Tag: Mehrdad Pooladi

Controversial referee Ben Williams hit back.

Sports editor at The Canberra Times

Canberra referee Ben Williams has retaliated to media commentary of his controversial officiating at the Asian Cup, calling it “ill-informed” and questioning the relevance of some former players in the broadcasting box.

The Asian Football Confederation referee of the year in 2013 and the first Australian to officiate in the second round of a World Cup, in Brazil last year, Williams hit back at knockers who have accused him of being trigger-happy with yellow and red cards.

Former Socceroos and now commentators John Aloisi, Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater criticised Williams’ handling of the Asian Cup quarter-final between Iran and Iraq at Canberra Stadium, where the whistleblower issued nine yellow cards and a controversial red-card to Iran’s Mehrdad Pooladi.

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, fined for criticising Williams in the earlier rounds of the Asian Cup, then asked how the referee could sleep at night after Iran’s 7-6 loss on penalties.

The criticism came after Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold labelled Williams’ “an embarrassment” when he issued a controversial card to Sydney FC defender Nikola Petkovic in the closing stages of an FFA Cup in October last year. The A-League match review panel upheld the decision, but stood Williams down for a game.

Williams hit back in an interview on ABC Radio on Saturday, backing his own ability and taking aim at those making comment from afar.

“I don’t listen to any of the media after any contentious games, I don’t flick on the TV, I don’t read the papers, I don’t get on the internet to see what people have said about me because most of it is negative and most of it’s ill-informed,” Williams said.

“Some of the people who talk in the media have got no idea about refereeing, a lot of them are ex-players who haven’t played for 15 to 20 years and have played in different leagues around the world but don’t have an impact of international football as it currently stands. I’m probably the most qualified to sit back and analyse my own performance, so I do.

“People are entitled to their opinion, football is a game of opinion, some people believe their opinion is greater than others. If you believed everything that was written about you you’d lose your mind.”

“All you can do at the moment is give the decision you believe is best with the information you have at hand. Whatever happens after that, whether it’s coaches getting angry or players getting angry or media beat-up, that’s out of our control.”

Williams said referees, like players, made mistakes. But he felt a referee’s mistake was “seen as taboo”.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect referee because we’re all human as well and we are going to make mistakes, the same as a player. There’s no player who will go through any match and never make a mistake, never turn a ball over or hit one over the cross bar or miss a tackle. We’re all human just like the players.”

FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson, also of Canberra, is part of a push for soccer to have full-time professional officials.

“He’s been pushing for it as well and it is a matter of time, we hope it happens sooner rather than later,” Williams said.

“It’s not a money hungry selfish grab, trying to earn a contract for football for us. It’s about we want to prepare the best we can so that when we go out on the weekends we know we haven’t left anything to chance.”

 

Comment on Williams self-defense.

While Williams has the full right to defend himself , and there can’t be too much arguments on the plainly obvious statements that he uttered such ; there is no perfect referee, human error , people are entitled to their opinion;  the Australian referee has shown his class , or lack of it , when he states that he ignores everything and everyone opinion but himself! So , although he talks about players and referees committing mistakes, he seems to have excluded himself normal people and elevated himself to the category beyond the normal. He does not thinks he commits and does not need anyone to tell him that. Any decent professional will always review and analyse his performance to try to mitigate any errors in his performance. Accpeting criticsm is part of that process. Obviously , Williams is different  and judging by his own philosophy , he does not give a hoot about what others think of him !

“Some of the people who talk in the media have got no idea about refereeing” Williams says.

Refereeing is not a nuclear science either and you do not to be a brain surgeon to master it. Football laws are clear and simple enough even for the average layman to understand it. Referees are not elite either and do not have to attend a 3 years university coach to qualify. The main advantage the referee has over the fans is that he is closer to the action, however , with the advent of TV and slo-mo replays , even that advantage is taken away from him.

Instead of admitting that he screwed up and made a mistake , Williams is trying to fool the masses by a rhetoric that simply gives away a lot about his character. uncompromising , error-prone , happy whistle and fast trigger pulling referee. Not at all worthy of refereeing important international matches.

 

 

 

Pooladi & Rafei cleared to join Team Melli squad.

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Mehrdad Pooladi

Mehrdad Pooladi , Team Melli’s left back currently playing for Al Shahniya club in Qatar and Soroush Rafei the young Foolad Khuzestan player have been granted permission by the armed forces to join Team Melli squad.

After a series of disappointing turns of events and depressing news around Team Melli in its preparation for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2015, this has to be the brightest news of them all. With the absence of Pejman Montazeri who misses the tournament due to injury, Pooladi’s inclusion in Queiroz squad is quite vital. Mehrdad Pooladi was the best player in Team Melli 3 matches in the World Cup according to FIFA technical analysis. His National Service problem prevented him from being selected for duty for Team Melli.

Most of the credit for the inclusion of Pooladi and Rafei must go to the Head coach Carlos Querioz whose personal efforts and demands, including a straightforward and serious discussion with the Minister of Youth & Sport has yielded result. The latter writing to the Armed Forces and requesting the release of the two players for national duty as football players.

The two persons who should have done the most to release Team Melli players, Kaffashian and Mohammad Nabi were quite passive about the issue and maintained a stance where they kept declaring that they are abiding by the law, without making any efforts to challenge or request any alternative options from the authorities to seek the two players release.

Soroush Rafei

Although Soroush Rafei is a rookie and is not expected to play a major role in the Asian Cup in Australia,  his inclusion is vital for the long term planning of Carlos Queiroz future Team Melli build up.

Team Melli is supposed to fly to Australia via Dubai this evening for the last part of the ir training camp which includes a friendly match against Iraq in Sydney.

Why is playing for your National Team NOT a national duty!

It is really hard to think of why many Iranian athletes/sportsmen , who by playing for the national teams, thus serving their country, giving their best to raise the tri colored flag , fight for honors , respect and victory of the motherland and in the process could be exposed to injuries that could life threatening or permanently handicapped, why are these Iranian athletes/sportsmen are not categorized as serving the nations and even worse, prevented from joining their teams that needs them ??

Hamid Sourian – The living legend of Iran’s wrestling

The same person that is wanted in Australia to defend the national honors of Iran in the Asian Cup is considered an outlaw if he does not join the military service and work in a remote village teaching some kids how to run or write. Surely , if the person is talented enough , he must be utilized and serve the country in his filed and specialty rather than wasting him. This is the fundamental of proper Human Resource Management.

The question that begs itself for the Iranian government and lawmakers is, what is the meaning of National Service and why representing the country is NOT considered national service although the media is always ready to hype the players and the fans by pointing to the patriotic duty of football players and other athletes as servant or soldiers of the country when talking part in competitions abroad?!

Iran’s Behdad Salimi (R) and his with compatriot Sajjad Anoushiravani celebrate winning medals at London Olympics games

There is quite a bit of contradiction in the philosophy of the system of National Service. In the World Cup, Mehrdad Pooladi is a hero who is serving his nation, but a few months later, he is a villain and a deserter for trying to do the same in Australia without doing the military service!

Granted, there are laws in Iran governing the military or national service which has to be respected. The question though if these laws are truly reflecting the concept of national service, especially when talking about peace time. These laws need to be amended, serving one’s country cannot only be in the Military field, it could be in the scientific, agricultural, sport and many other fields. The Military should NOT have the exclusive monopoly on people. Law makers need to seriously address this area. National service must re-defined from the archaic system inherited from the days of the pre-revolution era.

As it is , there are many instances where a person can be granted exemption from national service in Iran, why not add sporting duty while representing the country,  to that long list?

TM vs South Korea 18 Nov2014

Queiroz seeking Pooladi & Rafei release.

Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, Team Melli manager spoke of the possibility of inviting  Persepolis Captain  Mohammad Nouri to Team Melli in case of the failure in getting the release of Pooladi  and Rafei from Military Service.

During the Sunday training session of Team Melli, Mohammad Nabi said “As Carlos Queiroz has stated earlier, our opponents have prepared themselves quite well. On our side, we have tried our best to match them and  prepare the team for this competition (…) . Our start was with the match against South Korea followed by several training camps”

 “We have up to January 1st to submit the final list to the Asian Cup Organizing committee and the AFC. Because of that, Queiroz opted to leave two vacant places for the players he wants to add.” Mohammad Nabi added without mentioning the name of the players in Queiroz’s mind. When pressed for an answer and if the two places are reserved for Pooladi and Rafei, , Mohammad Nabi said “Yes. These two players are in the plans of Queiroz and he wishes to include them in his squad. But, I and Mr. Kaffashian are law abiding and need to stick to the regulations of this country. However, there are some negotiation between the Minister of Sports and the Military on the subject matter.”

“We do not have the liberty of playing an international friendly match without the approval of FIFA. The Palestine match was registered with FIFA and the unilateral cancelation of this match by Palestine FA was totally an unprofessional act. Nevertheless, any actions to be taken against the Palestinians , is the job of Ali Kaffashian” Mohammad Nabi said in reaction to the match cancelation and the demand by Queiroz for compensations from Palestine FA..

“We have played 7 friendly games in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup and still have one more to go against Iraq in Sydney.” Mohammad Nabi thus considers playing against reserves of club teams as preparation matches !

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“Carlos Queiroz assessment of the squad and the players’ forms is quite good, however more work is needed. Sometimes friendly games matches end up with results that might not be the same if it was an official match (..)”

“Our preparation program started three and a half months ago.  We had a very well laid program with the help of the Football League commission. The only setback was this Palestine match cancelation which has really hurt our plans.” The Team Manager explained.

Team Melli manager said that “The Coach has the full authority to select which players he wants. He has an assessment program where the players are technically fully analyzed and evaluated according to the requirement of the game plans. Mohammad Nouri is one of the players that might be added to the list.”

Masoud Shojaei scores a rare hat trick.

Doha

Masoud Shojaei , playing for Al Shahaniya in Qatar Star League QSL scored a rare career hat trick to help his team defeat the 10 man Al Sadd and current league  leader 3 – 1.

Team Melli winger Shojaei who was unable to find a Spanish club after his last club Las Palmas did not renew his contract following a poor season, eventually ended up in Qatar with the newly promoted team from the second division. Up to Sunday’s match against Al Sadd, Shojaei has managed to score one goal only in 12 matches. He has now 4 goals in total.

Masoud Shojaei has been one of the weaker performers in Team Melli matches. However; despite his lackluster displays , Shojaei has always been favored by Queiroz who has a much higher regards and respect for players who play outside Iran, especially Europe. Shojaei has been booed regularly at Azadi when playing for Team Melli due to his marginal form.   His lack of goals in Al Shahaniya has prompted the lowly team to look for an alternative striker from North Africa and Brazil to join the team in the January window. It is not known if this hat trick has changed the AL Shahaniya managements’ mind.

Masoud Shojaei seemed to have a found new lease of life just about the right time for himself and Team Melli with about a month to go for the AFC Asian Cup 2015. Shojaei’s compatriot Mehrdad Pooladi , currently not able to play for Iran , is also playing for the QSL team. Al Shahaniya is still near the bottom of the league and in danger of a quick return to the second division of Qatar league after one season only in top flight. Al Shahaniya has 12 points from 14 matches in the 13th position of the 14 team league.

Cartlos Queiroz appeals to the authorities to release his players.

Carlos Queiroz , Team Melli  coach with “humility” urged the football federation and the authorities to find a solution for the missing key players in the squad.

On arrival in Johannesburg , Queiroz gave a brief statement to the press , pleading with his superiors to actively seek the release of players such as Mehrdad Pooladi , Soroush Rafei , Hossein Mahini , Mohammad Nouri and others who are either totally banned from playing football or have restriction on their playing  rendering them not being able to be in the squad. The restrictions are normally in the form of players not being allowed to leave the country under military service regulations.

Queiroz said “ In order to achieve our objectives , I need players. I’m respectfully  appealing to  the authorities to realize the importance of the presence of some key players that we require and work to solve their problems.”.

He said officials of the Football Association and coaches of Team Melli  meantime, spent a lot of energy and worked hard. “Despite months without being pay,  we’ve worked hard to achieve the team goals. With respect to the authorities, we humbly believe that there are ways we want to help the team, it would be no cost!”

Responding to the question whether any friendly games in the South African camp has been arranged, Queiroz said “as long as we have players missing , I do not have anything to say about this topic.”

Team Melli is setting up a 10 days camp in Johannesburg in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. No friendly matches have been confirmed yet in this camp.

Pooladi is suspended in Iran

Mehrdad Pooladi has been suspended by the football league as a result of a ruling by the Government organization for employments.

The ruling has been issued because Pooladi has failed to produce a genuine “Certificate of Release from Military Service.” When the Al Shahaniya player was summoned by the authorities either to produce different documents or proceed on the mandatory 2 years military service, Pooladi , however , failed to show up. At some stage , his continuous failure to turn up might end up quite costly if he is labeled as a deserter.  

As such, Pooladi being suspended from football activities in Iran , he will not be selected for Team Melli and as of now , it is pretty certain that the best performing Iranian player in the FIFA World Cup 2014 will be missing from the roster for the AFC Asian Cup 2015.

The ruling does not affect Pooladi’s playing outside of Iran and it is not binding for his Qatari club.

 

 

 

Iran and Italy football cooperation.

Ali Kaffashian has announced that an understanding has been reached with the Italian football federation for cooperation between the two countries football activities at youth level. Kaffashian said that he met his Italian counterpart for the second time in as many years and agreed that the two federation will work closely on many levels particularly youth level.

Kaffashian stressed that the Italians have an advance program for grassroots football between the ages of 8 to 14 and his federation would be seeking the Italians experience to advance grassroots football in Iran. “We hope that the Italian expertise and long history of successful youth football programs are utilized in Iran”

Kaffashian also said that his federation is seeking expertise in Woman football coaching from Italy.

IRIB is not cooperating

Speaking to the media on Sunday , the head of FFIRI  bemoaned the lack of serious interest by IRIB to resolve the dispute over TV broadcast rights. Kaffashian said that the IRIB has not changed its position from the onset of the dispute until now and is steadfastly refusing to negotiate any settlement. Kaffashian warned that Iran will lose a place in the AFC Champions league due to lack of domestic TV coverage and such setbacks are serious enough to push Iran back into amateur football once again.

Mehrdad Pooladi is banned from playing in Iran

Kaffashian has also announced that they have asked Carlos Queiroz not to invite Mehrdad Pooladi to Team Melli because of Military Service Issue “I am afraid that Pooladi is not allowed to play football in Iran unless his Military Service is completed or his status is resolved. We regret that step has to be taken as we are following the law but hope that he can resolve the issue with the authority.”

Mehrdad Pooladi was the best Iranian player in FIFA World Cup 2014 according to FIFA’s players Statistics and performance analysis. He is also one of the all-time favorites of Carlos Queiroz. Pooladi is currently playing professional football in the QSL with Al Shahaniya club alongside his Team Melli mate Masoud Shojaei.

Mehrdad Pooladi saved by FIFA !

The enigma of Mehrdad Pooladi and his failure to sign for a club was revealed at last.

Pooladi , who was Iran’s best player in FIFA World Cup 2014 according to figures and performance statistics, has failed to sign for a club since his contract with Persepolis expired at the end of last season.

It seems that whole problem preventing  Al Shahaniya , who had Pooladi in the top of their shopping list , from signing Team Melli’s left back was the refusal by FFIRI to issue an ITC despite Pooladi being a free agent and out of contract.

In an official statement by FFIRI published in their website, the federation announced that it has received a request from Qatar FA on 20th of September 2014 for the issue of International Transfer. Certificate (ITC) for Mehrdad Pooladi upon the request of  QSL club Al Shahaniya Club of Doha. FFIRI refused to issue the ITC because of Military Service commitment by Pooladi !

As per the FIFA regulation governing the transfer of players, if the original country of issuance failed to produce the ITC without providing a valid reason(s), then after 15 days the player may join his desired team without requiring an ITC while the FA that refused to issue the ITC in the first place has no legal right to that player.

In what seems to be another of those weird twists of the wonderful football administration of Iran, the interference of the football federation in a governmental task is immediately put under scrutiny. The question that would be asked by anyone with an average level of intelligence is, what has FFIRI , an NGO as Kaffashian likes to always brag about, has got to do with the Military service requirement of a player , which is purely government official business?

Time and Time again, FIFA has warned, suspended, sanctioned many of its FA members across the world because of government interference in football. Iran was one such country that was suspended right after the 2006 World Cup as the government forced the head of FA at the time , Mohammad Dadkan to leave his office, citing unsatisfactory results in the FIFA World Cup 2006 !!!

Masoud Shojaei along with Mehrdad Pooladi in the signing ceremony

It seems that FFIRI are not heeding the warnings and have yet to fully comprehend the risks of government interference in any shape, a taboo as far as FIFA is concerned. The government of Iran has the power , the tools , the procedures and the legal means to deal with the players who have escaped the military service, the Football Federation has no right to act as an agent of the government and refuse to issue ITC for a player because Pooladi has an issue with military service. To complicate the matters even more, one must ask, where has the FFIRI been all these years since 2006 when Pooladi started with Peykan Esteghlal, Tractorsazi , Mes Kerman , and now Persepolis? The answer was nicely provided by FFIRI themselves when an official responded to media questions and stated that FFIRI is not to be blamed for the latest problems of fake certificates because it does not have the tools nor the legal power to ascertain the validity of a player’s military service status. That is of course quite a valid point and a genuinely true statement, but refusing to issue an ITC for Pooladi is a direct contradiction to this statement and playing with fire as far as FIFA regulations are concerned. When FFIRI does not have the tools, the information and the legal power, why is it refusing to issue an ITC based on a military matter ?

Mehrdad Pooladi officially joined Al Shahaniya of Qatar Star League (QSL) to join his team Melli teammate Masoud Shojaei as the second Iranian in the team.

The team will be playing against Umm Salal who has Pejman Montazeri in their line up on Thursday. Al Shahaniya is currently two places above the relegation zone of the QSL with 4 points from 5 games.

Mahini on the brink of suspension from football !

Hossein Mahini , Team Melli and  Persepolis defender is on the brink of suspension from football after he failed to produces genuine and authentic medical report justifying his exclusion from the mandatory Military Service.

Mahini , who was born in Bushehr, but played most of his senior football in Khuzestan , was named as one of over 100 footballers holding fake Exemption from Military Service certificates. Many footballers were subsequently acquitted while the name of about 10 was publicized as player who are confirmed to have cheated. None of the 10 players were Team Melli members of any age level.

Mahini’s exemption was based on a medical certificate, which apparently was not very convincing to the investigating committee.   These investigations were initiated by the authorities, ironically after Persepolis and Ali Daei blew the whistle on Foolad Khuzestan players hoping that the FFIRI will deprive Foolad from their championship title last season and declare Persepolis, who were ranked second behind  Foolad, as champions!

The federation refused to act on Persepolis demands due to legality and absence of such ruling in the Federations byelaws, however FFIRI initiated an investigations into these allegations and passed the findings to the relevant authorities. As Karma would have it , an important Persepolis player in Hossein Mahini was on the list to the dismay of the reds.

If Mahini fails to produce authentic documents, he will face at least a two year suspension from playing for Persepolis putting more pressure on the beleaguered club especially in the defense where the team is already suffering after the loss of two international players Jalal Hosseini and Mehrdad Pooladi.