

Despite the under-secretary of Ministry of Youth and Sport statement that his Ministry has deposited a large sum in favor of Team Melli , Kaffashian denied receiving any funds “We still have not got anything from the Ministry yet.We were suppose to receive more than one billion toman* from the ministry towards Team Melli preparation program, but this has not materialized yet because the Ministry did not receive the fund from the Government budget.”

The head of FFIRI indicated that FIFA will soon release the blocked money in favor of his federation “Our money have been blocked for 3 years now at AFC and FIFA. We managed to get a release from AFC and we are very hopeful that FIFA will release the funds that they withheld by next month. It is much needed funds at this critical time and the bulk of it will go towards Team Melli preparation program.” Kaffashian said

 Kaffashian admitted that the sponsor of Team Melli selected a few months back was not up to expectation.” The sponsor failed to deliver on the promises and contractual obligations and hence we were forced to nullify that contract. We are actively looking at new sponsors and we have a hope that an organization with a big reputation will come forward in the next few days.” Kaffashian did not name that organization , but it is believed to be one of the major Iranian banks.

* 1 Billion Toman is equivalent to USD 402,123

Team Melli receives much needed funds from the Sport Ministry

Nasorallah Sajjadi , the under-secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sport has confirmed that his ministry has deposited funds in the bank account in support of Team Melli.

in a statement carried by ISNA, Sajjadi said that “Team Melli should have no problem going ahead with its program and that includes the training camps in South Africa, Europe and then Brazil. We have deposited the funds required yesterday and the coach should not be concerned with the financial backing.”

“We hope that the training program and the team’s preparation is not hindered by financial issues as we hop that the coach carries on with his program without this concern” Sajjadi was quoted today.

The backing of the Ministry of Youth and Sports comes in a crucial time for Team Melli. The much needed funds is welcome at the IRIFF that has struggled to make ends meet and has threatened the training and the preparation plans of Carlos Queiroz. Despite this welcome statement , there was no comment from the football federation FFIRI. The South Africa camp cancelation was requested by Queiroz citing many reasons including the lack of funds for such a camp , but Kaffashian always insisted publically that the camp in South Africa is still on. It is not clear what is the final verdict is on the African trip.