Year: 2018

Mass clear out in Iran’s football federation corridor of power.

Following the challenges posed by the implementation of the law prohibiting the retired employees of the government from taking paid employment at any organizations, including NGO’s, the Football Federation FFIRI was a tricky case. The Speaker of the Parliament summed up the issue, and said that all retirees (including those of the most challenging sports federation of Iran) will soon have to withdraw from their positions and posts.

According to ISNA, the issue of the exclusion of the law on football federation in recent months has posed a lot of challenges, and various interpretations of the law passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, but ultimately Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, during the meeting with the Board of Directors of the Football Federation, declared that retired Football Federation Directors are also included in the law governing retired employees and hence are required to enforce and abide by it.

Some scholars believed that implementing this law in football could have negative effects, including the suspension of the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI by FIFA , but the Speaker of the Consultative Assembly, emphasizing that the government has not been involved in the initiation, amendment or enforcement of this law, said it is willing to sign an official document with the federation and ensure compliance with FIFA Code of Conduct to prevent any possible involvement of the international body in the implementation of this law in Iran.

Based on that Mehdi Taj , President of the Football Federation, Mohammad Reza Saket, General Secretary, Abdul Kazem Taleghani, Heydar Baharvand, Mahmoud Islamiyan, Fereydoon  Isfahanian and Ali Kafashian, members of the board of directors of the federation are all forced to leave their posts in Seoul building.

The Consultative Assembly, is technically a non government legislative body and hence its decrees are not part of government executive powers. FIFA has not clearly defined such laws on non-government bodies interference. This law, which was debated in the Majlis( Parliament) has had good popular support.

It is not clear if Mehdi Taj will file a complaint with FIFA, however, he has declared in recent interview that he will abide by the law of the nation.

 

Ramin Rezaeian joins Qatar Star League club.

Al-Shahaniyah club of Qatar Stars League announced yesterday that it has agreed terms with Ramin Rezaeian, Team Melli defender.

According to Qatar’s Al-Raya newspaper, Rezaeian’s contract with Al Shahaniyah will last to the end of this season and, if agreed, can be renewed and extended.

Rezaian in al-Shahaniyah has replaced by Oman’s “Nader Avesh”, who has undergone surgery for the cruciate ligament rupture.

Al-Shahaniyah club is trying to ensure that all documents are approved to enable him to play on Thursday against Al-Dhuhail.

Rezaeian has been a free agent from end of last season after being released by his Belgian club.

Forest Boss is all praise for Karim Ansarifard

While Nottingham Forest forward Lewis Grabban snaffled up his tenth goal of the season as well as three points for the Reds, as they beat previously table-topping Sheffield United 1-0 at the City Ground and the £6m striker grabbed the spotlight again, Forest boss Aitor Karanka is delighted to have further strengthened his attacking arsenal with the capture of the Team Melli Striker, Karim Ansarifard.

Forest had to be patient while working through significant red tape to complete the signing of the 28-year-old, who had his contract with Olympiacos terminated in August, in order to facilitate his move to the Championship.

“I am really pleased to have signed him. I knew that the day would arrive,” said Karanka, who gave the player his debut as a substitute, deep into injury time. “The day has arrived yesterday, which was really good, given that we need him.

“The delay was to do with the work permit. I don’t know the exact details, but it was only ever a question of getting the right paperwork.”
I am just pleased to have him because, even in the two minutes he had on the pitch, he showed that he is crazy to play for this team.”

Karanka says Ansarifard is fit and ready to go – but says he will need some time to adapt to the Championship.

“He is fully fit and ready to go, but he will need time to settle in, having arrived in this league from another country,” said Karanka. “But he is a professional and he is a winner. I am positive.”
“He scored 17 goals for Olympiacos and he has quality. He is a good finisher.

“To score goals we need to get the ball into the box and you need players to be arriving into the box at the right time.

“We have good players and we are arriving at the right time. We have very good strikers. We have Lewis, we have Daryl (Murphy) and now we have Karim as well.

“Now we have another alternative. He is a good player and another player who is a very good person and a good teammate for the changing room.

“He only played one or two minutes, but the run he made in the last seconds can show you how hungry he is; how much he wants to help the team. “He is a good man and a good player, so I am really pleased with him.”

Karim made the cameo appearance with the minimal of preparation in the 90th minute of the game.

Three team Melli players play in the English leagues. Apart from Karim, Alireza Jahanbakhsh plays for Brighton and Saeid Ezatolahi plays for Reading in the Championship.

Finally…Nottingham Forest signs Ansarifard

Nottingham Forest have signed Iran striker Karim Ansarifard after delays obtaining a work permit.
The 28-year-old Team Melli center forward has signed a one-and-a-half year contract, after finally being granted a work permit to enable him to join the Championship club.

Ansarifard joins as a free agent on a deal until the summer of 2020.

He has been without a club since being released by Olympiacos – the Greek club owned by Forest majority shareholder Evangelos Marinakis – in August.

Ansarifard scored 17 goals in 26 league appearances for Olympiacos last season and featured against Burnley in the Europa League earlier this term.

He has scored 18 goals in 68 international appearances for Iran, including the equaliser against European champions Portugal at the 2018 World Cup.

Nottingham Forest fans have been reacting to the much anticipated signing of Karim Ansarifard.

The former Olympiacos forward arrives at the City Ground on a free transfer following the termination of his contract with the Greek club in August.

He signed terms on a one-and-a-half year contract in Nottingham and will add competition to the current forward line of Nottingham forest in-form Lewis Grabban, Daryl Murphy and Hillal Soudani.

Despite the move only being announced on the day of today’s visit of table-topping Sheffield United the forward is eligible to be included in Aitor Karanka’s squad.
This however will not be his first time taking on English opposition this season as he featured for his former side Olympiacos as they eliminated Burnley in the Europa League.

Rank 30 for Team Melli

Iran climbed 3 places to number 30 in the world in the latest ranking figures that was published by FIFA on the 25th October 2018.

While still maintaining the top title in the AFC Zone , Team Melli managed to add 3 extra points to its grand total.  All other Asian teams maintained the same place in the AFC zone ranking.

 

FIFA Ranking Oct 2018

Rank Team Points Previous  Change
28 SVKSlovakia 1483 1491 -2
29 VENVenezuela 1479 1476 3
30 IRNIR Iran 1478 1474 3
31 PARParaguay 1477 1477 0
32 BIHBosnia and Herzegovina 1476 1468 2

 

 

AFC Zone

 

Asia

Rank

 World Rank Positions Total Points Previous Points +/-
1 30 IRNIR Iran 1478 1474 3
2 42 AUSAustralia 1432 1431 1
3 50 JPNJapan 1409 1398 4
4 53 KORKorea Republic 1401 1395 2
5 72 KSASaudi Arabia 1334 1337 -1

 

 

 

Biranvand flying high.

He might not be every fan’s cup of tea, but Biarnvand is certainly flying high these days and was the man of the match in Persepolis AFC Champions League semifinal victory against Al Sadd of Qatar.

Persepolis has secured a 0-1 away win against Al Sadd in Doha. A draw in the jammed packed Azadi would have taken the most popular club in Iran to the finals of the AFC Champions League for the first time in its illustrious history.

Al Sadd star-studded team included two famous Spanish midfielders. The legendary ex-Barcelona star Xavier Hernández Creus or better known to the world as “Xavi“, and ex Ateltico Madrid Gabriel Fernández Arenas or “Gabi”in addition to the competition top scorer the Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah and South Korean national team midfielder Jung Woo-Young

The crowd, estimated to be over 120,000 fans in Azadi , despite the official viewpoint of 78,000 , were stunned when the Algerian Bounedjah scored passed Biranvand in the 17th minute.

Persepolis scored the equalizer early in the second half when Siamak Nemati scored in the similar fashion to Al Sadd goal.

Minutes from the final whistle with the match finally in balance and the 1-1 draw result taking Persepolis to the final of the AFC Champions League. Xavi, with his immense wealth of experience in World football and Barcelona, escaped all the Persepolis defense to be on the receiving end of a fine cross which he headed powerfully towards the far end of Persepolis goal. The trajectory of the header seemed to be certain to end up in the goal and a definite winner for Al Sadd.

Alireza Biranvand , stunned by the freedom given to Xavi to freely head the ball was off guard. However, Team Melli guardian flew like an eagle and brilliantly deflected the ball over the bar to save his team from certain elimination.

This type of saves are written in the records book for its brilliance but more for its significance on the result and the fate of the teams. It was a huge and spectacular save that needs to be written in the records book which Alireza Biranvand has a claim on another one, which was his World Cup Penalty save against no other than Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.

Biranvand has saved a Xavi header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty. Not many keepers can claim such feat.

Saying that, Birnavand remains an enigma. He can be world-class one day, and a villain the next. He concedes goals that even the weakest keepers can save. He is also a bit of nuisance cum showman in the matches with his running and shouting at his defenders act. Add this to his time-wasting tactics that are far from clever and has brought him several yellow cards.

The Team Melli fans across the world would be much gladder to see the positive side of Biranvand in the UAE. He is undoubtedly flying high now and we all hope to see that continues for the next 3 months.

Esteghlal and Pas Tehran are the only Iranian clubs who have won the Asian Clubs top prize before.

Sepahan, Zob Ahan and Esteghlal have also been finalists.

Persepolis will play Kashima Antlers of Japan in the final of AFC Champions League 2017/18 season.

Venezuela also cancels the friendly match!

FFIRI has received a message from its Venezuelan counterpart stating that its national team which was supposed to be in Tehran on 20th November to face Team Melli, will not be able to appear.

 

According to FFIRI spoke person Homeira Asadi, the Venezuelans have stated that several of their players are resident in the USA and hence will be unable to join the squad. Asadi declined to comment on whether the FFIRI will seek compensation from the Venezuela FA for such move.

After this cancellation , Team Melli will play against Trinidad and Tobago and Qatar before flying to UAE for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

Iran and Qatar to meet in a friendly

Team Melli will probably be playing its last preparation match against Qatar on the last day of the year to complete its schedule before flying to the UAE to compete in the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

The Qatar Football Association has announced the program for its national team which includes four matches against Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Algeria and Iran.

Team Melli will be playing against Trinidad and Venezuela before meeting Qatar.

There was no confirmation from FFIRI on this match., but that is pretty much expected.

Ladies allowed into Azadi Stadium.

Last night, the Team Melli met Bolivia in a friendly international match at Azadi Stadium, the result of which was a narrow win by two goal to one for Iran.

Apart from the satisfactory result, a more significant and important thing in Azadi Stadium was the surprise presence of women after 40 years. Since the Islamic revolution, females were banned by the fundamentalist government from attending men football matches at all the stadiums in Iran.

Although the presence of women watching the match was selective and limited, and ordinary people could not watch the match, nevertheless allowing such limited numbers to enter the stadium for the first time after 40 years, even in a controlled manner, could be a good omen and might even be the beginning of equal opportunity for men and women to be able to attend football match at all Iranian stadiums.

This particular ban by the religious authorities is second most despised and unpopular of all the freedom restrictions that the Islamists have forced upon Iranians after that hated forced Hijab wearing for females.

Under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran in accordance with the concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, the powers of government are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive powers, functioning under the supervision of the Absolute Guardianship and the Leadership of the Ummah , which is in reference to the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamnaei.

Iranians and Persians in general, have always taken pride in the role of women not just at home but in a greater scope in their society. Iran was a leading country in literacy of females and their involvement in civil activities and sport

During the Shah’s regime, women ministers served in the government. Dr. Farrokhroo Parsa was Minster of Education from 27th August 1968  to 2nd January 1971. Parse was a physician, educator and parliamentarian. Her mother, Fakhr-e Āfāgh, was the editor of the women’s magazine Jahān-e Zan (“The World of Woman”). After the Islamic revolution and after 8 years out of office, Parsa was callously executed after a summary trial.

Another female Minister was Mahnaz Afkhami, who manged to escape to USA but remained an outspoken campaigner for women’s rights in Iran.

Women Rights did not appeal to the Islamic Republic’s more conservative elements especially at the beginning of the revolution when many radical and extremists where in power.

“The women who participated in the revolution, and they did in large numbers, many of them were actually pushing for more rights, they were pushing for more freedoms, pushing for more equality,” Mahnaz Afkhami, currently living in US explained to BBC in an interview.

“That was why the disappointment was so great when the revolution ended up taking away the rights that they had already gained.”

After the Iranian revolution in 1979, many of the secular rights that women had being afforded under the Shah were abolished or rolled back. An order was passed that laws that were in contravention of religious (or sharia) rules had to be revoked.

Islamic polygamy was instituted and, most visibly, the hijab head covering became mandatory in all public spaces.

For 40 years Iranian women resisted and protested the government’s harsh treatment of women and for that, they were victimized. Thousands were dragged to police station and jailed for simply what they label as bad hijab.

Change was coming however.

The authorities eased the rules that mandated the strict wearing of hijab which even Presidents such as Rouhani criticized

Allowing women in Stadium, which must have been approved by the supreme leader, is seen as one  further step towards easing of the nation suffering which is experiencing hardships and economical decline partially due to American sanctions.

Restrictions on activities such music concerts and mixing of men and women in public have started being relaxed although not totally abandoned by the government.

No doubt that the Saudi Arabia allowing women to drive and also allowing them into stadiums to watch  football matches in what was forever an autocratic ultra conservative regime, has enticed the Iranians  to respond and not be left behind.

Sarah Ghumi, Iran’s women’s National Team player , fan who watched the game closely as a fan, said in an interview with ISNA about her experience: “Last night, there was a lot of excitement among spectators, and we were all happy when we were going to the stadium for the first time. As a fan I always wanted to go to the stadium and watch my favorite teams playing closely. Thanks God that this time the ladies entered the stadium to watch the match of our national team. We were so glad that it was really worth it.”

About the continual entry of women to the stadiums, she added “: I’m optimistic about this. I think there have been talks that families will be allowed entry to watch games from now on. I’m sure this will happen, and I hope the entry will be free for all women.”

Question of indiscretion!

One thing that not even the strongest critic of Carlos Queiroz can deny, is the fact the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli has introduced and implemented a strict discipline code and a no nonsense policy towards his Iranian players, that has helped Team Melli to develop. Queiroz demands discipline, hard work , commitment from his players. Any indiscipline or insubordination would result in the culprit being thrown out of the squad for good. There is no appeal committee with Queiroz. Many players have experienced that too.

Queiroz always claims that he does his work in a systematic manner using advance tools in player’s analysis and not based on affiliations or issues that are not performance or character related.

Yet, the Portuguese master has a habit of paradoxical behaviors that defeats his preaching and practices.  Ramin Rezaeian is one such case.

Rezaeian was not invited by Queiroz to the Team Melli squad for the last match against Bolivia. Rightly so, since he is out of competitive match practice as he did not join any team after the World Cup after his contract with the Belgian club K.V. Oostende has ran out.

However, after a few months without training, the player turned up in the Team Melli training camp that he was not invited to, and joined the training sessions, presumably with the approval of Carlos Queiroz. Although that is odd, there have been cases of former players training with their previous clubs to get in shape and gain some valuable practice for the next/future team.

Perhaps, that was the good intention of Carlos Queiroz with Rezaeian.

But the strangest decision and a kind of shock for the observers was when Rezaeian, the uninvited player, was seen on the Azadi bench on Tuesday during Bolivia game!! No matter how one likes the player, when he is not part of the team sheet, it means exactly that in professional football, he simply cannot occupy a seat on the team bench as that is reserved for the substitutes and coaching staff.

The Portuguese is very quick to criticize and denounce anything out of order or thing he does not like. He is very vocal too. Yet, he does not seem to explain what was Rezaeian doing on the bench?. Of course, no matter what justification, the laws and practices of football are very clear about the occupation of the bench which Queiroz in his own wisdom, decided to ignore!

In professional football, the one that Queiroz always rants about being part of it for decades, players who are not listed on the match sheet, normally are granted special seats in the stands but certainly NOT on the bench which was so over-crowded on Tuesday it resembled a crowded Tehran Bus.

Naturally, the question that begs itself to be asked is if that coach was Daei or Ghalenoei or any Iranian national, what would have been the reaction of the media and Critics towards such a decision? Would he not be accused of being unprofessional and bias?

Food for thought