Year: 2022

5 Key players absent against South Korea!

Team Melli’s bad fortunes continue ahead of the top of the table clash with Korea Rep. and Lebanon as five key players of the team will be absent.

An absence could affect the equations of Skocic and the national team. Following the announcement that Saeed Ezatollahi and Sadegh Moharremi, two starters for Team Melli are serving suspensions, it has now been reported that the PCR test of Saman Ghoddos, Mehdi Taremi, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh has been declared positive and these players will most likely not be able to play against Korea Rep. and most probably against Lebanon 5 days later.

The recently appointed team manager Hamid Estili’s has also been diagnosed positive. This is all confirmed by the official FFIRI website

It is now more likely that Skočić will start with a new look team while giving fringe players some game time. In any case, Iran will not have its full team available against the Koreans.

On a positive note, this match seems to be a perfect opportunity for the reserve players to show their worth for Skočić and lay claim for a starting role. These players can show their ability in the match against a powerful South Korean team that has been improving throughout the qualifiers while their golden boy Sun Heung-min is in peak form for Tottenham. Of course, picking replacement players will not be an easy task for the Croat coach looking to defend his undefeated record with Iran. Whatever the case, the composition of Iran’s team against Korea is broken. Skočić has to walk on the edge of the sword and get his team out of this difficult situation. It remains to be seen what Team Melli will do without its key players in the match against South Korea. A positive result, in a form of a draw or a win, will enhance the reputation of Iran globally but most importantly, their place in the FIFA Ranking table, so important for seeding in the Wold Cup Qatar 2022.

Saman Ghoddos out of the squad.

Team Melli midfielder Saman Ghoddos has been diagnosed positive in the latest PCR and hence lost the chance to travel to the Korean capital for the match against the host nation and the following match against Lebanon in Mashad.

In a communique with the FFIRI Brentford, the premiere league club from London has confirmed that Ghoddos will not be available for selection for the upcoming international matches.

Hamid Estili, who has recently been appointed as the new Manager of the Iranian national team, confirmed the news: “Unfortunately, we will not have Ghoddos in these two matches, but we hope that other legionnaires will be able to join the squad and play for Team Melli without any problem”. Saman Ghoddos was a starter and played both the last two matches against UAE and Iraq. His absence gives coach Dragan Skocic some difficulty. Skocic has announced that the result of the game against South Korea is very important to the team.

Team Melli arrived early morning Sunday in Korea and after the PCR test, were immediately sent to quarantine. Many Legionnaire players are yet to join including Azmoun who played for Leverkusen today in a 2-0 away win versus Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Taremi is also expected to leave for Korea after the match against Boavista. Milad Mohammadi, Ehsan Hajsafi, and Karim Ansari also played for AEK Athens in a 1-0 loss to PAOK in the Greek league.

The Derby ends in a draw with little to shout about.

The much anticipated Tehran Derby between Esteghlal and Persepolis was played on Thursday in Azadi Stadium and ended in a 1-1 draw. The importance of this derby was due to the fierce rivalry between the two teams at the top of the league table, allowing fans entry into Azadi and the selection of players for Team Melli.

Despite the restriction on the number of fans allowed into the stadium, the effect on the atmosphere and the players of the two teams was quite significant as the match was a thrilling contest from the word go. It is estimated that 20,000 fans were presently divided equally between the two teams’ supporters while thousands waited outside Azadi and in the perimeters.

The pace of the game was fast and furious, which excited the fans, but there were very few tactics and beautiful moves in the game.  From the onset, the game was spoilt by the continuous protests from players and the bench every time the referee whistled for a foul!

There is little to write about the positive side of this game despite its importance. Errors in passing, poor finishing, wild tackles, lack of basics of football was quite vivid in this game. Even allowing for the sensitivity of the match, there were numerous schoolboy errors by what was supposed to be a match between the two top teams in the country. The finishing in front of the goal was truly embarrassing and comical. In general, the match was not a good advertisement for Iran’s football whose national team has just qualified for the FIFA World Cup.

The biggest criticism, however, must be fired towards the two coaches of Persepolis and Esteghlal. Golmohammadi and Majidi. Two ex- Team Melli teammates from the same era, have stepped up to coaching without solid groundwork.  They both have a lot to learn in football management but more significantly in anger management and behavior.

From the start of the match, the bench of both teams was the catalyst in bringing the game into disruptions by their constant protests and violations.  lack of manners, shouting, threatening behavior, and the attempt of Golmohammdi to physically attack the referee resembled a scene from a gangster movie rather than a football pitch.

Golmohammadi was dismissed but it was far too late from a feeble referee who could have acted much firmly early on and could easily award a few cards of different colors earlier in the game.

GolMohammadi’s behavior was not befitting a professional coach and his loss of control in front of the camera watched by millions globally, should give the club an indication that the man is emotionally not fit to lead a big club at big events. Majidi is in a similar boat however, he escaped being sent to the stands for being able to control his temper earlier on after a stern warning from the referee.

The weakness of the FFIRI against the top teams is well documented in Iran. Persepolis and Esteghlal are simply too big for the feeble federation. The disciplinary Committee has historically shown reluctance in awarding heavy fines when Persepolis or Esteghlal are involved. Any final ruling would always end up being either appealed and reduced or dismissed altogether.

Team Melli Squad list announced.

Team Melli will play complete its FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 schedule by playing a double-header against South Korea and Lebanon on March 24th and 29th respectively. With a day before flying to Seoul on a chartered plane. the squad for the two matches was announced. Iran has qualified for the finals in Qatar and will be battling the Koreans for a top-of-the-table finish and more importantly a significant addition of points in FIFA ranking. The draw in June will seed countries for the Finals based on total points in FIFA Ranking.

Dragan Skočić has announced the list of players invited to the national team camp. The Croat coach is desperate to keep his immaculate, near-perfect record with Team Melli after over two years from his appointment replacing the perpetual failure Marc Wilmots.

The names of the invited players:

    • Goalkeepers:
  1. Alireza Biranvand
  2. Amir Abedzadeh
  3. Hossein Hosseini
    • Defenders:
  4. Sadegh Moharremi
  5. Hossein Kananizadegan
  6. Shoja’a Khalilzadeh
  7. Majid Hosseini
  8. Omid Nourafkan
  9. Milad Mohammadi
  10. Daniel Ismaelifar
  11. Farshad Faraji
  12. Aref Gholami
    • Midfielders:
  13. Saeed Ezatollahi
  14. Kamal Kamiyabinia
  15. Mehdi Mehdipour
  16. Amirhossein Hassanzadeh
  17. Milad Sarlak
  18. Ehsan Haj Safi
  19. Vahid Amiri
  20. Mehdi Torabi
  21. Ahmad Noorollahi
  22. Saman Ghoddos
  23. Ali Gholizadeh
    • Forwards:
  24. Mehdi Taremi
  25. Alireza Jahanbakhsh
  26. Sardar Azmoun
  27. Karim Ansarifard
  28. Allahyar Sayadmanesh

Two players Saeed Ezatollahi and Sadegh Moharremi are suspended for the Korea Rep match with an accumulation of two cards, while Hossein Kananizadegan is surprisingly included in the list despite being sanctioned by the disciplinary committee!!

Khalilzadeh and Hosseini are off injury list.

Team Melli’s next match against Korea Rep. in 13 days’ time will witness the availability of two key players.

Shojaá  Khalilzadeh and Majid Hosseini, both injured playing for their clubs, will be available for selection. The fact that Khalilzadeh’s injury was not serious as initially thought, gave Skocic positive news and quite a relief.

With Kananizadegan’s suspension, Siavash Yazdani unavailable due to Military service, the backline of the team looked suspect and a serious source of concern by Dragan Skocic in recent days, The Croat Head Coach was closely following the situation of his players for the matches against South Korea and Lebanon, two matches in which a victory or at least a draw against Korea and a victory against Lebanon will guarantee Team  Melli, top finish in the table.

Contrary to KayseriSpor’s statements about Majid Hosseini’s deteriorating condition, the Team Melli defender returned to the field in last week’s Turkish Premier League and played for his team for 90 minutes. Skocic, would have picked Omid Nourafkan to play in the central defense although Nourafkan has limited experience playing in that defensive role. Hence the availability of Majidi Hosseini is assuring.

Unlike years ago when Team Melli defenders outnumbered players in the midfield and attack, lately not many players have been selected for the squad in the defensive line.  Paulo Bento, the Portuguese coach of South Korea, recently stated in an interview that his team, despite qualifying for the World Cup, is looking to win the next two remaining games and intends to take the top of the group and will play with all its might.

Frank O’Farrell, former Team Melli coach, dies aged 94

The former Team Melli coach Frank O’Farrell has died at the age of 94. The Irishman also managed Leicester and Manchester United.

O’Farrell guided Leicester to the 1969 FA Cup final during his three-year spell in charge but the Irishman was best known as the man who succeeded Sir Matt Busby as United manager in 1971, although his Old Trafford reign would last only 18 months.

O’Farrell was a wing-half who played for his native Cork, West Ham, and Preston, winning nine Republic of Ireland caps between 1952 and 1959.

He began his managerial career at Weymouth in 1961 and spent three years at Torquay before landing the Leicester job in 1968. Leicester were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in the following year’s Cup final and relegated from the First Division three weeks later.

O’Farrell was quickly appointed as Busby’s successor. After a promising start which saw United top the table for the first time in three years, O’Farrell fell out with George Best and the team ended the season eighth. O’Farrell was sacked in December 1972 with United third from bottom.


After a short spell at Cardiff, O’Farrell was appointed as the Head coach of Team Melli in April 1974. He began his tenure with seven consecutive wins, leading them to the gold medal at the 1974 Asian Games and qualification for the Montreal Olympics.

O’Farrell was credited for undertaking the development of national coaches like his protege Heshmat Mohajerani, Bahman Salehnia, and Hasan Habibi. Mohajerani took over from O’farell and became the best Iranian coach in the history of Iran and was crowned with his qualification to the World Cup 1978.

In January 2006, O’Farrell was invited to Iran to attend a ceremony in honor of Persepolis’ former players, along with Alan Rogers

In testimony to O’Farrell, the Iranian superstar of the 70’s Hassan Rowshan commented Frank O’Farrell, was a real gentleman; A coach. In my opinion, I believe that Rykov built the infrastructure and foundation of Iranian football, and O’Farrell completed it. Interestingly, unlike Carlos Queiroz, O’Farrell believe in domestic trainers and had several Iranian assistants, such as Mohajerani, Habibi, and Salehnia, with him, and taught them the work. After O’Farrell left Iran, Mohajerani took the helm of the national team and achieved good results in the Asian Cup, the Olympics, and the World Cup, especially in Argentina.

O’Farrell later attended the 1978 World Cup in Argentina as a reporter and met with the Iranian national team players.

Reacting to the fact that some consider O’Farrell the architect and a kind of gateway to the world football arena, Rowshan said: “With the change of generation that took place, O’Farrell invited younger players to Team Melli who later formed the main body of the team. First of all, if you want to build a 100-story apartment building, you have to have a solid foundation. Rykov did that and tore down our old football foundation and built a new one. O’Farrell helped modernize our football. Rykov was a coach from Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia. Most of Europe’s great coaches at the time were from Eastern Europe. As I said, Rykov took the first step and then O’Farrell prepared the team in the style of Western European teams. Unlike Queiroz, who was looking to play against weaker teams, Rykov focused on the likes of Brazil, Hungary, and Manchester United. In my opinion, Rykov and O’Farrell, in addition to Mohajerani, were our best national coaches.

Dragan Skočić stress is reduced with Azizi Khadem’s removal.

During his one year in charge, the former president of the Football Federation never voiced strong support for Team Melli head coach Skocic and always avoided answering questions regarding Skočić, future with Team Melli. Now that Azizi Khadem is dismissed, the FFIRI’s managers are already discussing extending the Croatian coach’s contract until the World Cup.

Despite all the criticism, adversaries, and plots behind his back, the Croatian head coach Dragan Skocic, was able to lead Iran to one of the fastest qualifications to the world cups. He and his team were able to qualify for the 2022 World Cup three rounds before the end of the qualifying round, which sounds like Skocic’s contract will be automatically renewed. According to a contract signed two years ago in February 2009, Skocic was tasked with leading the national team to the World Cup in Qatar, and as a result, his contract was successfully extended at every stage. The first phase of Skocic’s mission was successfully completed after overcoming the crisis in the second phase of the World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain. As a result, he has the opportunity to accompany the national team in the final qualifying round of the World Cup, and by advancing to the World Cup, he was successful in the second step and can now be at the helm of Iran in Qatar.

Hamid Estili, recently appointed as the Manager of the Iranian national football team, has recently spoken about this issue. He says that with the World Cup, Skocic’s contract has been extended until the end of the biggest football event in the world, and the Football Federation has confirmed this. In this way, Skocic is comfortable sitting on the coaching bench of Iran in Qatar 2022; Something that never happened during the administration of Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, the ousted president of the federation. Azizi Khadem religiously avoided answering the important question of whether Skocic will lead Team Melli in Qatar or not. Azizi Khadem’s ambiguous answers over the past year have also raised concerns for Skocic, who has spoken in numerous interviews about his inalienable right to lead Iran to the World Cup, he has never before been so firm about being in Qatar like he was after qualification. Skocic firmly believed that he deserved an extension of the contract based on merit and acheivments.

But with the departure of Azizi Khadem, the current board of directors of the federation and the acting head namely Mirshad Majedi, in a meeting with Hamid Estili, also confirmed Skocic’s retention for the World Cup. Shortly before taking over the presidency of the federation, he spoke of the validity of Skocic’s contract with the federation until the end of the World Cup. Recently, Ehsan Osuli, spokesman and member of the board of directors of the Football Federation, in response to this question in the post-Azizi Khadem era, praised the excellent performance of Skočić and pointed out that the board of directors of the Football Federation, is highly appreciating the performance of Team Melli under Skocic, supports his presence on Iran’s bench in Qatar.

Dragan Skocic, in his first coaching experience as head coach of a national team, recorded 14 victories in 15 games and has not suffered any defeats so far. During this time, he was able to climb the FIFA Ranking all the way up to the 21st position in the monthly global table, and now he has the opportunity to record one of Iran’s best performances in the World Cup with a generation of experienced and talented players.

Team Melli will be meeting the Korea Republic and Lebanon in the last two rounds of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

The saga of Azizi Khadem!

The events leading to and following the temporary removal of Azizi Khadem are indeed mind-boggling affair and is indicative of how crooked and dodgy football is in Iran.

Hardly a household name or a person with an illustrious football career,  Azizi Khadem, found himself occupying the most important post in Iran’s football. In a dodgy election, he managed to beat a much tried and tested Kiomars Hashmi, Mostafa Ajrlou, and Iran’s football legend Ali Karimi to win the presidency of FFIRI.

Azizi Khadem was in fact was a member of FFIRI working behind the scenes but he was hardly a newsworthy item and rarely quoted in public. He tried his luck for the post of presidency twice and failed, it was his third time lucky for the former executive of several government-owned industries.

Government-owned is indeed the magical word, as through such connections that even dubious people can go a long way climbing the ladder.

Azizi Khadem’s win, which was a surprise for many critics, did not start on a positive note. He was media-shy and prepared to work quietly. His modus operandi was to keep below the radar, follow his agenda, and hope he was not noticed frequently. In such a post, it was difficult to achieve tor that. But, he managed to ruffle some feathers, and the opposition to his management style and threat to his post started brewing within the corridors of tFFIRI growing bigger and bigger by the weeks.

Career and Biography

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem was born on February 22, 1977, in Lorestan. He was a Bachelor of Political Science graduate from the University of Tehran, holds a Master’s degree in Regional Studies and International Relations from Allameh Tabatabai University, and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Tehran.

A man with two birth certificates

Shahabuddin Aziz Khatam used a birth certificate number 755 and date of birth 11973 in Pol Tang, which belonged to his deceased brother

On August 10, 1997, he was able to get his new identity card with the date of his birth of January 21, 1976, which conflicts with many of his records and does not match his real age!

a 10 years old soldier!

In his own words, Azizi Khadem said that in 1987, according to his old identity card, he was drafted and sent to the war front as a 15-year-old boy, although according to his new identity card, he would have been a 10-year-old child!!

football background.

After the war, while studying in 1997, he played as a right-back for the Rah Ahan team and was a member of Iran’s students’ national team. During the reign of Ahmadinejad’s government, and due to his close connection with Parviz Kazemi, the then Minister of Welfare, Azizi Khadem was appointed to the board of directors of several government-owned companies operating under the authority of the Ministry of Welfare.

He was a board member of Amirkabir Petrochemical and Shazand Petrochemical government-owned companies and was also the Parliamentary and Legal advisor to his mentor the Minister of Welfare and Social Security.

Azizi Khadem somehow entered football administration by recommendation and influences through an appointment in the board of directors of the Football Federation  FFIRI. in 2012 at the age of 33, and a year later he became a member of the Executive board of directors of the government-owned club “Peykan”.

He somehow was appointed as a Board Member of FFIRI at the age of 33 when the bylaws of FFIRI stipulate that the minimum age for such appointment was 35 years!

Running for Presidency

In 2017, he tried to register his candidacy for the Presidency of the Football Federation, but his application was rejected due to his lack of 10 years of managerial experience required to be eligible. He was disqualified.

Azizi Khadem tried her luck again a year later in 2018, but the assembly voted for “Mahmoud Islamian“. in 2020, he was able to enter Saipa Club as a Board Member of the government-owned club

In 2021, Azizi Khadem along with Ali Karimi, Mostafa Ajrlou, and Kiomars Hashemi were approved as candidates for the post of President of the Football Federation. Finally, he was able to win 48 votes of members of the Assembly against 38 votes of Kiomars Hashemi. After winning the election on his third attempt, he was appointed as the President of FFIRI.

Most of his career progression was through appointments. A career that started by faking his National Card “Shinasnameh” and dubious claim he was on the war front at the age of 10. The common factor in all his career was a government-own entity and a close connection to a Minster or person in a powerful position.

Interaction with sorcerers!

From the very first days of his tenure as president of the federation, there were rumors about how he interacted with some people active in the field of foreign sciences. A reference to witchcraft !. In August 2021 after Team Melli defeated Syria 1-0 to put its feet firmly for the qualification to the World Cup 2022, Azizi Khadem attributed the victory to God and the prayer of “Khooban Alam” rather than the players, coaches, or the whole squad. ‘Khooban Alam’ was a reference to those mystery forces which his critics believe to be similar to mysterious voodooism.

VAR controversy from Israel

After “Khooban Alam”, he produced another blooper which led to controversy. Iran was about to acquire the VAR system. FFIRI contracted a company based in Hong Kong, to supply the system.  The contract was suspended with that company after the revelation that it was indeed an Israeli shareholders company. This refereeing assistance system was supposed to reach Iran, but it was stopped. Seems that Azizi Khadenm and his staff failed to carry out the proper due diligence.

It was all downhill from then on as a series of shortfalls, gaps, maladministration, and bad decision making put Azizi Khadem in loggerhead with the rest of the executive members. It is safe to say that he was exposed for what he was.

And then came his suspension in February 2022. That is 353 days after his appointment.

He was blamed for and subsequently held accountable for sub-standard training facilities for the national teams, supply of poor quality jerseys, the expulsion of Esteghlal and Persepolis from AFC Champions League, negligence in finalizing the coaching staff contracts,  delayed or non-payment of staff and coaching wages, the pseudo-VAR contract, and rumors of links to some witches and sorcerers, failure of timely response to AFC/FIFA correspondences while providing inaccurate or false information with FIFA, lack of transparency, nepotism, inflating FIFA with extra staff, the appointment of unqualified administrators in FFIRI ..etc which was said to be 43 violations.

Azizi Khadem is a classic example of how dark forces operate in Iran. Corruption is deep-rooted. While their pawn in FFIRI has left after being exposed for what he is, an incompetent and unfit person to lead Iran’s football to its glory days, the big players who put him there in the first place are still there, untouched and waiting. No doubt that at the next opportunity, they will pounce to produce another man to protect their interests. Nowadays, football is a lucrative business more than being a sport. It is being used by all sorts of nefarious characters since it can generate huge amounts of money.

It is how badly football is managed that has been the Achilles’ heel of Iran’s football for decades.

Azizi Khadem removed from his Presidency of FFIRI

Azizi-Khadim removed from his post

The executive board of directors of Iran’s Football Federation FFIRI has temporarily suspended the President of the federation FFIRI until further notice on Thursday. This suspension is the initial motion to remove Aziz Khadem from his post permanently.

At the request of five executive members, an extraordinary meeting was held on the morning of February 17th with the main item of the agenda being the suitability of the current president Shababudin Azizi Khadem in running the federation and addressing several shortfalls attributed to him.

The meeting reviewed the conditions upon which the president may continue in his post and conduct the duties of the top executive of the federation or the temporary suspension allowing another candidate to fill the role until the general assembly meeting that decides on the president. The executive board decided to suspend Azizi Khadem in the extraordinary meeting whose term of office did not last more than 354 days.

The most important managerial post in Iranian football lasted less than a year for the unpopular Aziz Khadem. Interestingly enough, under the so-called incompetent president, Iran recorded a historical third consecutive qualification to the World Cup with three matches yet to be played. ONly Brazil managed one better than Team Melli.

The Secretary-General becomes the De Facto President

The meeting was formalized at 9:30 am today, when Hassan Kamranifar, the Secretary-General of the Football Federation, made a great effort to implement the articles of association of the federation. He also asked the support of the Ministry of Sports to seriously prevent the entry of various people into the meeting.

The Arrival of Azizi Khadem

The president arrived at the National Football Center at 9:00 AM a good half an hour early to attend the decisive meeting.  Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem rushed through the gate of the National Football Center with his driver right in front of the reporters and press photographers. He refused to comment and had to be seen or photographed.

On the other hand, Shohreh Mousavi, Vice President of the Football Federation, and head of Women Football Affairs entered the National Football Center with a contrasting way, She and a number of the board were smiling for the media. Mousavi is credited for leading that gang of five, as referred to by some media outlets, for the move to outset Aziz Khadem. She along with Hasan Osouli, Mirshad Majedi, Ahmad Reza Barati, and Bahram Rezaian arrived full of confidence in achieving their goal..

The Strict security.

Security personnel of the Ministry of Sports and the Football Federation strictly prevented various people from entering the National Football Center. They even asked Bonyadi-Far who had a scheduled task at the center, to return back another day.

Journalists and other media personnel were present in front of the main door of the National Football Center from 8 o’clock, but they were not allowed to enter.

Filming for the day lest

The Public Relations of the Football Federation have fully filmed today’s meeting of the Executive Board of Directors in order to provide it to the competent authorities and the Asian Football Confederation if necessary.

Two management members were Barred from the meeting

According to the official announcement of the AFC, two of Aziz Khadem’s allies were prevented from attending the meeting. Haidar Baharvand and Hamid Reza MehrAli, the first and second vice-presidents of Khadem were excluded. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has stated that the two men are not legally allowed to attend the board meeting deciding the fate of their boss, so both the deputies had to leave before the meeting deliberations started.

Obstruction to the entry of Khadem’s closest friend.

Mojtaba Khorshidi, the Manager of Team Melli was on his way to attend some business at the National Football Center, but the security of Azadi Stadium stopped him from entering. Khorshidi claimed that he intended to attend his office and not the meeting but the security informed him that the area is restricted even for the employees!. According to some witnesses, Khorshidi who is a personal friend of Azizi Khadem and his ally intended to have a short and urgent conversation with Azizi Khadem, but as he was not o enter under any circumstances, he slipped a note to his boss on a small piece of paper.

Police protection.

The arrival of the police security force which has deployed its patrol units around the National Football Center to ensure there will be no interruption or disturbances of the board meeting by the proponents of the incumbent president.

Breach of Security

The mysterious entry of a former head of the Futsal Committee, Davood Parhizkar, became a hot topic. Parhizkar is not an active member of the FFIRI and holds no official post, yet he was allowed to enter the National Football Center, but it is not clear whether he was able to attend the board meeting or is there only for personal matters.

The chairman responded and left.

A voting session was held on the dismissal or continuation of Azizi Khadem without his physical presence. At this meeting, he first defended himself against accusations and charges of shortfalls in his duty.  At the end of the interrogation, the majority of the board members voted to temporarily suspend Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem from the post of President of the Football Federation. This is unprecedented in Iran’s football history.

A majority consensus to expel the President.

Hassan Kamranifar, secretary-general of the Football Federation, called on the members present at the meeting to keep their votes secret. However, there has been a lot of talk about an alliance of eight members who could decide whether Shahab Azizi Khadem should stay or leave.

Ahmad Reza Barati, Shohreh Mousavi, Tahmours Heidari, Khodadad Afsharian, Mirshad Majedi, Ehsan Osouli, and Bahram Rezaian were present at the meeting.

Azizi Khadem’s entourage started packing.

The President of FFIRI under immense pressure had a few backers in the federation offices and corridors, however, those in his favor soon started packing their belongings in anticipation of worse things to come. That did not escape the hawkeyes of some reporters as they reported that a number of Azizi Khadem’s regular associates gathered their belongings after his temporary dismissal to say an early farewell. Azizi Khadem also bid farewell to all the staff at the national teams’ camp when he left the National Football Center, but refused to talk to reporters.

A serious challenge for FFIRI lies ahead.

The board of directors of the Football Federation, now headed by Mehrdad Seraji, not only has to make transparency its top priority but also has to resume the process of approving the bye-laws, which was previously approved by FIFA, in order to draw the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. They should also try to hold a meeting of the General Assembly of the Federation as soon as possible to permanently remove Azizi Khadem.

Mahdavikia leads Iran in a difficult Asian U23 group

Tashkent: Korea Republic will open their defense of the AFC U23 Asian Cup title in Group C following the conclusion of the Uzbekistan 2022 Finals draw in Tashkent on Thursday.
Joining the Korea Republic, which defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in 2020 final, will be the ASEAN trio of Thailand, 2018 runners-up Vietnam and Malaysia.
Hosts Uzbekistan, the 2018 champions, will have Iran, Qatar, and newcomers Turkmenistan to contend with in Group A.
Australia, third in the 2020 edition, was drawn in Group B with Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait while Japan, the 2016 champions, are in Group D with 2020 runners-up Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and debutants Tajikistan.

AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022 – Official Draw

The fifth edition of the Championship will be played in Central Asia for the first time, with Uzbekistan hosting 32 matches across the cities of Tashkent and Karshi.
Four former champions and nine teams to have reached the semi-finals or better within the last decade alongside two debutants will battle for Continental supremacy from June 1 to 19.
Iran’s Omid team will be led by former star Mehdi Mahdavikia. Although at this level of football, there are no weak teams, Iran’s Omid is in one of the more difficult groups, especially in the presence of the host and the strong Qatari team. Mhadavikia is handling the difficult task of leading Iran for the Olympics with this team, which has eluded Iran for more than four decades.
Group A
Uzbekistan (UZB) – Iran (IRN)- Qatar (QAT) -Turkmenistan (TKM)
Date Time Teams Venue
Wednesday, 1st June 2022 18:00  Iran v. Qatar    Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
20:00  Uzbekistan v. Turkmenistan Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent
Saturday 4th June 2022  18:00  Turkmenistan v.  Iran    Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
20:00   Qatar v. Uzbekistan  Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent
Tuesday 7th June 2022 22:00  Qatar v. Turkmenistan    Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
22:00  Uzbekistan v. Iran    Markaziy Stadium, Qarshi