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AFC side with Suadi Arabia by its latest ruling!

Saudi Arabian clubs will play Champions League matches against Iranian teams at neutral venues this year because of the lack of improvement in relations between the two countries, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia cut all ties with Iran in January after its embassy in Tehran was attacked following the Saudis' execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric.

The AFC, football's governing body in the region, had set a March 15 deadline for "normal relations" to be resumed between the countries or the matches would be played at neutral venues.

"It is most unfortunate for the AFC to learn that... the Saudi Arabian government has yet to lift the travel restrictions on their nationals, which prohibit travel to Iran," the AFC said in a letter to the governing bodies of both countries.

"This travel ban offers no special dispensation for football teams."Furthermore, there has been no significant development in the relationship between the two countries concerned."

The Iranian football federation was quick to object to the AFC directive in a statement released via the Tasnim news agency on Wednesday.

"Football Federation of Iran will send a letter to AFC to announce its objection. Saudi Arabia has brought a political issue into football which is against AFC and (world governing body) FIFA's statutes..." it said.

"Iran hosted Emirati games under the best condition and absolute security. Iran is known as a safe country in Asia and in the world so it will certainly react to this issue."

An official with Iranian champions Sepahan told Reuters last month that Iran might withdraw its teams from the tournament if they were blocked from hosting matches against Saudi Arabian clubs.

The AFC last month pushed back six group-stage Saudi-Iran fixtures to allow more time for independent evaluations on safety and security issues after four Saudi clubs complained it was unsafe for them to play in Iran.

Sepahan team manager Rassol Khorvash said the three Iranian clubs in the ACL believed the Saudis were "looking for excuses" and were demanding the switch to neutral venues for political reasons.Twice Asian champions Al-Hilal, one of four Saudi teams in the competition's group stage, said they had experienced problems playing in Iran in previous years and the breakdown in diplomatic relations would make it more dangerous this season.

Saudi Arabia had a World Cup qualifying match moved from the Palestinian territories to Jordan last year following a row involving FIFA and the AFC.

The Saudi Arabian and Iranian FAs have been given until March 25 to "provide comprehensive details of the proposed neutral venues", the AFC said.

Team Melli resumes training

Carlos Queiroz lead Team Melli training this morning in preparation for the final two home games of the 2018 World Cup Qualification Group D starting with the home tie against India in Azadi Stadium on 24th March then 5 days later against Oman .  

The training was conducted on natural turf of the Oil Company sport facilities after Queiroz complained about the low quality of turf in the National teams training center at Azadi complex. All the players were available for the training session however a few had to undergo special training due to slight knocks amongst them Voriya Ghafoori , Omid Ebrahimi , Kamal Kamiabiniya and Asghar Ashoori.

Dan Gasper took the three keepers for separate training from the squad.

GROUP D

# Team MP W D L F A D P Last 5 matches
1 6 4 2 0 20 3 +17 14 WWDWW
2 6 3 2 1 10 5 +5 11 LWDDW
3 7 3 1 3 8 10 -2 10 WLWWL
4 7 2 1 4 3 15 -12 7 LLLDL
5 6 1 0 5 4 12 -8 3 WLLLL

 

FIFA mete out punishment to India for fielding ineligible player against Iran.

The FIFA disciplinary committee's findings raised eyebrows about the Indian management's awareness on their players' eligibility in the tie vs. Iran, India fined CHF 6000.

In a major embarrassment to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian national football team, world football's governing body, FIFA, on Tuesday ruled that they had found theBlue Tigers guilty of fielding an ineligible player for their 2018 World Cup Qualification Group D tie versus Iran in Bengaluru, on the 8th of September, 2015. 

A report by the Times of India, states that India have been handed a fine and conjointly been made to forfeit the Iran tie, which means they offered a 'no contest' in the World Cup qualifier in Bengaluru, for playing Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who had been suspended for picking up two yellow cards earlier in the group stage. 

Iran initially won the tie 0-3, but the FIFA disciplinary committee, keeping in line with Article 15 and 55 of the FIFA disciplinary code and Article 8 of the FIFA 2018 World Cup regulations, have found that Lyngdoh had picked up two yellow cards in earlier group games - versus Oman (June 11) and Guam (June 16) - and thus should have stood ineligible for the tie versus Iran. 

The FIFA disciplinary code's Article 55 explicitly states, "If a player takes part in an official match despite being ineligible, his team will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match (cf. art. 31) and paying a minimum fine of CHF 6,000."

Stephen Constantine and his managerial staff were caught unaware of Lyngdoh's suspension and now the Indian national team have been dealt in accordance with the laws, being fined CHF 6000 (INR 4,05,900) and have also been made to forfeit the tie against Iran, to a 0-3 scoreline - which is however the margin by which Iran won anyway. 

Lyngdoh is currently recovering from injury and has not been picked amongst the probables for the World Cup qualification ties versus Iran, away to Tehran on March 24 and Turkmenistan, at home, on March 29. 

India name probables for 2018 football World Cup preliminary qualifiers

Image Credit: Getty Images.

Image Credit: Getty Images.

Star striker Sunil Chhetri is among a 28-strong Indian probable squad announced on Tuesday for the 2018 football World Cup preliminary qualifying round matches against Iran and Turkmenistan.

While India travel to Tehran to play Iran on March 24, they will host Turkmenistan in Kochi on March 29 in the Qualification Round 2 games.

The team will have a camp in the capital from March 16 prior to the departure to Tehran on March 21.

Constantine sounded "excited," when asked about the camp.

"The boys would be assembling on March 16 and we will be practicing at the Ambedkar Stadium. However, as both Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC are involved in the AFC Cup, the boys from the two Clubs won't be able to be with us on the 16th," Constantine said.

"As Mohun Bagan play a Home match in the AFC Cup (on March 16), they will report to the Camp the next day while the boys from Bengaluru FC will report to the Camp as soon as they are back from their away match," he added.

Constantine said the side would look to carry the form which helped it win the SAFF Cup.

"It's important that we sustain the momentum which we achieved by winning the SAFF Suzuki Cup. Playing in Tehran will be a difficult game for us," he stated.

"Without disrespecting Turkmenistan, we want to get the maximum we can from our Home match," he said.

The list of 28 Probables stay as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh, TP Reheneesh.

DEFENDERS: Aiborlang Khongjee, Augistine Fernandes, Arnab Mondal, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Rino Anto, Narayan Das, Lalchhuanmawia,

MIDFIELDERS: Pronay Halder, Bikash Jairu, Cavin Lobo, Rowlin Borges, Alwyn George, Md. Rafique, Malsawmzuala, Francis Fernandes, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Udanta Singh, Vineet Rai, Seityasen Singh.

FORWARDS: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Sumeet Passi, Halicharan Narzary.

Kaffashian will not run in the latest FFIRI elections.

Ali Kaffashian the incumbent President of the Iranian football federation FFIRI has announced that he will not run for re-election due in a few weeks.

7 candidates have announced their candidacy for replacing Ali Kaffashian amongst them are Mehdi Taj , the current head of the Football League in FFIRI , General Mostafa Ajerloo famous for his succesful days as Pas Tehran club chairman and Azizollah Mohammadi , the former  head of the Football League . The trio have the highest chances of winning the election as the new President of FFIRI.

Kaffashian has been put under pressure by his Nemesis the Minister of Sport Goudarzi to quit. The two never had an amicable relation mainly due to the constant interference by the Ministry in football affairs thus risking a ban by FIFA. Kaffashian has publicly denied any rift but admitted that the FFIRI and the Ministry of Sport have conflicting interests and opinions that could harm the sport. 

Despite Kaffashian's withdrawal , he noted that if he feels that there is enough backing and support from the general assembly , he will reenter the election for another 4 years.

The impact of Kaffashian leaving the administration will be directly felt at Team Melli. Carlos Queiroz , the head coach has been receiving full support from Kaffashian while on the other hand, creating a plethora of enemies around him. It is a forgone conclusion that Queiroz will not survive without Kaffashian at the helm. No one in the current administration cares much for him being the head coach except for Kaffashian. None of the other candidates expressed public support for the Portuguese coach either. However , in Iran changes can happen and shifts in support has turned situations before. 

Queiroz in Minsitry of Youth & Sport
Queiroz in Minsitry of Youth & Sport

Iran maintains top Asian FIFA Ranking Feb. 2016

  • 44         CURRENT FIFA WORLD RANKING
  • 47        AVERAGE POSITION SINCE FIFA WORLD RANKING CREATION
 Team Melli continued leading the Asian FIFA Ranking while remaining unchanged in the world at number 44.
In the figures published for the month of February 2016 today in Zürich, Iran was ranked ahead of Scotland while one rank below Paraguay.
Japan maintained its second place while Korea republic is third.

2016 (100 %) 2015 (50 %) 2014 (30 %) 2013 (20 %)
Rank Team Total Points Previous Points +/- Avg. AVG WGT Avg. AVG WGT Avg. AVG WGT Avg. AVG WGT
1 44 IRN   Iran 627(626.53) 626 0 275.78 275.78 323.29 161.65 460.10 138.03 255.35 51.07
 2 56 JPN   Japan 575(575.15) 569 2 263.60 263.60 327.02 163.51 205.07 61.52 432.61 86.52
 3 57 KOR   Korea Republic 566(565.74) 580 -4 282.46 282.46 343.57 171.78 225.59 67.68 219.09 43.82
 4 60 KSA   Saudi Arabia 562(562.38) 571 -5 384.56 384.56 122.58 61.29 297.06 89.12 137.05 27.41
 5 64 UAE   United Arab Emirates 517(517.42) 520 1 236.30 236.30 245.47 122.73 377.77 113.33 225.27 45.05
 6 67 AUS   Australia 506(505.85) 510 1 253.52 253.52 272.38 136.19 259.19 77.76 191.91 38.38
 7 74 UZB   Uzbekistan 484(484.31) 502 -3 239.19 239.19 202.48 101.24 287.67 86.30 287.89 57.58
 8 80 QAT   Qatar 441(440.99) 444 -2 292.40 292.40 141.62 70.81 150.66 45.20 162.91 32.58
 9 82 JOR   Jordan 414(413.65) 418 0 234.41 234.41 102.88 51.44 310.32 93.10 173.52 34.70
10 91 IRQ   Iraq 371(370.87) 372 -2 204.28 204.28 230.16 115.08 67.61 20.28 156.14 31.23
 11 94 PRK   Korea DPR 356(355.68) 350 1 283.58 283.58 42.12 21.06 16.51 4.95 230.44 46.09
 12 96 CHN   China PR 351(350.77) 365 -3 158.99 158.99 244.98 122.49 189.38 56.81 62.39 12.48
 13 97 OMA   Oman 342(341.55) 345 0 160.69 160.69 146.02 73.01 255.33 76.60 156.29 31.26
 14 105 KGZ   Kyrgyzstan 324(324.34) 324 0 246.80 246.80 66.96 33.48 146.86 44.06 0.00 0.00
15 113 TKM   Turkmenistan 298(298.41) 298 1 207.98 207.98 64.50 32.25 64.50 19.35 194.11 38.82

MORE TO COME FROM NEW GENERATION INSISTS IRAN’S NAZEMALSHARIE

Tashkent: Coach Mohammad Nazemalsharie believes all-conquering Iran can still get better after securing an 11th AFC Futsal Championship with a 2-1 win over hosts Uzbekistan in Sunday’s final.

Iran went behind to Dilshod Irsaliev’s early strike before Ghodrat Bahadori and captain Mohammad Keshavarz scored to claim the continental crown in front of a packed Uzbekistan Stadium.

Nazelmalsharie’s team claimed six successive wins en route to winning a first continental title since defeating Uzbekistan 8-3 in 2010, while also erasing the memory of the final day penalty shootout defeat to Japan two years ago.

“For the past two tournaments we couldn’t be champions because we were going through a generational change,” said Nazemalsharie.

“But we had great preparation for this tournament, so we went into it thinking that we would be champions. We played well throughout the competition, but as a team I still think we can get better.

“This was the only game when we were under pressure so it wasn’t a game that we needed to score lots of goals, we just needed to have control.”

Iran began their continental campaign with successive Group B wins over Jordan, China, and Iraq before seeing off Kyrgyzstan 7-0 in the quarter-finals and Iran Vietnam 13-1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final

“It maybe wasn’t the best performance of the tournament that I expected, but that’s because the standard of Uzbekistan has improved so much,” added Nazemalsharie.

“They have a very good coach who knows what to do and performs his role very well. But aside their technical ability, their fans also make a big difference.

“But the build up to this tournament helped us a lot as we faced tough matches in Brazil that prepared my players for a night like tonight.”

The newly-crowned champions had also earlier qualified for 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia as one of the competition’s top five teams and have now followed in the footsteps of inaugural AFC Women’s Futsal Championship winners Iran and AFC Futsal Club Championship winners Tasisat Daryaei.

“This tournament was great for preparing us for the World Cup. It is a good situation for Iranian futsal as our club side and women’s side have won the Asian championships,” said Nazemalsharie.

“We are now the third team in that group so it shows things are getting better.”

Photo: AFC

IRAN EDGE UZBEKISTAN TO WIN 2016 AFC FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Tashkent: Mohammad Keshavarz and Ghodrat Bahadori scored in the first half as Iran secured an 11th AFC Futsal Championship title after edging out hosts Uzbekistan 2-1 in Sunday’s final.

Uzbekistan opened the scoring after five minutes at Uzbekistan Stadium through Dilshod Irsaliev only for Bahadori’s thunderous strike to level the tie in the ninth minute before captain Keshavarz gave Iran the lead six minutes before half-time.

Uzbekistan pushed for the equaliser after the restart, but the hosts struggled to create any clear-cut chances as Iran held out to claim their first continental title since defeating the same opponents 8-3 in the 2010 final. 

Iran were on the front foot from the kick-off and Hossein Tayebi forced Uzbekistan goalkeeper Rustam Umarov into a save in the second minute before opposite number Sepehr Mohammadi tipped over from Irsaliev at the other end after five minutes.

And Uzbekistan took the lead shortly after when Farhad Tavakoli’s wayward pass across the face of his own goal was tapped home by the grateful Irsaliev for his first goal of the campaign.  

But four minutes later Iran equalised when Bahadori’s left-footed rocket from distance flew into Umarov’s top right corner before the Uzbekistan goalkeeper pulled of a flying save to deny Tayebi midway through the first half.

Iran then went in front on 14 minutes when Keshavarz was at the back post to finish Mohammadreza Sangsefidi’s low cross from the left.

Uzbekistan started the second half strongly and Dilshod Rakhmatov was just off target with his powerful drive before Irsaliev volleyed over from a long throw up field from substitute goalkeeper Klim Tyugayev.

But Iran could have doubled their advantage in the 28th minute after Ali Hassanzadeh played in Mahdi Javid only for Tyugayev save Uzbekistan.

With three minutes remaining Uzbekistan coach Jose Maria Pazos went all out and brought Konstantin Sviridov on as the power-play player as Uzbekistan pushed for the equaliser.

And with the hosts keeping hold of possession well in the opposition half, Rahkmatov was eventually presented with a goalscoring opportunity but Mohammadi saved well with his legs.

As the clock ticked down, Mohammadi was again called into action to save from Javlon Anorov before Hamid Ahmadi’s looping effort from well inside his own half could have finished the game off with less than a minute remaining but the ball went just over.

Photo: AFC

Iran Futsal , the Champions of Asia 2016

Futsal Team Melli regained the continental title in Tashkent after beating host Uzbekistan 2-1 in a closely fought match in the final match of AFC Futsal Championship 2016.

In full capacity Arena in Capital Tashkent , Uzbekistan went ahead in the 6th minute after a passing mistake between two Iranian defenders, the Uzbek player intercepted the ball which ended into the net. 

Iran equalized through a thunderous shot from Ghodrat Bahadorani in the 9th minute. His shot from the middle of the pitch was unstoppable despite the gallant effort of the Uzbek goalkeeper.   Captain Mohammad Keshavarz then put Iran ahead on the 14th minute after a quickly taken corner from smart thinking Asgharzadeh who found unmarked Keshavarz from a corner kick. 2-1 for Iran and suddenly the hosts were back peddling.

Despite being behind , Uzbekistan hardly changed plan and were content to defend hard and wait for a counter.

The rest of the half saw various Iranian offensive moves while Uzbekistan had their own fair share but none of those attempts ended in goals. First half ended 3-1 for Iran.

The second half was a much tighter affair. Uzbekistan steadfastly defended while Iran had the control of the match. Despite  several scoring attempts , none of the two teams managed to score. The goalkeepers of both teams have to be credited for the scoreless second half .

Uzbekistan elected  for power play  (5 - 0) with 3:30 minutes of the match remaining , but their effort was fruitless and Iran had twice came to increasing the score during the power play but for some brave Uzbek defending.

This is the 11th title for Iran but most importantly it was the title back after two tournaments,

Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh was also selected as MVP, While the Fair Play title went to Team Melli.

CONGRATULATIONS to all the fans of Team Melli.

AFC FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL PREVIEW