Year: 2014

Asian Games: Iran Football Official Suspected of Sexual Harassment

Seoul: South Korean police said on Tuesday that they are investigating an official from Iran's Asian Games delegation over suspicions that he sexually harassed a female volunteer at a football stadium near the host city of Incheon. The man, who has been banned from leaving the country, admitted touching the woman while taking a photo with her on Monday at Ansan Wa Stadium, one of the Asian Games soccer venues, but said he did not think his actions were illegal, police inspector Park Min-joo said. The man has not been taken into custody, but is being investigated and will be further questioned before police decide whether to send the case to prosecutors for possible indictment, Park said. Bruce Lee from the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee said the suspect is a 38-year-old equipment manager for Iran's national soccer team. The woman, a college student, reported the incident to police on Monday. As result of this incident , The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) banned football equipment manager Ahmad  Amereh from Games sites and asked the Iranian team to send him home for verbally harassing the volunteer on Monday.

Will Iran U23 be eliminated before the Asian Games start?

After the humiliating opening group game defeat against Vietnam, a 4-1 result that sent shock waves to many critics, experts and fans in Iran, the Olympic team is under the threat of elimination from the Asian Games , before even the game officially starts. This would be a milestone in Iran’s football, a one which is truly mortifying for a nation that claims to be at the top level of Asian football. Iran has to beat Kyrgyzstan on Thursday and by a comprehensive margin to assure qualification in what was seen as an easy group.  The Asian Games Men’s football competition draw could not have been any kinder to Iran , as not only it has put it in 3 team group instead of 4 , it also  placed it with FIFA ranking 139 (Vietnam) and 144 (Kyrgyzstan) or no 21 and 22 in Asia. This time there are no Arab teams, who have really learned how to play against the Iranians, to disturb the U23 team progress. Apparently that huge advantage meant nothing as the little Vietnamese showed the mighty Iranians a few tricks of their own, specifically scoring. Beating Kyrgyzstan at this level is not an easy task as Iran discovered in the last Olympic Qualifiers in 2011. Human Afazeli was the coach when Iran U23 struggled to beat Kyrgyzstan by the tightest of margins 1-0 in Tehran while they were lucky to get a goal-less draw in Bishkek and qualified by a single goal margin. Afazeli is currently working alongside Nelo Vingada as the U23 Team Manager in Incheon.
Vietnam player celebrates scoring against Iran
Defeats in football is part and parcel of the game, but the manner of defeat can make a world of difference and in many cases, it highlights the underlying problems of that football. Ali Kaffashian has been running the federation with his usual grin for 7 years and getting away with one poorly and disjointed organization. According to the respected Amir Haj Rezaei ” the system and the administration of football in Iran is the biggest culprit behind these humiliation of our football.  Time and again, the only victims are the coaches who lose their jobs while those who are really accountable or at least share  a large portion of the blame ,  maintain their power , repeatedly display their incompetence and inability to manage football , and continue repeating the same mistakes. Our football is at the mercy of politicians’ whims and being exploited by them. These are people who have seen a great opportunity in football to exploit it and benefit from its popularity. Without improvements at the top, chances of success are slim at field level.” For Kaffashian , it is business as usual. Asked about this humiliating defeat in the press conference after signing the contract with Queiroz, the incumbent President of FFIRI claimed that there are no easy teams in the World Anymore! Down deep inside, he was probably wondering what all this fuss is about! That response by Kaffashian , just about sums up this man’s standard and aspiration towards Iran’s football.  Driven by other behind the scenes, not much can be expected from this FFIRI administration. Players and coaches, have to take all the burden of competitions in order to succeed. Iran U23 meets Kyrgyzstan u23 at 12:30 Tehran time on Thursday 18th September.   [wpcm_players limit="0" season="627" team="738" linktext="View all players" stats="number,name,position,age,hometown" title="Team Melli U-23 Asian Games 2014 Squad" type="undefined"]

Faraki  “ Team Melli U23 was shameful & catastrophic.”

Hossein Faraki, who has replaced the Croat Zlatko Kranjcar as head coach of Sepahan Esfahan , was officially introduced to the media by the club. Faraki expressed his utmost satisfaction and gratification for being appointed as a head coach of Sepahan.” I must admit to you that the approach by Mr. Khalilain ( CEO of Sepahan) was unexpected. It did not take long for me to accept the offer to coach such a great club and organization. I am following on the footsteps of an honorable and a great coach in Zlatko Kranjcar. It is a hard act to follow however my aim is to reach his class technically and ethically. We met briefly and talked about various things.” Faraki answered many questions about football and the league competition. The most interesting question was his comments on the embarrassing defeat against Vietnam in the Asian Games. Faraki said “That was a shameful & catastrophic result. Such shocking performance was the result of several factors and combination, The responsibilities are shared between the coaches and managers of the team and the players themselves. They all failed , and failed miserably to an extent that the reputation of our football has been tarnished.” The contrast between the reaction of Faraki and Lai Kaffashian is quite interesting, T he former calls it a catastrophic , the latter attributes it to the strength of the Vietnamese opposition! Faraki , normally a cool character , reserved his sharpest criticism for Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh.” This players dismissal was a shocking, dishonorable and appalling. Such act by a player is vile especially since he is representing this nation with such high Islamic values” Faraki also criticized the U23 players’ looks and hair designs and wished if the rest of the World Did not see these players in action!

Daei reveals how President Ahmadinejad sacked him!

In a controversial revelation by Ali Daei, the recently sacked Persepolis coach has said that the main reason behind his sacking as Team Melli coach was the then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The outspoken Daei said the reason for his sacking is his refusal to join Ahmadinejad re-election campaign and show his public support to the hardline President.

 Daei was sacked after one defeat against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup 2010 qualifiers, his only defeat as a coach of Team Melli. Iran was going through the Presidential Election with the opposition leaders Mousavi and Karoubi gaining grounds on the incumbent President Ahmadinejad who was losing much public support as a result of poor economy.

Daei’s claim came in last night’s edition of the popular Navad program in which Ferdowsipour was discussing Persepolis recent developments, coaching and managerial changes.

As customary in such situation, it was quite difficult to believe who is telling g the truth, but what was abundantly clear in the chronic mismanagement, government interference, nepotism, political influences and back stabbing behind the scenes that is distressing football in Iran. Persepolis, like Esteghlal , is owned and financed by the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Iran. Despite the continual denials that the Ministry interferes in the day-to-day running of the clubs, facts and behind the scene events tells otherwise.  

ahmadinejad daei

Another interesting aspect of the program was the number of Persepolis fans who were upset by the recent developments in the club. Despite poor results by Daei , he still has much support base amongst the fans as the polls indicated. Daei, admitting some of his shortfall ( and that is in itself quite unique) but attributed the team’s poor performance to the attempts by the hierarchy in the club and the Ministry of Sport to dislodge him from his post as early as the season start! In brief , Daei was saying that they were plotting against him and making his life difficult.

Daei in his defense, said “We lost quality players like Khalatbary , Jalal Hosseini , Mosalman and others because the management failed to agree terms with them and pay what they are worth. On top of that, quite a large number of players were not fully paid from the previous season’s contract. How would you expect the players to perform on the field?” Rahimi, the sacked CEO of Persepolis supported Daei’s claims and confirmed that the Hierarchy wanted Daei out even before the season started!

Daei has accused the present Minister of Sport , Goudarzi of sacking him and has established that he has the honor of being sacked by the President of the Country once and the Minister of Sport the next time.

Clearly , much like its neighboring countries , political interference in football is widespread and prevalent in Iran. Political events and spheres of influence seem to spreads to where popularity lies. The exception in Iran is the relatively more press freedom and transparency which allows such exposures to reach the public.   

Iran is given a lesson in football by Vietnam.

Iran’s U-23 team was humiliated by its Vietnamese counterpart in the opening group game of the 17th Asian games Incheon. Vietnam defeated Iran 4-1 , the first half ended 2-0. From the onset of the match , it was apparent that this team is a group of individual players who lacked teamwork was assembled for these Asian games. The team lacked cohesion and sometimes even the ABC of basic football. It was not much of a shock when Vietnam took the lead early in the match, but the expectation was that Iran with so many quality names can quickly return into the game. That was not to be, because the Vietnamese stunned everyone by scoring the second in the 28th minute. Both the Vietnamese goals scored in similar style, the first one was a diagonal ball sent from the winger after he skillfully dribbled the left back. While the ball was sent into the box , there was only one defender in the box and two Vietnamese players. The second player, the furthest,  slammed the ball into the net with keeper Sadeghi ball watching The second goal a few minutes later was again from Iran’s left , but this time the Vietnamese player dribbled 3 Iranian defenders with embarrassing ease before he slotted from an angle passed Sadeghi. The Japanese’s coach observed the weakness of Iran's left side and directed most of the offenses on the right flank of his team.

 Vingada realized , perhaps a bit late , that his team is suffering and introduced Yaghoub Karimi instead of Ali Karimi,

Yaghoub Karimi turned out to be the best player of the team despite his late introduction.

The half ended 2-0 , however Iran really bounced back in the second half with a series of offensive moves but really awful finishing.

53' Kaveh Rezaei wastes another golden opportunity when he receives the ball from right, dribbles past the keeper but could not control the ball int0 the empty net. 54' Mehdi Sharifi dribbles past his last marker , had only the keeper in front of him to beat from just inside the penalty box , but he shoots skywards! 55' Mehdi Sharifi  has forgotten his shooting boot, his final touch after some brilliant work on the right flank by Yaghoub Karimi was comical , to say the least. He completely miskicked the ball! Iran could have easily been 4-2 ahead by minute 57 64' a beautiful quality through pass from Mohsen Moslaman to Sharifi , was met by a wild tackle by the on rushing Vietnam keeper denying Sharifi a scoring chance. A classic red card offense. The referee called a Penalty for Iran but awarded the keeper a yellow card instead of red 65 Mosalman scores. While Iran was on a good run despite missing so many scoring chances, Vietnam once again stunned the Iranians with the 3rd goal scored on the 69th minute. Mojammedreza Khanzadeh , who was in the World Cup squad was quite poor in the central defense.   73' Kaveh Rezaei bests the Viet goalkeeper but his shot is deflected out hitting the lower post. Even luck has abandoned Iran.   81' Iran goalkeeper Sadeghi handles a back pass a few meters from his goal. A very strange act and a disastrous basic mistake, The ensuing free kick is scored by Vietnam again with quite poor Iranian defense! . As to put the icing on the kick , Iran not only lost the match result but the sportsmanship as well. A visibilyy frustrated Mojammedreza Khanzadeh was shown the second yellow card after a foul on Vietnam keeper , shoves a Vitneamese player in the face in what looks like an unsportmanship behavior, and plunges him on the ground. Khanzadeh should expect a severe punishment and that might be his un ceremonial farewell to the Asian Games. Players like him. Who cannot control their temper after a bitter loss,  should never represent Iran at any level. Their action affects the whole team. Khanzadeh not only was poor as a player , he lost his manner and composure and will face a long suspension from AFC. It was a bitter end for a sorry team. Even if the team recovers in the final group match , it will take a major work to make it tick for the rest of the competition.
Iran U23 team will play its first match in the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 against the unknown quality of Vietnam U23 on Tuesday 15th September 2014. Despite the irregular preparation and several difficulties in the release of the players bu their clubs, Vingada has arranged a sound group of players and has enough firepower to go through this easy group without much difficulties. Only 3 teams for the Iran group in the Asian games.  

Iran U-23 Squad

17rh Asian Games Incheon 2014

AKHBARISHADMohammadreza 15 FEB 1993 CHESHMI Roozbeh 24 JUL 1993 DANESHGAR Mohammad 20 JAN 1994 ESMAEILI Farshid 23 FEB 1994 HEYDARIEH Vahid 03 JAN 1993 KANANI ZADEGAN Mohammadhossein 23 MAR 1994 KARIMI Ali 11 FEB 1994 KARIMI Yaghoub 31 AUG 1991 KHANZADEHDARABY Mohammad Reza 11 MAY 1991 MAHDIPOUR Mahdi 18 FEB 1994 MOSALMAN Mohsen 27 JAN 1991 NASERI Mohammad 18 APR 1993 PAHLAVAN Ehsan 25 JUL 1993 POURALIGANJI Morteza 19 APR 1992 REZAEI Kaveh 05 APR 1992 REZAVAND Arash 05 OCT 1993 SEDGHI Hojjat 07 FEB 1993 SHARIFI Mehdi 16 AUG 1992 SHIRVAND Shahryar 21 MAR 1991 VAKIA Yousef 30 SEP 1993

Iran U16 out of the competetion

Bangkok: DPR Korea secured a semi-final meeting with Australia at the AFC U-16 Championship after edging out fellow former champions Iran 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw in their quarter-final at Muangthong Stadium on Sunday.   Han Kwang-song, Kim Wi-song, Kim Ye-Bom and Ri Kuk-hyon all scored for 2010 champions DPR Korea in the shootout. But after Hesam Soltanpour and Reza Karimi had converted for Group D winners Iran, both Nima Daghestani and Reza Shekari blazed high and wide to hand DPR Korea the semi-final berth and qualification for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. The game had made a slow start with the first shot on target coming in the 14th minute after DPR Korea midfielder Kim Ye-bom dispossessed Soltanpour in the middle of the park before firing his shot straight at Iran goalkeeper Farid Nejatpashaki from 20 yards. Iran finally created their first chance of note in the 20th minute as midfielder Karimi tried to curl his shot into the top corner from 25 yards only to see his effort easily held by DPR Korea goalkeeper Ri Chol-song. Han, who scored in each of DPR Korea's three outings in Group C, then took down a tricky ball on the edge of the penalty area before turning to create space for the shot, only to find goalkeeper Nejatpashaki had narrowed the angle well and was able to block his goalbound effort. But Iran created the best chance of the first half eight minutes before the interval as Soltanpour slipped an inch-perfect ball to Karimi, but as the striker closed in on goal, he was denied by a superbly timed tackle by defender Kim Wi-song. DPR Korea started the second half the stronger and kept pushing for the opener as Han broke into the Iran area from the left and skipped past two challenges before Nejatpashaki saved well from eight yards in the 65th minute. With 15 minutes to play, Han had yet another sight of goal but his first attempt from the edge of the area was blocked by defender Alireza Aghabarari, and when the ball rebounded to him, his follow-up effort was deflected over the crossbar. Iran then had their first real sight of goal of the second half in the 77th minute, but Reza Shekeri's powerful drive from 20 yards fizzed just past the right post. Then in the last minute, substitute Nima Daghestani had his effort from distance well saved by Ri to send the tie to penalties.

Match Preview : Iran U16 vs. North Korea U16

Bangkok: Iran coachMostafaGhanbar Pour has talked upDPR Korea's strengths ahead of their AFC U-16 Championship quarter-final encounter atMuangthong Stadium on Sunday. Ghanbar Pour saw the former champions Iran top Group D thanks to opening wins against Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Iran did lose 2-1 to Syria on Thursday, although Ghanbar Pour's side had already secured their second consecutive appearance in the knockout stage with a game to spare. "DPR Korea is one of the best teams in the championship. We have analysed their team and talked with our players about their positive and negative things," said Iran coach Ghanbar Pour (pictured). "They are very unified and powerful and all of their players are strong, but we have our approach and strategy to deal with their positive and negative points. "If we take our time and opportunities, we can win this match." Having already guaranteed top spot in Group D following wins over Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Ghanbar Pour made nine changes to the Iran side which lost to Syria. "We asked our main players to have a rest. Some key players also had a yellow card so we didn't want to risk them," added the Iran coach. "We also wanted to motivate them and give the substitutes a chance to play. I hope the players will benefit." The winner of the last quarter-final tie will also secure a place at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. "All the teams who are in the quarter-finals are thinking about World Cup qualification. Sunday's match is the showcase for this so it is very crucial," said Ghanbar Pour. "If we qualify, we have one year to prepare to represent the AFC." AFC-U-16-Championship-2014 Opposite number Yon Kwang-mu, meanwhile, has identified striker Han Kwang-song as DPR Korea's main player in the tournament. Han netted in all three Group C games as DPR Korea beat Kuwait and Nepal either side of a defeat by defending champions Uzbekistan. "He is our main attacker and one of the best strikers in the championship in my opinion," said Yon. "I think he will show his talent in the quarter-final." And Yon is boosted by the return of defender Kim Wi-song from suspension as the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship winners seek a return to the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time since 2011. "All the teams are dreaming about the World Cup; it is the same with our team. Every player and coach wants to be there," added the DPR Korea coach. "We have had an extra day to recover which has helped, and now we will do everything we can to qualify for the World Cup."

Khanzadeh , severely criticized the living condition of the players in Incheon.

Team Melli U23 who are competing in the Men’s football of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon , South Korea are accommodated in the worst possible hotel one can imagine. Mohammadreza Khanzadeh claims that 7 players are accommodated in one room which has one bathroom. The hotel is more like someone’s house turned into a hotel, has no internet around the players accommodation and the food is sub-standard.   “I feel sorry for this federation that has no consideration for the players’ comfort and well-being. They wants us to win the gold medal yet they are not prepared to provide a minimum decent accommodation that is worthy of the players. Thanks God the training facilities is of a high standard which is completely opposite to the pathetic accommodation. ” Khanzadeh said in a short statement to ISNA   Iran U23 will start the competition with a game against Vietnam U23 on the 15th of September in Ansan Wa~ Stadium

Ali Daei sacking goes viral.

From as far as Japan and Malaysia through the Middle East and all the way west of Europe, the sacking of Ali Daei has made the news.

"Iranian legend Ali Daei sacked at Persepolis" was Agence France-Presse news item circulated rapidly and widely from website, newspapers and news agencies. 

As a country which does not lay a claim to too many football legends , it seems that the sacking of the only one with such title , had an immediate impact round the globe. Still, with Senor Queiroz coming to save Iran's football by Tuesday, we hope that the world will hear much better news from Iranian football.