Tehran

Following much criticisms towards the Iranian football federation’s failure to effectively prepare Team Melli and use the FIFA day for friendly matches, Mohammad Nabi , the Secretary General of Football Federation , announced that a training camp will be held  for Team Melli from 6^th to 10^th of September in Lisbon , Portugal.

The camp will include two friendly matches, and as usual, it is not known which teams Iran will be facing in those matches.

MohammadNabi was speaking on Friday’s sport show on the Iranian TV and took this opportunity to appeal to the new government for funds, not for the federation itself but to support Team Melli’s program, as he claimed.

Faced with the customary question about the failure of the federation to utilize the FIFA day in arranging quality friendly matches, the Secretary General complained about the lack of funds and programming conflicts . He was then asked by the TV show presenter, “what was Queiroz reaction to this cancelation?” , MohammadNabi said that he was unaware about the reaction of the Portuguese coach, but stressed the point that the Federation has many tasks to cater for beside Team Melli and that includes the professional leagues, Youth level competitions and many other activities and expenses. “If we have any aspiration to be amongst the best in Asia , we require the budgets of the top federations of the continent. South Korea , for example,  who were second in our group has a budget of US$ 260 to US$ 270 million, while Japan football association budget is US$300 Million. We, on the other hand, have a problem funding a short training camp for our national team.”

MohammadNabi said “In some countries a quarter of the Federations budget is allocated to their national teams, in our case we have to do with a $2.44 Million budget  for Team Melli against a country with US$300 million football budget. Although we had lots of financial problems, we have succeeded in many of our programs and plans. We have met with government officials last week to seek their backing and we are hopeful for a positive response.”

“Brazil requested US$ 2 million for a match in Azadi. Wes simply cannot afford such a fee , which is by the way , the going current rate for top class teams.  We all aspire to play strong and famous teams, but we are not prepared to spend a quarter of our annual budget for a single match.”

MohammadNabi like all the other Football Federation administrators failed to mention if there are any plans to generate revenues from their activities or engage in marketing or sponsorship deals, favoring the easy mean of government and public funds handouts.

According to TeamMelli.com studies, the football federations of Asian countries have the following budgets. All figures are approximate in US Dollars.

Japan =    $264 million

China =    $180 million

Indonesia= $112.5 million

Korea Rep. = $95 million

Australia = $60 million

Vietnam =   $60 million

Thailand =  $52 million

Malaysia =  $35 million

Singapore = $9.7 million

Iran =      $8.0 million

Mohammad Rouyanian , the CEO of Perspolis and the ever controversial  character known for his contentious  claims and statements, has come up with more of the same on the subject of Khalatbary.

The Team Melli forward player has been a subject of debate since he transferred from Sepahan to Ajman club in the UAE League. The re-naming of the UAE professional league created much antagonism and anger in Iran as the authorities discouraged any Iranian playing in a league under such false name labeled in defiance to the world community.

Khalatbary’s precipitously found himself in a dilemma.

Perspolis immediately took this opportunity and showed interest in the services of the player. A reported one million dollar penalty clause was included in the contract with Ajman, and hence Perspolis requested the football federation for their financial backing to pay the penalty fee and bring back the ex-Sepahan and Zob A

han player back to Iran. The Federation flatly refused Perspolis’ request and declared that they are not in the business of supplying funds for clubs to buy players.

Rouyanian said that Khalatbary is currently in Iran after a slight injury prevented him joining the Ajman training camp in Turkey. “There was supposed to be a meeting between our representative and Ajman club last night, however our representative was late to the meeting by more than one hour because of the heavy traffic and the meeting was cancelled !!. We will try to arrange another meeting this Saturday. Another problem has developed in this respect as my request for a visa to UAE was denied. I think there are people working behind the scene to deny me a visa (…) ” declared the belligerent Rouyanian.

 “I heard a lot of rumors about the source of money that allowed Perspolis to open negotiations with Ajman Club. Some have claimed that I am providing 5 billion toman  (US$ 407,000) from my own pocket to Perspolis to buy the player. Where do I have such money from? If I had that sort of money, what would I be doing in Perspolis? A kind person has offered us this money to help the club, it is none of your business who that person is !!!” Rouyanian expressed his disgust and continued “They take every opportunity to bad-mouth me while our rivals Sepahan and Esteghlal do not wish us get this player”.

“Right now, Khalatbary is 70% a Perspolis player” declared the defiant Perspolis CEO. However, he declined to explain or go into details on how this figure of 70% was derived.

 On the subject on another ex-Team Melli player, Rouyanian said that “He liked Ali Karimi quite a lot. He was one of the players that I always liked even before I was involved in football. However, I don’t find him of much use for our team. Karimi , a player who has always professed his love and affection for the club, should have also tolerated some of the difficulties faced.”

Ali Karimi unceremoniously declared his retirement from football right after his club Perspolis was defeated in a penalty shoot-out against Sepahan in the final of Hazfi cup last season.  A few weeks later, Karmi changed his mind and admitted that he acted in haste. Perspolis management and particularly Rouyanian, who had personal clashes with Karimi beforehand, were not amused by such act and refused to include him in the team roster after his change of mind. The appointment of Ali Daei as the coach, did not help Karimi’s case either.

Masoud Soltanifar , the candidate for the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs in President Rouhani’s cabinet, failed to get the approval of the parliament.

Every Ministerial appointment in the cabinet must be approved by the Iranian parliament before assuming the office. The ministers are nominated by the President who is elected by public voting. There is no prime minister position in Iran so all government functions is carried out by the president of the country.

Football administrators, clubs and the federation had a lot of expectation from Soltanifar to help and support their activity with more budget allocation from the government,  however, Soltanifar did not get the approval of the MP’s as he gained 117 positive votes with 148 votes against his appointment. 48 MP’s abstained.

This news could be critical for Team Melli’s preparation for the World Cup next year. Already strapped out of cash, the FFIRI has cancelled the scheduled camp in Portugal and two friendly matches. Other Asian teams like Japan and South Korea used the FIFA day effectively and played friendly matches, while Team Melli was idle.

Almost all the major clubs in Iran are dependent on the financial support of the government, while many of them are directly run and owned by the state like Esteghlal and Perspolis

There is no indication who is the next in line for the candidacy of Minister of Sport after Soltanifar’s disapproval.