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Hashempour: “We will show our strength once again”

Defending champions Iran are determined to claim back-to-back Intercontinental Cup crowns and equal Brazil and Russia at the top of the records

Defending champions Iran have landed in Dubai with the mission of reediting the 2018 crown and equalling Brazil and Russia as the most decorated sides at the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup records. After clinching the Bronze Medal at the last World Beach Games in Qatar just a couple of weeks ago, the team feels in the perfect mood to take on such a challenge.

Grit, talent and perfect teamwork, plus the support of their passionate fans, give Abbas Hashempour’s team all the necessary ingredients to go all the way in this year’s competition, taking place in Kite Beach between the 5th and 9th of November.

“Only the most powerful teams take part in the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup, so we are fully aware of how difficult it is to prevail in such a competitive arena. Russia, for example, is a team that can do real harm on you if you are not fully focused and fight fiercely every single second of the game. But we also are, as we have repeatedly shown, capable of winning any team in the world. This is what we have in our minds and our hearts, and we will try our best to beat all our opponents and reach the final”, Iran National Coach Abbas Hashempour explained.

The tough opposition will not be the only obstacle for Iran to accomplish their mission, though. The Persian side will be missing one of the key players, 2018 Rising Star Mohammad Moradi, due to injury, and some other players will also be back in competition after injuries, that leaves a question mark on their outcome during the coming days, but coach Hashempour believes the collective strength will help the team overcome these setbacks.

As the defending champions, the Iranian side will have all the eyes put on them, but this is not something the team is concerned about. “Everyone will be expecting a lot from us, but we are determined to show everybody why we are the champions. We want to demonstrate again how powerful we are”, the coach admitted.

Iran were drawn in Group B together with also-favourite Russia, Egypt and CONCACAF champions Mexico and will be making their debut, precisely, against the Azteca side (Tuesday 5th of November, 8:00 pm). That will mark the first step in their road to reediting the crown and claiming their third Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup.

FIFA declares Basra as unsafe venue.

Within one week of the FIFA World Cup 2022 match, the world football governing body finally realized that the venue is not safe.

Today in Zurich , FIFA announced that Iraq is not safe enough to host World Cup qualifying games against Iran and Bahrain. FIFA says it asked the Iraq soccer federation “to nominate a neutral venue” for the matches on Nov. 14 and 19.

The games were to be played in Basra, the southern city which hosted Iraq’s return last month to playing competitive games at home.

Iraq has rarely staged home games since the 1980s because of security concerns.

Turmoil in Iraq in recent weeks has been fueled and instigated by what is commonly believed by some hostile Arab governments concerned by Iran's political influence in Iraq. On the surface, the riots and demonstrations seem to be due to economic problems and government corruption, however, the real motive is to express dissatisfaction with Iran’s role and blame the Islamic Republic for the ills of the nation. Team Melli's faced a serious risk being in a hostile environment when even Iranian ordinary Iranian pilgrims to Karbala and Najf were discouraged by Iranian authorities. after the closure of the border crossings.

News of impending departure of Wilmots!

Marc Wilmots (50) has not been a coach for more than six months with Iran, but he wants to leave. Wilmots has not paid as per his contract and has asked for his contract to be nullified. He is now waiting for the response from the Iranian Football Federation.

This unexpected news was published today in the Belgian website https://www.nieuwsblad.be

According to nieuwsblad, on the field, Wilmots enjoyed a successful stint. The international friendly matches against Syria (5-0) and South Korea (1-1) produced positive results and further on versus Hong Kong (0-2) and especially Cambodia (14-0) were quickly put aside in the FIFA World Cup qualifications. The last game against Bahrain (1-0) was a disappointing loss, but that is was not the basis of Wilmot's decision and impending departure.

The former national coach of Belgium still has ambitions to be counted back home. If Antwerp takes action and sacks Laszlo Bölöni, it would not be surprising if the former national coach of Côte d'Ivoire and Iran comes into the picture at the Great Old. The former striker always maintained good relations with Luciano D'Onofrio. He has repeatedly said in the media that he wants to collaborate with D'Onofrio, such as two years ago at La Dernière Heure:

“We are friends, that's no secret. We have supported each other at different times in our lives and our careers. Before he started working at Antwerp, he already told me about it. He is a great football expert and a visionary leader - a rarity that those two qualities are combined. One day I will work with D'Onofrio. I don't know where or when, but it will happen. "

Speaking to Mehr reporter, Abdul Kazim Taleghani, a member of the executive committee of FFIRI said: "In my opinion, Wilmots's dues have been paid and there is no problem! “

His statement was in response to the question about Wilmots' salary and any payments outstanding.

When the Mehr reporter asked him “When was Wilmots salary last paid ?”

Taleghani responded, “God knows!!”

“I was in the Football Federation yesterday but didn't see any demands from Wilmots. “

When asked further about the threats by goalkeepers coach, Espinoza of leaving his post due to non-payment of his salaries and endless financial problems, Taleghani pleaded ignorance but insisted “ Anyway, in my opinion, Wilmot's salary has been paid and I don't know if the news of him leaving his post is correct.”

With an Executive Committee member so ignorant and pathetic as this person, no wonder no decent coach will associate with the FFIRI and that includes domestic Iranian coaches. Only the desperate and those who could not find other jobs seem to agree to work with FFIRI.

FFIRI is notoriously bad paymasters. Their constant excuse of sanctions and inability to pay coaches makes a mockery of the system that has put the good name of Iran in repute.

   

Amir Hossein Peyrovani added to Omid coaching team.

Amir Hossein Peyrovani has been appointed as Omid team coach under Hamid Estili.

The 50 years old former Bargh Shiraz player who comes from a well-known footballing family has previously coached Iran's U 20 for two years and Omid Team from 2017 to 2018 with limited success. He faced a lot of criticism while at the helm of Omid team with some describing him as being out of depth.

He was operating as Assistant Coach to Mustafa Denizli in Tractorsazi Tabriz before his appointment to Omid Team.

Omid team is competing in the AFC Asian U23 Championship in Thailand in January 2020. The 3 top teams of that tournament will also qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games football competition.  Iran is in the most difficult group of the championship and experts do not consider their chances of qualification from the group as high.

Mixed fortunes of Kaveh Rezaei and Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Kaveh Rezaei has returned back to scoring in the Belgian First Division League The Iranian striker's return to the scoring process was long due. on Saturday night in Sporting Charleroi’s 14th league match of the season at Mechelen’a AFAS Stadion, Rezaei scored the opener in the 11th minute for Charleroi. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the second match in a row that Kaveh Rezai finds the net. Last week, the former Team Melli player scored the winner for his team away at KV Oostende with a late goal. The Belgian media reports mentioned Kaveh Rezaei's scoring and brilliance had a clear message that the Iranian player was able to return to the scoring process again with confidence. Rezaei did not have a good time at Club Brugge due to loss of form after a prolonged injury. Although he was picked up for several matches and showed good touches, he was unable to meet expectations at the champions. However, when he returned to Sporting Charleroi’s, he was able to regain some of the confidence he lost and improve his form to show the coach that he is a goal scorer with a lot of confidence. Karim Belhocine, the French coach of Charleroi is now counting on Rezaei to reach his peak days, marking the end of the torrid days for Kaveh. Charleroi is currently ranked sixth in the standings with 22 points from 13 matches.   One Iranian player who has not experienced the same joy and success is Alireza Jahanbakhsh. Brighton’s most expensive player who topped the scoring chart only two years ago in the Dutch league has failed to score any goal last season and is still out of sight in Brighton's matches. Once again, Jahanbakhsh did not even make the bench in last Saturday’s Brighton 2-0 win at home against Norwich. With the new coach Graham Potter, Jahanbakhsh role has been relegated to the bench or under 23 team. This season 2019/2020 The Team Melli winger has managed to be on the bench for 3 matches out of 11 Brighton has played in the Premier Leauge. Jahanbakhsh who desperately needs a confidence booster has been left out of Team Melli’s last squad and will probably be out again against Iraq.  Marc Wilmots, desperate himself for a good result against Iraq on the 14th of November, will be looking at players who are at their best as he has no room for trials and sentiments.  

Safety concerns about the match in Basra.

With about fortnight to go for Team Melli’s match against Iraq, FIFA and the Iraqi football federations have insisted that the security situation in southern city of Basra is safe enough to play the FIFA World Cup qualifier game, despite the continued deadly clashes and demonstrations that have resulted in as many as 230 deaths in Iraq.

in the latest news ,  Umm Qasr commodities port near Basra was closed after protesters blocked its entrance, port employees and local officials said. Early Thursday, Iraqi officials said a cartoonist and his wife who had been participating in the protests were shot and killed in their home in Basra by unknown assailants. More than a year ago, Basra was rocked by mass unrest and the situation there remains volatile and could erupt at any time.

It is also worth mentioning that Iraqi club Al Zawraa’s fans attacked Zob Ahan players in a match that was played in Karbala Stadium. The security was pathetic allowing many fans to jump the fences unopposed.

It seems that FIFA and AFC security policies have selective criterion and decide the status upon factors like politics, lobbying and other power-play rather than purely safety situation concerns. For example, Iran is deemed to be an unsafe place for Saudi Arabian teams but safe for other countries including UAE teams. If you have followed the politics of the region, you would certainly know that Saudi Arabia and UAE are the axes of evils that have been venting hostility against Iran including supporting and encouraging American military attacks against targets in Iran. The media of both countries are obvious tools of such hostilities and aggressions.

Despite its charters that prohibit political interference in football, FIFA is an organization where political influences in its governance are widespread and that has been marred by corruption. Powerful federations make their own rules and exceptions in the corridor of power in Zurich. Those Petrodollar countries with strong lobbies get the support and votes against lessor capable members or those who do not offer inducements. In other words, FIFA does not necessarily provide a level playing field.

The current Iran football federation lacks the status, competency and skills to be a strong member of AFC and FIFA and as such, it can be easily overlooked and ignored. FFIRI is a weak organization at best, hardly has any clout in FIFA and AFC with very few allies in both organizations. With so much organizational failures by FFIRI including but not limited to weak representations, poor international relation, it is not a surprise that the sharks can devour its rights. A good example is the approximate 12 Million dollars owed to the FFIRI that is still pending with FIFA and AFC.

The city of Basra is and has been volatile. The Iraqi league has been suspended, Arabian Clubs Championship match between the Algerian AlMawloodiya vs Iraq’s Quwa Al Jawiya has been postponed, while AFC has postponed the qualifications rounds of Youth Age tournament due to the suspect security situation. Despite all that, it seems all is good for Iran’s Team Melli to play without any concerns. To complicate the situation even further, Iraqi demonstrators had expressed strong anti-Islamic Republic sentiments in Basra and Karbala.

Iran's Futsal climbs to 4th in the World Ranking.

Iran's futsal Team has climbed to the 4th place in World Ranking joined by Argentina.

In the latest figures published by the Futsal World Ranking website for the month of October 2019, Brazil maintained top ranking followed by Spain and Russia. Iran is also the top-ranking team in Asia.

Just like the football ranking, Japan is behind Iran as the second-best Asian team at 15th place in the world. Thailand is also in the top 20 teams of the world at 19th place behind Iran and Japan.

WORLD FUTSAL RANKING

Current ranking - 31 October 2019
Ranking Team Points rank dec 18 +/- dec 18
1  Brazil 1839 1 0
2  Spain 1785 2 0
3  Russia 1670 3 0
4  Iran 1644 6 2
4  Argentina 1644 5 1
6  Portugal 1637 4 -2
7  Kazakhstan 1565 7 0
8  Italy 1494 8 0
9  Ukraine 1466 9 0
10  Colombia 1454 12 2
11  Croatia 1443 13 2
12  Paraguay 1437 10 -2
13  Serbia 1416 15 2
14  Azerbaijan 1409 11 -3
15  Japan 1380 14 -1
16  Czech Republic 1367 16 0
17  Slovenia 1359 17 0
18  France 1300 18 0
19  Thailand 1295 19 0
20  Belarus 1294 22 2

Iran drops 4 places in the FIFA Ranking

The defeat against Bahrain had further consequences for Iran as the newly published list shows a 4 places drop in the world ranking for Iran.

Iran whoever is still hanging on to the rank of best Asian team with the slightest of Margins.

In the list that was published yesterday by the world football governing body, Iran is placed at World No 27 with a total of 1505, a marked loss of 17 points, while arch-rivals and AFC Asian Cup finalist Japan is closely behind, ranked 28th with 1498 points. The seven points deficit by Japan can be easily overcome in their next World Cup qualifiers while Iran has a difficult task in Basrah against Iraq.

 
World Rank Team Total Points Previous Points Change in Ranking
25
AUT  Austria
 1520 1503 2
26
VEN  Venezuela
 1512 1506 0
27
IRN  IR Iran
 1505 1522 -4
28
JPN   Japan
 1498 1490 3
29
TUN  Tunisia
 1495 1493 0
   

AFC ASIAN RANKING 

 
AFC Rank FIFA Rank Team Total Points Previous Points Change
1 27 Iran 1505 1522 -4
2 28 Japan 1498 1490 3
3 39 Korea Republic 1466 1470 -2
4 44 Australia 1450 1441 0
5 57 Qatar 1391 1377 5
6 67 United Arab Emirates  1353 1365 -1
7 69 Saudi Arabia 1339 1336 1
8 69 China PR         1339 1340 -1
9 74 Iraq 1327 1314 5
10 83 Syria 1292 1280 2
11 84 Oman 1289 1292 0
12 85 Uzbekistan 1287 1272 3
13 91 Lebanon 1266 1253 3
14 94 Kyrgyz Republic 1252 1237 3
15 97 Vietnam 1245 1231 2
16 98 Jordan 1236 1235 0
17 99 Palestine 1226 1223 2
18 101 Bahrain 1220 1206 4
19 106 India 1201 1207 -2
20 109 Thailand 1193 1175 5
Source: FIFA.com 24th October 2019

Payam Niazmand approaching a record.

Two seasons ago, the 17th season of the Persian Gulf Premier League, Esteghlal Goalkeeper Seyed Hossein Hosseini reached a milestone with his club by keeping a clean sheet fo 872 minutes., the longest any goalkeeper has managed in the history of the league competition. This season, the 19th edition, Payam Niazmand (Sepahan Esfahan) and Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri's (Tractorsazi Tabriz) are rapidly challenging that record by their excellent performances for their clubs. The two Team Melli goalkeepers are in close competition with each other to break that record and also for the title of the best goalkeeper of the season. The two goalkeepers have kept their doors closed for 630 minutes (7 consecutive matches) minutes this season, however, Niazmand also kept a clean sheet from last season final game, while he kept 80 minutes from the previous match so his tally of clean sheet stands at 802 minutes. in order to break Seyed Hossein Hosseini's record, the 24 years old Niazmand needs to keep one more clean sheet for more than 70 minutes of the next match against Saipa at home. On the other hand, while Naizmand and Mazaheri have been exceptionally good this season in the league, the regular Team Melli custodian, Alireza Beiranvand has not been so fortunate as his rivals. Beiranvand has conceded 5 goals and his team Persepolis has dropped to the 5th position. The goalkeeper who was instantly a hit after saving Cristiano Ronaldo's spot-kick and a penalty against Cambodia failed to repeat the same against Bahrain.

Persian Gulf Pro League Table & Standings

Pos Team P W D L F A +/- PTS Form
1 Sepahan Sepahan 7 5 2 0 10 0 +10 17 W W W D D
2 Tractor Sazi Tractor 7 5 2 0 8 0 +8 17 W W W W D
3 Shahr Khodrou Shahr Khodrou 7 5 1 1 8 3 +5 16 W W D L W
4 Foolad Foolad 7 3 3 1 6 4 +2 12 W W D W D
5 Sanat Naft Sanat Naft 7 3 3 1 5 3 +2 12 D W W D L
6 Persepolis Persepolis 7 4 0 3 5 5 0 12 W L L W W
7 Naft Masjed Soleyman Naft MIS 7 2 5 0 7 5 +2 11 W W D D D
8 Esteghlal Esteghlal 7 2 3 2 10 7 +3 9 W W D L D
9 Nassaji Mazandaran Nassaji 7 2 3 2 12 14 -2 9 L D D W L
10 Pars Jam Bushehr Pars Jam 7 1 4 2 6 7 -1 7 D L D W D
11 Machine Sazi Machine Sazi 7 2 1 4 9 13 -4 7 L D W L L
12 Saipa Saipa 7 2 1 4 9 14 -5 7 L L L L W
13 Paykan Paykan 7 1 2 4 13 14 -1 5 L L D W D
14 Zob Ahan Zob Ahan 7 0 4 3 5 9 -4 4 L L D D D
15 Gol Gohar Gol Gohar 7 0 3 4 3 8 -5 3 L L L L D
16 Shahin Bushehr Shahin 7 0 1 6 4 14 -10 1 L L L L D
Last updated: 

Rumors of an expanded tournament in Qatar involving Iran and Turkey.

There have been strong rumours from Doha that Qatar intends to invite Iran and Turkey for the upcoming Gulf Football tournament in Doha.

This tournament of Gulf Cup will be the 24th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federations. On 15 July 2019, the Gulf Cup Football Federation announced that it will be held in Qatar from 27 November to 9 December 2019.[1]

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain have cut all ties with Qatar since 2017 and that included sporting contacts. The action of the three football federations is forced and dictated by their leaders which subsequently resulted in the 3 boycotting countries athletes missing many events in Qatar in defiance to the spirits of the Olympic spirits and the policy of FIFA in that mandates football to be free from governmental interference.

Sports federations in the Persian Gulf Countries have been indirectly managed, manipulated and bankrolled by their governments and ruling families and as such they strictly follow3s the whims of the rulers.

The Gulf Football Tournament, which was first commenced in Bahrain back in 1971 is the most popular footballing events in the sheikhdoms. It started with 4 countries Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and host Bahrain. The tournament, which is not recognized by FIFA as an official event, has changed format several times and expanded to 8 teams. As anticipated, politics played a major role in the running throughout the years from countries withdrawing during the tournaments or before it to strain relations as a result of football matches not to mentions scandals such as bribing referees to fan violence.

 This term, the 24th edition of the tournament is expected to be boycotted by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, leaving only Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and host Qatar taking part.

To save the tournament, Qatar has been secretly negotiating with Turkish and Iranian federations to gauge their interest in taking part in the competition. FFIRI has officially denied any such approaches from the Qatari counterpart while it is extremely unlikely that the Turkish National team will take part, considering Turkey is still involved in the European Cup and their clubs are not only involved in the local league but also European Clubs competitions. The is no space in the Turkish football calendar for a tournament such as this.

For Iran, similar difficulties apply however none of the challenges can be measured as the vehement objection to the naming of the tournament which is fakely called "Arabian Gulf Tournament"

Considering that Qatar will accept to change the only possible scenario for Iran is to send Omid Team to the tournament, provided the clubs accept releasing their important players. This possibility, although the best solution will be hard to come by in the midst of the league.

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