Author: admin

The corruption that refuses to go away in Asia.

As it stands, football has proven beyond any shadow of doubt that it is one corrupt game full of scrupulous and shoddy characters. From the high echelons of FIFA in Switzerland all the way round the globe to small but strong and influential mafias of match fixing in Asia, the corruption is rife in every sense of the word. And the sport is labeled the "Beautiful Game".

The latest scandal , hitting the English Football this time, the same football the claims purity and the guardian of ethics and the birthplace of the sport, is the stories of English youth teams coaches sexually abusing under-age players in several clubs. Paedophile coaches being allowed to abuse the children they are entrusted to coach and nourish their talents.

In Asia, a continent that has variety of corruption episodes, this time the big headlines comes from South Korea, arguable the top nation of Asian football.

Few months ago, the scandal began with stories of corrupt refereeing making the headlines. A team that was relegated few years back in to second division by the name of Gyeongnam, was found to be  guilty of bribing referees.  However, the allegations were the kick off for much bigger story and it hit the most popular team in the country. 

Referees admitted that mega club Jeonbuk was also involved in such violation.  Subsequent police investigation revealed that the club bribed referees in at least 5 matches

Korean FA disciplinary committee decided to deduct only 9 points of Jeonbuk's tally and fine the club 100 million Won (85,000 dollars). In Italy, Juventus was relegated to a lower division for a similar offense.

On the same token the AFC, which claims to be the guardian of ethics and constantly fights match fixing, has recently punished and suspended many players, officials and teams due to their part in match fixing incidents. Recently, U-16 North Korea's goalkeeper and manager been suspended for a year because of such cases.

The AFC, for reasons only known to themselves,  decided to conveniently ignore the allegations against Jeonbuk and took no actions in this case when it was proven in Korea. Perhaps there are not enough Korean employees in KL AFC's headquarters who can read and speak Korean!  Or maybe it's because of the decision date, after the semifinal first leg. But there are reasons to think there is more to it than meets the eyes behind the decision of the governing body of Asian Football.. And as if to highlight how corruption does pay off in football, the Korean team lifted the AFC champions league trophy after piping Al Ain in the two-legged final.

So, we have a crooked team lifting the AFC Champions League, and that surely puts into question AFC's authenticity and its message of "fight against corruption" of all types. If AFC is genuine, it should have a strong policy against anyone who is proven to have committed or was involved in a corrupt deal, else the whole process will be looked upon as flawed, biased, politically motivated and depends highly on who is the culprit. Not exactly a fair game at all, AFC !

You might think the Iranians are paranoid when it comes to accusations of bias against them in the AFC corridor of power, but the reality and the events proves their point. The latest AFC bias is expected soon when it, the AFC , headed by an Arab President who hardly clocks any hours in the office in Kuala Lumpur, will once again side with the brethren  Saudi Arabs and force Iranian teams to host Saudi clubs outside of Iran in the AFC champions league. The excuse, the safety concern , the real reason though is purely politics.

Queiroz desperate for friendly matches

Carlos Queiroz has been persistently asking the Football federation to arrange a series of friendly matches for Team Melli before a crucial FIFA World Cup qualification match against Qatar in Doha on March of next year.

Iran leads the table at the halfway stage of the World Cup qualifiers, but with a slender one point margin ahead of South Korea and Uzbekistan. No matches have been scheduled for Team Melli during the longish break which prompted the Portuguese head coach to demand some action from Mehdi Taj.

The head of federation has been talking about matches against several top teams including Italy , Spain, Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire during the last few months. Reports attributed to the FFIRI and published by many newspapers and websites claim that Côte d'Ivoire have agreed to play Team Melli in Abu Dhabi, but the Ivorian side and FIFA website that publishes most of the national teams schedule makes no reference to a game between Iran and Côte d'Ivoire. The west African country is preparing for the African Nation Cup 2017 and has the following schedule

26 DEC 2016 Friendly Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire vs. Zimbabwe 08 JAN 2017 Friendly Abu Dhabi Sweden vs. Côte d'Ivoire 11 JAN 2017 Friendly Abu Dhabi Cote d'Ivoire vs. Uganda

Despite the less than ideal condition at which Team Melli is being prepared with lack of proper facilities, high standard training grounds , chronic poor administration , inability of the federation to plan ahead for friendly matches and finally forced to play in an atrocious conditions against Syria in violation to many rules of FIFA and AFC , Team Melli is steadfastly moving ahead and has a high chance of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Current standing, 

GROUP A
TEAMS MP W D L GF GA +/- Pts
Iran  IRAN
 5 3 2 0 4 0 4 11
Korea Republic  KOREA REPUBLIC
 5 3 1 1 8 6 2 10
Uzbekistan  UZBEKISTAN
 5 3 0 2 5 3 2 9
Syria  SYRIA
 5 1 2 2 1 2 -1 5
Qatar  QATAR
 5 1 1 3 3 6 -3 4
China PR  CHINA PR
 5 0 2 3 2 6 -4 2

Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh wins AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2016:

Team Mell's Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh won the AFC Player of the year 2016 award beating his compatriots Ahamd Esmaeilpour and Farhad Tavakoli for Asia's best futsal player title. Meanwhile , Iran's football federation FFIRI boycotted the AFC Annual Awards ceremony in protest against several issues by AFC including the bias of AFC towards Saudi Arabia , discrimination against Iran and finally the lack of recognition of Team Melli players.

Mehdi Taj and Alireza Asadi plus the PR manager of the FFIRI were on the invited list but never made the trip to Abu Dhabi. Despite the fact that Iran has been the best Asian Team for the past 23 months running , no Iranian players were included in the shortlist of candidates. Abu Dhabi, out of all the 7 UAE emirates, has also been quitw hostile towards Iran and fighting against the Al Houthi clan in Yemen .

In the ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, Iranian referees won recognition as  Alireza Faghani, Reza Sokhandan and  Mohammad Reza Mansouri were awarded AFC Referees Special Award 2016

   

AFC Futsal Player of the Year Nominees

  • Aliasghar Hasanzadeh (IR Iran)
  • Ahmad Esmaeilpour (IR Iran)
  • Farhad Tavakoli (IR Iran)
  AFC Referees Special Award Men Alireza Faghani (IR Iran) Reza Sokhandan (IR Iran) Mohammad Reza Mansouri (IR Iran)

Kaffashian under fire again!

The ever grinning man of Iranian football federation is under fire again this time for his candidacy for the membership of FIFA Executive Committee.

One would have thought that the Iranians would be pleased and perhaps proud for a compatriot to achieve such a prestigious position, apparently not.

The incumbent Ali Kaffashian, who was the President of FFIRI from 1 March 2008 to 7 May 2016 for two consecutive terms, is currently serving as Deputy to Mehdi Taj . In fact, the couple, swapped seats after the last elections. Kaffashian refused to enter the election race for leadership of the FFIRI for a third term, however he ended up  getting the Deputy role in the federation. Many claimed it was a game of musical chair orchestrated and executed without much objections or interest from the clubs forming the FFIRI during the general assembly meeting.

In his first election, Kaffashian won the Presidency by default after all nominees withdrew one after another in what was considered by many as dubious circumstances. Kaffashian previously served as Secretary General of Iran's National Olympic Committee from 2004 until 2008. 

Iran’s football administration, like the rest of the Middle Eastern neighboring countries is earnestly controlled by the ruling clans. The governments are the real power brokers, and substantially support the clubs and associations. Some do it quite openly, like Kuwait, while the rest do it more subtly or behind the scene fearing sanctions by FIFA.

Without governments financial support , it is safe to say that Middle East football would be on par with Nepal and Pakistan and certainly nowhere near the standard that these countries enjoy right now. Government support , which is crucial to the clubs, comes with a caveat however. In this scenario the power yielded by the governments is absolute and there in no chance for independent entity or person to take to control and govern the federations. In Iran, no one out of the government circle can have a chance of getting to head the FFIRI. Only those who have the government blessing, and naturally show loyalty and obedience, are in for a chance.

Kaffashian is from within the circle; however, he has failed to show any leadership qualities in his two terms and was ridiculed for his inaptitude and cracking jokes when situation required some serious action. His sarcasm and famous grin does not go down well with the media either.

This is one reason that his selection has been met with cynicism rather than joy by the media. “Not only has he done very little for Iran while serving as Vice-President of AFC, now for his ineptness, he is being considered for FIFA Executive Committee office” decried ISNA sport editor.

Azmoun and the English Premiere League, will it work?

Sardar Azmoun scored a brilliant goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last night, his second in the competition after the one against Atletico Madrid in an earlier round. Sardar Azmoun is top scorer of Team Melli and a true potential of being one of the greatest Iranian player in the history like his idol Ali Daei. He has done his reputation a world of good by scoring against the 5 time European Champions to rekindle the calls and the pressure on him to join one of the big names of European football. Liverpool seems to be the main suitor.

Sardar Azmoun has many admirers not just Liverpool FC, Since Farhad Moshiri, the British-Iranian businessman has bought majority interest in Everton, he has also shown serious interest in his compatriot. Sardar Azmoun has many admirers in the Bundesliga as well.

Saying all that, the biggest mistake of Sardar’s career would be to move to the English Premiere league, which has been the graveyard of so many promising young players and famous players too.  Chances of a 21 years old Iranian forward breaking into a team in the premiere league is quite a long shot. Despite the global appeal of the English PL, it is not highly rated in terms in producing and nourishing talents and in tactical value. The English style of play depends on stamina and strong physical attributes of players. A player is judged upon much he runs in the field and how much he tackles. Individual talents and other attributes come distant second. Not many leagues or football styles are played in the old British style and not many players can adept to it. Even some established professional footballers from other leagues have struggled.

sardar-azmoun-5204

Sardar Azmoun has many excellent attributes for a player at his age. His heading ability is second to none, he jumps high and he has no fear tackling defenders much stronger than him while going for headers. He has a fantastic ability in turning in small circles and beating defenders and leaving them chasing his shadow. Best of the lot , though is…He scores.

However, Azmoun comes from a football background where pace has never been its greatest attributes. The talent of the young man from Gonbad Kavos is undeniable but running for 90 minutes like he is expected to do in England, is not his strongest points. His stamina falls short of 90 minutes or beyond.

sardar azmoun 2

Of course there is always hope that Sardar might hit the bullseyes since the English Football is slowly being transformed from that mad pace into a more tactical and beautiful easy on the eyes style of  the European coaches which the likes of Arsene Wenger , Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have applied. However, the chances for Sardar are not so great and bench-warming will probably kill his career or at least delay his exceptional progress for years. For him to break into the league where the likes of Radamel Falcao , the young Paul Pogba , Pedro , and currently Sturridge have struggled , he really has to show some exceptional ability and work hard which might be beyond the physical mental and emotional ability of the young man.

 FC Rostov is a very cozy place for him right now. Perhaps in a year or so , the Bundesliga would suite his style, but the lure of the Sterling might be too attractive to ignore but detrimental to his career.

Futsal Team Melli players rule the annual AFC awards

All the nominee of AFC Futsal player of the year are Team Melli members according to the list published by AFC. In yet another unusual move, the Asian football ruling body has published a second list weeks after publishing what was thought to be the annual awards final list. Apparently there was two parts.

After a great year for Iran's Futsal team , the three nominations is hardly a surprise with Iran winning the 3rd place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 recently held in Colombia. This is the highest ever futsal achievement in Asian futsal history.

The nominees are:  AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

  1. Ahmad Esmaeilpour (IR Iran)
  2. Aliasghar Hasanzadeh (IR Iran)                        
  3. Farhad Tavakoli (IR Iran)
FARHAD TAVAKOLI - Iran Futsal Team
FARHAD TAVAKOLI - Iran Futsal Team

Iranians referees were also  honoured after a landmark year for Asian referees  

Asian referees have set a new benchmark for excellence in 2016, gracing some of the world’s biggest stages. In recognition for their outstanding performances, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) today awarded six match officials – three men and women – with the AFC Referees Special Award 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   The men’s trio from the Islamic Republic of Iran - Alireza Faghani, assistant referees Reza Sokhandan, Mohammad Reza Mansouri - and the women’s team comprising Australians Kate Jacewicz, Renae Coghill and India’s Uvena Fernandes received their awards from the AFC Referees Committee Vice-Chairman, Hany Taleb Ballan Safar (Qatar) at the opening of the AFC Elite Referees and Assistant Referees Seminar taking place in the Malaysian capital.
 Alireza Faghani 3 IRN AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “The AFC’s Vision and Mission has underlined our desire to ensure Asian players and officials succeed on the world stage. The performances of our men and women referees this year demonstrate once again our continent as a great force in world football and that our referees – both men and women – have earned global respect   “Their achievements serve as a testament to the progressive steps Asian football continues to undertake under the banner of One Asia, One Goal and I am confident that they will continue to do us proud in the years ahead.”   Faghani, Sokhandan and Mansouri made history this year as Asia’s first trio to officiate the final of the Men's Olympic Football Tournament when they took charge of the Brazil versus Germany gold medal match in August in Rio de Janeiro.   During the hugely successful AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia, Faghani and Sokhandan were appointed to officiate the final match between Korea Republic and host nation Australia. The men’s trio also officiated the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup final in Tokyo, which saw Barcelona take on Argentina’s River Plate.
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
 

The ugly side of Asian football.

Team Melli’s match against Syria, was one of those matches that really needs to be buried and what is left of it, to be shredded and erased from memory.

A combination of factors has accumulated to make this statement but nothing more than the decision to play a match in such atrocious conditions. This was the worst advertisement for Asian football and once again highlights the failure of the AFC’s organization and due diligence.

It seems that AFC’s idiocy has no bounds and whoever agreed to play the game in mud, must be sued for putting the good name of football in disrepute. One has to seriously question the intelligence of the person who planned and the one who approved of playing in Malaysia during the height of the rainy season where normal life is frequently disrupted because of torrential downpour.

It does not take a lot of intelligence to know about the climate and the weather pattern in Malaysia, the question then is who is accountable for this mess? The Syrians, no doubt, but the real culprit is AFC and to certain extent  FIFA for consenting to it!

Team Melli was not equipped to play in these conditions, neither were the Syrians for that matter, but the latter was the much happier side parking their double-decker in front of their goal against a futile and dysfunctional Iranian forwards.  In truth, Team Melli has not been exactly firing on all cylinders in the offensive line in the best of conditions. A mere 4 goals from 5 matches is rather embarrassing for any team that has ambition to make it with the elite in Russia’s World Cup.

The scenes that are threatening to be come customary!
The scenes that are threatening to be come customary!

But then again, Queiroz has always been a believer in solid defense and builds his game plan around that. Anything else is a bonus. It has worked for Team Melli and they are leading the group without conceding a single goal in 5 matches. That is quite an achievement by any means, perhaps not idealistic and lacking in style and finesse but nevertheless it seems to reap results

Results are what counts for the majority.

The Syrian team, a product of a war-torn nation with huge lack of resources, can be excused for being what they are. They have withstood a lot of pressures on and of the field and stopping the top Asian team from scoring must be an accolade for them. They do play ugly, uninspiring and boring to death football. But when it comes to frustrating the opponents, they are the best.

 It was quite disappointing for Team Melli to end the first half of the competition for FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers in such style and result, but leading the table with a slim one point , is not a bad place to be for the second half.

A point lost against Syria in a drab goalless draw.

Seremban: Syria held Islamic Republic of Iran to a 0-0 draw in their FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 qualifier at a drenched Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Malaysia on Tuesday.
The wet conditions not only delayed the kick-off for 45 minutes but made playing conditions difficult for both teams. IR Iran, who stayed top of Group A with eleven points from the first five games in the third round of qualification and a point ahead of Korea Republic in second, had the better of the chances but were unable to put the ball in the net. Syria stay in fourth with five points after five games, four behind Uzbekistan in third and still in the running.
"We knew that the match against Iran would be difficult as they are a strong team, which they proved again today," said Syria coach Ayman Hakeem.
"The conditions were difficult for both teams but we worked very hard to get the result. It is hard to score against Iran but we did stop them from scoring. We would have liked to create more opportunities going forward but this was not easy to do. We worked hard for each other and were rewarded with a good result. We'll have to keep doing the same over the next five games. IR Iran had the first real chance of the game inside the first five minutes and it came down the left. Ashkan Dejagah rolled the ball to Mehdi Taremi but his low shot was well-saved by Ibrahim Alma in the Syrian goal who was in great form throughout. Dejagah was again involved ten minutes before the half, with a shot on the turn from outside the area that again was gathered by Alma. Soon after Saeid Ezatolahi had a header blocked as Iran looked to break the deadlock. With the heavy pitch and Syria sitting back and defending in numbers, it proved to be tough for IR Iran to find any space in the pitch. Syria were trying to disrupt Iran's rhythm but the group leaders started to pile on the pressure as the game progressed.

Chances were few and far between but a piece of individual brilliance from Alireza Jahanbakhsh almost beat the Syrian goalkeeper in the latter stages. In space on the right side, the attacker fired a swerving and swirling shot from distance that had Alma backpedalling to push the ball over the bar. The best chance of the game however came with three minutes remaining and it fell to IR Iran. Milad Mohammadi galloped down the left wing to send over a perfect cross to the far post where Jahanbaksh rose unchallenged only to send his downward header wide of the post. IR Iran tried to push forward again but ran out of time and had to settle for a point. "I have nothing to say about the game, just that I'm proud of every single one of my players," said IR Iran coach Carlos Queiroz. "They gave their best right until the end. These were tough conditions to play football in. We are top of the group after five games and there are still five games to go. There is still lots of hard work ahead but we are working hard and we are still unbeaten and have not conceded a goal. We now look towards the next game."   Photos: Lagardère Sports

Teymourian denies any rift with Queiroz

Andranik Teymourian has denied any rift with the head coach of Team Melli following his exclusion from the squad which is playing Syria on the 15th of November in the 5th round of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

Despite losing two vital players through suspensions in Azmoun and Hajsafy , Queiroz complicated the matters further with  his exclusion of the Team's Captain and a player with vast experience.  There was no public announcement by the Portuguese head coach on reasons for this sudden omission of a player who has been at the top of Queiroz favorites and reliable list.

In a statement to to ISNA , Teymourian denied any contact or giving statements to any media outlet after the announcement of Team Melli's list against Syria. "I have talked to no one in the press, did not make any public comment , did not question the decision by the coach and furthermore, I have no grudge against this decision and respect it fully"

"I am a soldier for Team Melli. I will play when I am needed and called, I will help in any capacity asked from me. I fully respect and always respected Carlos Queiroz and will not question his decision. All that has  been mentioned in the press about this issue is pure speculation and fabrication, nothing but." Ando declared.

"In my years of working with Queiroz, we always had mutual respect and as a player I have leaned a lot from him. I want to keep it that way. If I am asked to play again , I shall do it without any hesitation. I wish people leave it at that and not spoil the good spirit of Team Melli while an important encounter awaits us against Syria."

Andranik Teymourian, is currently playing for the bottom of the league club, Machine Sazi of Tabriz.

 

AFC Annual Awards in need of reforms.

Once again the pathetic AFC Annual Awards are upon us, and once again the much criticized set of awards is being flaunted as the première platform of Asian Football top awards. Accusations that the awards are highly politicized, has very little to do with reality and lack of transparency has marred this annual process. All hopes of improvement and reform has been meat by deaf ear of the hierarchy of AFC with the announcement of this year’s list.

Unfortunately, it is the only award that the rest of the world looks at , as because no other forum or reputable organization nor any strong media in Asia bothers about creating a highly respectable alternative. So, for the those World Media unversed and the less informed in Asian football  , these awards can be mistakenly be taken as the representative of the best of Asian Football excellence while the reality is so far from it.

Year after years and without any culpability, the AFC announces a short list of names for the awards which has little relevance to reality or actual standards. The worst of the awards is the “AFC Player of the year”  which has been the main target of critics and frankly has been scandalous on occasions. All sort of criticism and accusations have been targeted by many who were affected by these nominations.  Political clout, influences and lobbying has been said to play the major part of nomination and selection of supposedly the best Asian footballer. No all criticism were impartial though as the West Asian Arab states have been always vocal when their nominees were absent from the list!

In reality, the flaw in the nomination process seems to be apparent when previous candidates and winners are scrutinized.  A quick look at the historic data and past winners will confirm to any knowledgeable person that the AFC list is out of touch with the real world. AFC Player of the year has even been selected on nepotism during Bin Hamam’s days and hardly improved ever since.

Whether the new President is willing to tackle this issue, or even if he has any interest in reforming this particular process or maybe very well be covenant with the highly unpopular process , is yet to be seen. However, the secretive on goings behind the scene or under the table in the nomination and selection procedures, is quite a thorn in AFC’s credbility.

At least the FIFA award has some transparency and is much closer to reality . That is hardly the case with the Asian version of the award.

Take a look at this simple and no brainer  list of quality Asian players who had made headlines in Europe with their exploits in European Champions League and the Leagues like Son Heung-min (Tottenham) , Sardar Azmoun (FC Rostov) and Keisuke Honda (AC Milan)  and what AFC thinks who should the best in Asia 2016 based on God know what ; Omar Abdulrahman (AlAin & UAE) , Hammadi Ahmed (Air Force & Iraq) and Wu Lei (Shanghai SIPG & China PR)

Not that the AFC nominees are bad players, but when it comes to the top awards, the excellence has to be measured in a systematic method. There is no way that these players have anything near the three top Asian players in performance and quality, but then again you be the judge.