The investigation of allegation of bribery that was initiated by Ali Daei against Mohsen Ghahremani the referee of Perspolis match against Sepahan took a steep diversion and went off track with some alarming and what seems to be strange decisions unrelated to the original accusation.

On Monday evening, the disciplinary committee of FFIRI along with the committee issued a contentious decision in the aftermath of the public prosecution of the referee Mohsen Ghahremani by siding with Daei.  Alipour , whose official title in the federation is the “Secretary of professional misconduct proceedings, interviewed live on Navad program has announced that 3 members of the refereeing team of Sepahan-Perspolis match including the Mohsen Ghahremani are suspended from all football activities until further notice. In addition to the referee the linesman Kermanshahi and Ildrum, were suspended until further notice.

The biggest shock was the announcement of identical suspensions to two Perspolis back office staff , Molaei , the Perspolis physical trainer and Hatam. In what has initially puzzled many observers.

Ghahremani verdict is based on an alleged bribery incident in which Ghahremani has complained that he has not received the full payment for services/favors he provided for Rah Ahan team.   Molaei was alleged to be the intermediately of this and he explicitly declared that he was approached by Ghahremani one day to complain so that he can relay this information to his bosses at Rah Ahan. Molaei stressed that the bribery arrangement happened while he was NOT working at Rah Ahan but failed to provide creditable evidence of his allegations or dates. Moeali declared that he was actually presented to the committee as a material witness; however, he is shocked to ended up as a defendant and a suspension from all football activates was issued against him. Alipour , who was interviewed directly on Navad show with Ferdowsipour  , declared that the committee found Perspolis physical trainer of concealing  fact and hiding information of actual or attempted bribery, which is punishable by law and FIFA ethics and anti-corruption regulations.

The plots get more complicated with various conflicting reports from all parties.

It is evident from what Alipour has said that there was no documented evidence brought against Gharemani and the sentace was based on verbal evidence. During hours of questioning in Navad program , no person could come up with the actual alleged incident dates or detail, including the main witness to this allegation , Molaei, who vehemently denied that he had any role in the bribery incident.

Molaei , who was less than convincing in some of his answers , conveniently forgot crucial details while pleading innocence. “How can a physical trainer be involved and has the authority to conduct such transactions?” he told the judge in the case, Alipour.

Wherever the final truth lies, it is quite evident that Iran’s football is not clean as many fans and insiders have suspected. It is highly unlikely that drastic measures will be taken by this football federation against corruption unless the judicial authorities intervene and start prosecuting offenders and corrupt personnel the way they have dealt with high level corruption and misappropriation of funds in Iranian  banks and Insurance companies. From what was evident in Navad , people fear that the matter will be dealt with in a small scale with victimization of a few while the real culprits will always remain at large and never brought to justice..

The allegation that Rah Ahan, a small club with severely curtailed financed running on a tight budget, can venture into such a bribery affair, is highly suspicious in the first place.

Mehdi Tartar, a former Rah Ahan coach , firmly denied that Ghahremani was never involved in a controversial match while he was the coach of Rah Ahan. Ali Daei followed Tartar in coaching Rah Ahan from 2011-2013.

There was also allegation that some decisions made by the appeal committee of the FFIRI has been favorable to some teams and members of that committee might very well be sentenced.

Mohammad Reza Molaei,  who was pitted against Alipour live on Navad,  claimed that Alipour has said in the meeting when that “I want to keep this within small limited circles.”  Alipour denied he ever said that or meant what Molaei was insinuating, which is basically to cover up the big fish and victimize the small ones. Alipour said that he will never llow himself to be a party to any type of cover up even when influential people are involved.

To complicate matters further , a legal expert who was interview declared that according to FIFA regulation, the FFIRI has recommended that all member federations to create  “ethics committee” with a primary objective of fighting bribery and corruption. FFIRI and Ali Kaffashian , has failed to establish this committees that this the only authority that can investigate , and prosecute offenders. Hence Mr. Alipour is not in a capacity to pass such ruling against the alleged offenders, according to the legal expert. He also said that investigation in such cases requires qualified and professional skills in the organization. He doubted the availability of such skills and qualification in the FFIRI.

Yazdani, an ex-linesman and the head of the Union of Iranian Referees addressing Alipour , said that “Two years ago , we have brought to your attention an attempt to bribery a referee who was given gold coins. The referee immediately reported it and took the case to the football federation disciplinary committee. What was the outcome of that case ? neither yourself nor the federation have done anything towards tat obvious case of bribery where we had actual evidence (the gold coins).”

Alipour did not have a convincing answer to Yazdani. On another note , Yazdani said that even if the linesman (Ildrum) has committed an error which a technical and human error, his maximum penalty would be suspension for something like 3 0r 4 games, so why is being investigated in a bribery case and given an indefinite suspension, same sentence  that has been awarded to the alleged bribery accused referee ?”  Alipour said that these are all temporarily sentences to protect everyone and he assured the public that the linesman will be dealt with properly when the investigation is concluded !

Hojat ul Islam Alipour is a clergy , who has been quietly inducted into the football federation to keep an eye on players conduct and ensure they stick to Islamic principles . He accompanied many Team Melli trips abroad starting from the Asian Cup 2004 in China. Many observers think that his position is comparable to the religious police and has been forced upon FFIRI by the influential Religious hierarchy in the country.

Alipour insisted that the sentences are provisional until full investigation is concluded; Ferdowsipoor thinks that it is a contradiction since issuing of the suspension is equivalent to incrimination the accused.

These events seems to be the tip of the iceberg. It has already attracted massive interest from the fans to the players, clubs and definitely the media.

Many still want to know what the agent provocateur, Ali Daei had against Ghahremani and why the investigation is not transparent about Daei’s evidence that Gahremani has been bribed by Sepahan on that match.

It all boils down to very interesting and hot Paeez (autumn) in Iran’s football.