Year: 2022

Match against Lebanon might be held away from Azadi.

Mojtaba Khorshidi, the Manager of Team Melli said “the last game of our national team against Lebanon might be held in a city other than Tehran”:

“According to the president of the federation in regards to the development of football in the provinces, there is an inclination for the last game of the group against Lebanon to be played in one of the following cities; Mashad, Isfahan, Tabriz or Ahvaz. provided they get the approval from FIFA and are up to the standards required” Khorshidi added.

” I think it could be a good and pleasant event for Iranian football. The national football team is doing its best to win both games and maintain its lead. We do need our fans elsewhere to witness the success of the team also”

Asghar Sharafi bemoans the lack of discipline and competent managers in Iran’s football.

Asghar Sharafi, the former Team Melli player and assistant coach to Heshmat Mohajerani when Iran qualified for the 1978 World Cup for the first time, is a unique outspoken character. His military background has taught him strict discipline and throughout his career, he abided by these principles. Sharafi’s values on discipline have endeared him to many but it seems that the days of such mentality of the pre-revolution era have lost their color, according to the former coach.

In an interview with Kayhan, Asghar Sharafi said  “The big clubs of the world are part of their society. Any society that abides by the law will flourish. In one European country, the prime minister was questioned for attending a party. These are the products of respect for the law, where the laws and regulations are institutional. It starts at the grassroots. In our society regretfully we think otherwise as lawlessness and revolt are admired. As such calamities befall us.”

Sharafi is referring to several breaks of discipline in various clubs and Team Melli some of which made big headlines.

“We must look at who is running our major clubs and then measure our expectation in dealing with wrongdoings and indiscipline accordingly. “Sharafi added: “Unfortunately, diminutive people manage our football here and these people do not have the guts nor the resolve to deal with immorality, insubordination, and disorderly acts. In the big and prestigious clubs of the world, the people in charge, react to such matters of transgression because of the respect the clubs has for its fan and society, even more than the sole interest of the club itself.”

“In the distant past, in Iranian football, there were people at the head of clubs who dealt with indiscipline and did not allow those irregularities to spread. In the days when I was the head coach of Shiraz, we had a player who was indisciplined. I dealt with him as severely as possible. Once, a young player on our team punched the referee in the chest during the match. I was interviewed that day and I said that this player did not hit the referee, but in fact, he hit his own coach because, with such an act, he questioned his coach’s credibility. In the big clubs of the world, ethical issues are important, but in Iran, the only thing that matters is to win points.”

“One of the biggest problems of football in Iran is managers’ fear of dealing with indiscipline; That could be the manager of the club or the director of the football federation. He says to himself that if I deal with an undisciplined player and suspend him, my team may not succeed. So, they pass a light sentence, and on many occasions on appeal, that suspension is dropped! This is a big problem. In a club like Manchester United, a young player who has committed an offense is dealt with severely, and that is not a personal treatment but to protect the interests of the whole organization, these interests include the credibility of the club and the fans. Unfortunately, the biggest problem in our football is the lack of competent and specialized managers at the top. If Iranian football had been run by people who were competent, sympathetic, and moral but most importantly, familiar with the fundamentals of the sport, we would never have witnessed recent unruly events.”

Taremi saves Porto from Home defeat

The top of the Portuguese League clash between the leaders Porto and second-placed Sporting Club was played at Dragao Stadium in Porto.

That important match for the Portuguese fans was also the center of interest for the Iranian as the Team Melli central forward Mehdi Taremi was starting and the stage was open for him to prove his worth especially after the rumored interest by Arsenal to sign him in the summer. Taremi did not disaaponit. Not only he was the man of the match, but he also scored a brilliant header to save his team from defeat from their fiercest rival.

In this ill-tempered match, Porto was stunned early in the game when the host Sporting scored the opener with a nice close-range header by Paulinho in the 8th minute. As that was not bad enough, the guests Sporting, managed to score the second goal of the game in the 34th minute by Nono Santos from an error committed by Porto Captain Pepe. Sergio Conceiço’s team was able to score their first goal on Mehdi Taremi’s assist to Vieira in the 38th minute.

The first half ended 1-2 to Sporting.

The physical play of both teams caused the referee to brandish many yellow cards, and by the 49th minute, the color of this card turned red for Sporting player Sebastian Coates, with Sporting having to play most of the second half with 10 players. Porto’s pressure was immense in the second half until finally, Mehdi Taremi raised majestically to head a cross into the far corner of Sporting keeper, scoring the equalizer in the 78th minute with his exceptional header.

After the goal, there were many clashes between the players and some also involved the bench. Some ugly scenes were witnessed with the Referee unable to control the match. Not only there were individual pockets of fights everywhere on the pitch which saw an invasion from everyone including the whole bench of both teams. The melee continued until the match was prematurely ended.

It was pandemonium and ugly. Pepe and another player sporting player were dismissed.

The bright side of these ugly scenes is that, for once, Mehdi Taremi took a distance from all these trouble spots. He hardly got himself involved with the opposition players and did not go to the referee and blab his mouth like he usually does. Is this a sign of maturity? We hope that Taremei, a star on his own right now at the world level, maintains this attitude and calm. Indeed it was a truly admirable act by rational Mehdi.

With this draw, Porto reached  60 points to remain at the top of the standings of the Portuguese Premier League.

Azmoun doubtful for Korea match adding to the absentees list.

Team Melli will be with 4 key players for the top-of-the-table match versus South Korea in Seoul next month. “Sardar Azmoun’s ligament damage is still bothering him, he still needs treatment. I can’t say exactly when he will be able to play.” declared  the head coach of Bayer Gerardo Seoane “

Azmoun will need another 3-4 weeks to fully recover which will possibly mean he will miss the match in Seoul. Azmoun’s absence on the top of the 3 known absentees due to suspension and disciplinary issues. Moharrami is out for two matches due to his red card against the UAE, Ezatollahi is also suspended due to accumulations of yellow cards, and KananiZadegan is suspended by the FFIRI for misdemeanors he committed including endangering the health of his Team Melli colleagues by attempting to invite a girl while he was on COVID19 quarantine.

While the four players’ absence seems to be significant on paper, the pleasant surprise is that Team Melli has such a strength in depth that no dramatic action is needed to address these absentees.

Dragan Skocic has many options to replace Azmoun and Ezatollahi as he has a good number of replacements. In defense, with two absentees, it sounds more difficult but Siavaush Yazadni has performed well on his debut in the central defensive role, while Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi, Saleh Hardani, and Aref Agasi are all capable to fill the roles in the defense.

 So, although Team Melli is not at 100% strength, it is hardly a crisis situation facing the Koreans and then Lebanon at Azadi in what is a formality matches as Team Melli already had qualified.

Team Melli at Top of Asia and 21st World Rank.

Team Melli maintained its FIFA World Ranking at 21 in the latest list published by FIFA. With 15 points addition, Iran now has 1572 points as the top Asian team, with Japan second, followed by Korea Rep and Australia.

This ranking is important as the World Cup draw because of the seeding. The finals draw is scheduled to take place on 1st April 2022, after the March window for international fixtures.

19
Colombia
Colombia
1585.89
1607.15-21.26
20
Wales
Wales
1578.01
1578.010.00
21
IR Iran
Iran
1572.89
1557.5815.31
22
Peru
Peru
1563.45
1551.1512.30
23
Japan
Japan
1549.82
1531.5318.29
      

AFC RANKING

AFC
FIFA
 

Team

 
 
Total Points
 
 
Previous Points

+/-

 
 
1
21
IR Iran
Iran
1572.89
1557.5815.31
2
23
Japan
Japan
1549.82
1531.5318.29
3
29
Korea Republic
Korea Republic
1522.85
1507.2415.61
4
37
Australia
Australia
1486.86
1484.881.98
5
52
Qatar
Qatar
1437.91
1437.910.00
6
53
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
1433.95
1434.71-0.76
7
69
United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
1353.1
1350.392.71
8
74
Iraq
Iraq
1325.44
1333.03-7.59
9
75
China PR
China PR
1313.81
1337.33-23.52
10
79
Oman
Oman
1301
1306.01-5.01
       

Move to dismiss FFIRI president Azizi-Khadem

While the joy and celebration of Team Melli have not dried yet, the sweetness is becoming quite bitter for the FFIRI President Shahbubdin Aziz-Khadem.

In a somewhat unexpected move, the Executive Board of the Football Federation is finding it necessary to prepare the ground for the dismissal of Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem. Some members of the board of directors have decided to dismiss Azizi Khadem for weak performance and unsuitability to occupy the post of the head of the federation. Ceratin members have colluded and demanded that the incumbent President be subjected to a vote of confidence on the grounds of suitability and competency. those opposing Azizi Khadem also questioned his football chronology and management in this field, which falls far short of the required for such a sensitive and important post.

Observers however doubt that critique to be the true reason for the drive to oust him. Although many agree on the shortfall of Aziz Khadem and his lack of football pedigree and management skills, these facts were known from the day he registered his candidacy for the post of President of FFIRI. This political move is seen as the result of some pressure from above and the intervention of people who seek their own interests and/or settle personal accounts. The opposition group has lobbied hard to align the rest of the Executive Board Members with themselves in order to achieve their goals.

Certainly, Azizi Khadem’s performance in the Football Federation has its weaknesses and has many critics, however, it is not a one-man show and many on that board are accountable for the failure of the FFIRI to function efficiently. It is unprecedented that one of the weakest boards in the history of the Football Federation is seeking the removal of the president with outside pressure while the board has not made any meaningful efforts to improve matters within the federation. Nevertheless, it seems that the pressures on some members will force them to sign the dismissal form of Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem to pave the ground for his dismissal.

Political interference in FFIRI is quite normal. Iran has been sanctioned before by FIFA for such interventions, this time, however, the hierarchy has become wiser and used internal tools to achieve their goals.

In a move taken from the chapter of the way the football federations in the Persian Gulf Operate, the work is all being done legally (…)!  In that system, most executives of the football federations are either government appointees or state policy supporters, but all done under the cover of legitimacy without any government entity publicly getting involved. This, of course, is to avoid FIFA’s wrath and possible sanctions. The Iranians have learned this lesson and are copying the neighbors across the Persian Gulf.

 According to the official announcement by the spokesman of the Football Federation FFIRI, a meeting of the board members is scheduled to be held in the next 14 days to decide on the fate of Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem. The letter requesting a meeting was registered officially while the meeting date for the crucial meeting is yet to be decided.

FFIRI bans Hossein Kananizadegan for lack of ethics.

The Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of Iran’s Football Federation FFIRI has issued its verdict regarding the case against Team Melli central defender Hossein Kananizadegan.

“The committee has found Hossein Kananizadegan guilty as charged and fined one billion rials plus a two games ban for violating the ethical rules of football. The ban applies to National Team Games, Futsal, and Beach Soccer. Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 63 of the Code of Ethics and paragraph 4 of Article 103 of the Disciplinary Code, the ban and fine contained in the above ruling shall not prevent the execution or the suspension of the ruling as soon as the execution is issued and an appeal is filed. Also, if he has an appeal to file, the player should submit his objection to the ethics committee of the federation within one week from this date, observing the legal formalities mentioned in Article 63 of the ethics regulations regarding the appeal process”.  the ruling declared according to the FFIRI website.

Kananizadegan has been a subject of controversy and his inclusion in the two Team Melli games against Iraq and UAE has been found to be a fraudulent and crooked move by the federation. The notorious Knanizadegan, who always seems to be one step near trouble on and off the pitch has uttered profanity and insulting remarks against Estghelal club fans. The recording he made went viral and was condemned by a large swathe of journalists, fans, and footballers alike. Esteghlal club management filed an official complaint against him in December last year.

The defender will miss both the South Korea match away and the final match against Lebanon in Azadi.

The 27 years old Kananizadegan currently plays his football in Qatar Stars League with Al-Ahli

Yet, the FFIRI Disciplinary committee despite having all the incriminating evidence to prosecute the player, conveniently waited until the last two Team Melli matches then issued the disciplinary action!

Sardar Azmoun: Bayer Leverkusen Add Goals And Depth Below Market Value

Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth: Contributor SportsMoney
It is one of the more exciting transfers of this Bundesliga transfer window. On the day before deadline day, Bayer Leverkusen signed Sardar Azmoun for $4.4 million from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. The 27-year-old Iranian had previously agreed on a free summer transfer with Die Werkself. Overall it is a brilliant deal for Leverkusen, who signed the forward in a deal significantly below Azmoun’s $27.5 million Transfermarkt market value.

“We’re delighted to have completed this transfer,” Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a club statement. “Sardar Azmoun has been one of Russian football’s top goalscorers for several years. He’s been champion three years in a row there with Zenit, regularly played in the Champions League, and shown himself to be of international class at the highest level. Our attack gains extra quality with him. Sardar will make our attack even more unpredictable and powerful.”

Azmoun, without a doubt, brings added depth to Leverkusen’s attack. The 27-year-old has been a star in Russia for some time and joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan in February 2019 in a deal worth $13.2 million. It was Kazan who found the striker in Iran, where he played for Sepahan’s youth academy. But it would be at Rostov where Azmoun made a name for himself, scoring 25 goals and six assists in 77 games. Two of those goals came against Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid in Rostov’s memorable 2016/17 Champions League campaign.

Rostov had bought the striker for just $2.53 million in 2016 from Rubin Kazan. But Russian football is not always that straightforward. Like many Russian clubs, Rostov always struggled with finances, and Azmoun wanted out of the club. Around that time, Azmoun was consistently linked with a move to one of the top four leagues; reports suggested links to Liverpool, several Italian clubs, but also Borussia Dortmund.

Instead, what happened was so very typical for business practices of clubs in the post-Soviet space. Only very few institutions in the region are able to develop players and sell them at the right time. Also, players often fail to find the right move, add agents to the mix, and it becomes a difficult proposition all around. Azmoun, for example, did not move to Europe but instead back to Rubin Kazan in 2017, where the owner, the Republic of Tatarstan, was once again on a spending spree.

Those spending sprees, however, also come and go; Rubin as a club has always been between very rich and very poor; there is no middle ground. As a result, Azmoun was sold to Zenit in 2019. For most talented players based in Russia, the story would have ended here—Zenit, owned by Gazprom, can pay wages at a tax rate that is often impossible to match for the big clubs in Europe and, as a result, players are unlikely to move on.

The same was thought of Azmoun, but instead, the Iranian has made the move to a top-four league after all. What remains to be seen is whether the move comes at the right time; Azmoun is no longer a talent but, at 27, a veteran. At the same time, that can be an asset too; Leverkusen receives a player with significant experience in the ups and downs of a football career.

But how will Azmoun fit in the squad? At first glance, Azmoun is a clear-cut number 9, and in that position, Leverkusen has Patrik Schick, one of the most productive strikers in European football. But Schick has been heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund, where he could replace Erling Haaland. Azmoun could be an investment for the future, a possible replacement for the Czech goalscoring machine.

There is, however, also room for Schick and Azmoun to play together. Although most commonly employed as a lone-striker in a 3-4-3 system by Zenit this season, Azmoun has also played with a Schick type of number 9 in Artem Dzyuba this year. Azmoun can add more tactical depth to Gerardo Seoane’s side at Leverkusen. In fact, the Swiss head coach previously preferred a 4-4-2 system rather than the 4-2-3-1 system used by Leverkusen this year, adding Azmoun now.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth 

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Manuel Veth

The never ending lies and decption of the officials!

While the Omid Team is in turmoil and the scheduled team training in FIFA Day was not held due to the pending administrative and contractual issues ( non-payment of coaches salaries and not finalizing and signing of the contracts) which lead to the cancellation of the Omid Training Camp, the president of the football federation FFIRI and the president of the National Olympic Committee denied all those facts and turned them upside down claiming that Omid Team is progressing well

The camp of the national Olympic football team (Omid) was supposed to be held under the supervision of Mehdi Mahdavikia from the 25th January to the 1st February, but this camp was never commenced due to lack of necessary planning by the Football Federation and non-conclusion of the national team coaches contracts including Mehdi Mahdavikia himself and his assistants!

However, Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, president of the Football Federation FFIRI, and Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, president of the National Olympic Committee NOC, as the team’s trustees, denied any wrongdoing, saying that the National Olympic team had no problems whatsoever!!. “The Omid team is doing its job according to plan. We participated in the Central Asian Games and will go to Uzbekistan. This federation is different from the ones before in that it has already started the preparation of Omid team for the Paris Olympics, which we have already done,” Azizi Khadem said. “It was not like that before. I hope the Omid national team gets better conditions. We have to go to Uzbekistan for the final of the Asian Championship in June. We hope Mahdavikia will start working soon again according to the plans.”

          • Mahdavikia pays his assistants wages from his own pocket.
          • The one-week training camp in Kish Isle was canceled 
          • Director of communication of Omid Team resigns.
          • Azizi-Khadem in full denial

A day before this statement, Salehi Amiri had said: “I am in contact with Azizi Khadem. Mahdavikia is also seriously pursuing and organizing, and I personally believe that the Omid team, given its capacity in the football community and its presence. The well-respected coach that this team has, we will shine in Hangzhou.”

A few hours later after Sazlehi-Amiri’s statement and assurance, that the media director of the Omid national team submitted his resignation,

Pointing to many problems in the national Olympic (Omid) team in a text he posted on his personal Instagram page, the director said  “the contracts of the head coach and assistant coaches of the Omid national team have not been signed even after about five months from initial agreement on the contents. This is what was supposed to happen after the recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Football Federation, but has not been done yet, and this is only one of the aggravations and problems of the technical staff of the Iranian U-23 national team.

“The non-payment of players’ bonuses, the cancellation of the national team camps (which was supposed to be held on Kish Island with matches against foreign teams) as well as the uncertainty of the team’s manager and coaches are among the events that led to the cancellation of the team’s recent camp. On hearing the cancellation of the camp, the foreign coaches did not travel to Iran!”

The media director wrote in his message that “Mahdavikia paid the salaries of his three foreign assistants out of his own pocket so that the non-commitment and lack of obligation in the football federation would not take on an international dimension!”

“Mahdavi’s Assistants had participated in the Asian Under-23 qualifiers from September to November 2021 without any contract. In this turbulent situation that is not hidden from anyone,”

Azizi Khadem and Salehi Amiri, with their lack of honesty, sweet talk their way on how their respective organizations are determined to succeed in the Asian U23 Championship and the Asian Games with such confidence to the degree of promising the fans to finally end the spell of consecutive failures of over 40 years of Omid Team failure to qualify for the Olympics. It looks like they both believe that by turning the facts upside down and living in denial, no one notices the shortcomings and broken promises, disrespect for the contracts. While it seems like a standard operating procedure for preparing the Omid or the Iranian Olympics team, and after about half a century, professional planning, commitment, financial support needed for the success of this team is still lacking big time. Instead, lies, denials, deception, and delusion is still rife from those inept personnel running football and other sports affair in Iran.

Like the Persian proverb goes “It’s the same soup and the same bowl”!

Broumand says “Do Not repeat World Cup 1998 mistake!”

Parviz Broumand was part of the Team Melli squad that qualified for the FIFA World Cup 1998. This team was arguably one of the best that represented Iran at such a level. IN Lyon, Iran beat USA 2-1 in a match that gripped the world registering Iran’s first-ever win in the World Cup.  “the 1998 team was capable of qualifying for the next round but for poor decision-making by the federation” according to Broumand.

Asked in an interview if he agrees with some voices that Team Melli needs a better coach than the current Croat, Dragan Skocic, Broumand response was emphatic:”

“I do not accept this argument at all,” he said in response to some comments that the team could qualify from the group stage with a coach greater than Skocic. “We are human beings after all and it is not fair to commit injustice. It is true that Skocic became the head coach of Team Melli at a time when our players mostly play abroad and are of higher quality, but it is far from humane to replace Skocic after all the hard work that he has done and especially qualification with such ease.”

“He has worked in a challenging environment and spent time with the national team familiarizing himself and he has no obvious technical problems. Maybe they raise the issue of charisma, which again I say is not a problem. Do not let this unsettling mindset they set up for the 1998 World Cup be repeated again.” Broumand said.

He went on to elaborate further ” The group of players of that era was excellent and unique. We could have advanced from our group in the World Cup, but with a mistake, Ivic was replaced and left Team Melli camp with tears in his eyes and Jalal Talebi became the head coach. In our group, Germany had an aging team while we were capable of getting the result against Yugoslavia under professional guidance”

“Decisions that have been taken in haste and due to some political interference from people not aware of modern football and Team Melli affairs robbed us from this opportunity” Broumand warned.

Parviz Broumand echos the view of many critics who believed that the Federation was hasty in sacking one of the Worlds finest coaches at the time

FFIRI sacked Croatian coach Tomislav Ivic just three weeks before the start of the World Cup finals after the national team lost 7-1 to Italian club AS Roma in a friendly match. The Croat head coach of the team Tomislav Ivic paid for that meaningless loss and was dismissed to be replaced by Jalal Talebi.

The former goalkeeper of Team Melli commented on Amir Abedzadeh being inside the national team’s goal: “Like his father, I was proud of him, not in terms of playing, but because of the feeling I had. When Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh’s son entered the field, I felt that I was the goalkeeper of Team Melli and I felt nostalgic. After many years, another honor was bestowed on Ahmad Reza (Abedzadeh) and this time his son was inside the goal. The respect displayed by Amir after the game going to his father was beautiful. I congratulated Ahmad Reza and his wife after the game with Iraq, and I hope this success will continue for Amir.”

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