The parliament in Iran passed a new law that it has been debating for years preventing those who receive pension from Social Security Organization seeking  paying jobs at other organizations including NGOs.

With the passing of this law, the majority of Iranian Sport Federations managers and heads will need to leave their jobs , including those in the Football Federation, FFIRI where the top administrators, including the President of FFIRI fall under this category.

The initial reaction of Mahdi Taj, an ex-civil servant , on learning that his name is among those who are impacted by this law , like many heads of federations, was rational, with emphasis on compliance.

" surely other football directors would inevitably come along as the result of this new law, but the question is if this law is enforced, and all of these people will be excluded from football management, can the successors of these directors manage and direct football affairs and management in the country?"

It seems now that the Football Federation is a federation is full of old and the frustrated personnel, while football itself always tries to be youthful, energetic and progressive. Unfortunately in Iran, it is the other way round. A group of older men running a youthful game.

It seems that a solution to this problem has to be found so that the implementation of a law will not create the potential  vacuum and future problems.

The FFIRI administrators who are affected by this law are as follow:

Mahdi Taj (President of the Football Federation), Ali Kafashian (vice President), Heydar Bahavand (chairman of the league organization  committee and  second vice-President), Abdul Kazem Taleghani (board member), Mohammad Reza Saket (General Secretary), and Mahmoud Islamiyan (member of the Football Federation Council) are senior managers of the federation who are retired and will be forced to leave their jobs after the new law is implemented.

Team Melli forward Reza Ghoochannejhad signed a 2 years contract with the Cypriot champion APOEL Nicosia which will take him up to mid-2020, the club reports from Cyprus through the official channels.

The deal did not involve any transfer fee as The thirty-year-old striker was a free agent after the end of his contract with SC Heerenveen and has now joined the 27-time champion of Cyprus, which has also the goalkeeper Boy Waterman under contract.

The Team Melli forward, arrived at the club in Cyprus on Sunday to conclude the negotiations and to sign a contract.

The thirty-year-old attacker was present at the World Cup in Russia this summer. Ghoochannejhad, who played total of 44 times for Iran and scored 16 times, was not in the spotlight at the final tournament, as he was benched in all the 3 matches and did not make a single minute appearance in Russia. APOEL Nicosia was nonetheless very interested in the services of the attacker.

Ghoochannejhad, who previously played  for FC Emmen, sc Cambuur, Charlton Athletic and a few clubs from Belgium and the Middle East, joined Heerenveen again in the summer of 2016, after an earlier period in Friesland. Ghoochannejhad scored 29 times while playing for Heerenveen in the past two seasons.

Reza Ghoochannejad has retired from Team Melli after failing to appear in the World Cup.

APOEL Nicosia  has just been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League preliminary rounds by FK Sūduva from Lithuania.

A Croatian website claimed that there were some interesting offers for Zlatko Dalic, which are initiated by Iran and Japan.

According to to jutarnji, Zlatko Dalic, the Croatian national team manager who has experience coaching in the Middle East and managed to lead Croatia to the FIFA World Cup final, the coach is currently on vacation and enjoying his rest period.

According to the site, the coach has four official offers from the national teams of Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan and Egypt, with the proposals of Iran and Japan being financially more significant and far beyond the money that the coach receives from the Croatian Football Association. These negotiations are now continuing.

Of course, the trainer had already said that money is not his top priority and would not pick a job based on that.

Also, the jutarnji site claimed that Branko Ivankovich has also sent messages for Dalic.

According to ISNA, Mahdi Taj and the Iranian Football Association have repeatedly stated that until the end of the Asian Cup, their final and definitive option is Queiroz, and the two sides have expressed interest in continuing their 6-month partnership. This is despite the fact that no formal contract has been signed so far.

Iranian left-winger Vahid Amiri is in Trabzon to discuss a potential move to the Super Lig oufit, the club’s vice president Hayrettin Hacisalihoglu revealed.

“He came to Trabzon but we are yet to make an agreement. We have to discuss certain matters. He will have to pass a medical after we make an agreement and then he will sign,” he said.

The president pointed out that the 30-year-old is a free agent after his contract with Iranian powerhouse Persepolis expired last month and a transfer fee would not be necessary.

He played for Iran during the World Cup in Russia just weeks ago.

The Turkish club have been negotiating with multiple Iranian players this summer, having agreed to sign Majid Hosseini, however, a last minute snag with his passport being held by his club Esteghlal caused the transfer to be delayed.

After being unable to sort out the issue with the Iranian club, Hosseini’s transfer to Trabzonspor has been put on hold for now, according to Trabzonspor’s president Ahmet Agaoglu.