The parliament in Iran passed a new law that it has been debating for years preventing those who receive pension from Social Security Organization seeking paying jobs at other organizations including NGOs.
With the passing of this law, the majority of Iranian Sport Federations managers and heads will need to leave their jobs , including those in the Football Federation, FFIRI where the top administrators, including the President of FFIRI fall under this category.
The initial reaction of Mahdi Taj, an ex-civil servant , on learning that his name is among those who are impacted by this law , like many heads of federations, was rational, with emphasis on compliance.
” surely other football directors would inevitably come along as the result of this new law, but the question is if this law is enforced, and all of these people will be excluded from football management, can the successors of these directors manage and direct football affairs and management in the country?”
It seems now that the Football Federation is a federation is full of old and the frustrated personnel, while football itself always tries to be youthful, energetic and progressive. Unfortunately in Iran, it is the other way round. A group of older men running a youthful game.
It seems that a solution to this problem has to be found so that the implementation of a law will not create the potential vacuum and future problems.
The FFIRI administrators who are affected by this law are as follow:
Mahdi Taj (President of the Football Federation), Ali Kafashian (vice President), Heydar Bahavand (chairman of the league organization committee and second vice-President), Abdul Kazem Taleghani (board member), Mohammad Reza Saket (General Secretary), and Mahmoud Islamiyan (member of the Football Federation Council) are senior managers of the federation who are retired and will be forced to leave their jobs after the new law is implemented.
