the 13th Persian Gulf Cup league will start tonight , with an eagerly anticipated clash of giants between Tractorsazi of Tabriz and Perspolis of Tehran.

Most of the Team Melli players will be in action for their teams in the next couple of days , with the rest of the first round program being played on Thursday.  It will be the first home apperance for Team Melli players since their qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup , where they beating Qatar , Lebanon and Korea Rep to clinch the lead of the group and qualify directly to Brazil.

Many Team Melli players have changed clubs while renewed rivalries will ignite the interest in the league from fans perspectives. Loyal team players , are no more a commodity in Iran. Tonight’s clash in Azadi stadium will be an interesting confrontation between Perspolis and trio of its former star players in Ali Karimi , Karim Ansarifard and Javad Kazemian.  While there was talk of revenge and settlement of accounts, Ali Karimi issued a messages of peace to Perspolis fans to calm the situation in the stands. Karimi was one of the most popular Perspolis players who pledged to play for his beloved club until he hangs his boots, however, at the end of the last season , Karimi abruptly retired for football after his team lost to Sepahan in the final of the Hazfi cup. Some weeks later, Karimi changed his mind on retirement , but Perspolis was unwilling to accept him. For the loyal red fans , seeing Karimi in another team’s jersey is hard to swallow. Perspolis is coached by Ali Daei who himself is a former player for the reds of Tehran , while Tractorsazi who have qualified for the next season AFC Asian Champions league , is coached by Majeed Jalali.

Javad Nekounam who had a turbulent relation with Estghlal and finally decided against leaving might not be available for the first match of his team. Ando Teymourian also might have difficulties due to the issue of ITC.

The formalities surrounding the arrival of Alireza Jahanbakhsh are finally completed. The Iranian youth player was on the first available flight out of Tehran to the Netherlands’s  on Sunday 21st July. Jahanbakhsh started his first training session on Monday after his induction in the NEC squad.

Technical director Carlos Aalbers said  “The people of the Dutch embassy in Tehran, in recent days,  have been very helpful in the completion of the procedures and issuing the proper documentation.  While waiting for the visa issue formalities, Alireza has been maintain his physical condition by training in Iran, nevertheless he will still just need time to acclimatize. ”

 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh, whose transfer was delayed as he had to wait a few weeks on his papers.  Stated after completing his first session with NEC  “I’m glad I’m finally here. It was not so much the authorities in Iran for the issue of exit permit , it took long time by the Dutch authorities.”

Jahanbakhsh joined the squad already in full training for the new season. The Iranian thus has to do with a slight lag training. “I realize that I now have a training backlog, but I will do my utmost to make sure I’m ready for the first league match. Of course, it is up to the coach to decide whether I am ready to play. ”

The Iranian commented about the interest in his progress from his own country. “They’re going to follow me in Iran in all possible manners. Everything I do at NEC, they want to see.” Jahanbakhsh talked to the press in English, something he has practiced for long. “I have worked intensively. I currently have two goals: I want to learn English and be very good football.”

The 19 years old ex-Damash Gilan player is considered as one of the upcoming future stars of Iran’s football. His brilliant performance in the last AFC U19 Asian Cup held in the UAE was eye catching and attracted the interest of the Dutch club.

Mehdi Mahdavikia , the former star of Iran’s Team Melli was highly critical of the testimonial match and the accompanied ceremony that was arranged in honor of Team Melli players by the Football Federation last Saturday night..

In an interview with Iran Varzeshi newspaper, Mahdavikia who has hanged his boot with Perspolis at the end of last season, said he was absent out of Iran but even if he was , he would not have participated in any form in this debacle.   Mahdavikia said “the whole function and the arrangement prior to it was a disaster. It was poorly and hastily arranged by the federation. “

“Such proposed match between the 1998 team that brought honor and glory to the nation and the current 2013 team that has also qualified to Brazil World Cup , should not have been on at the first place. How can you expect a competition between a bunch of old players who have retired for a long period, some who are coaching and others who have left football all together , playing against a current team that has qualified for the World Cup? ” Mahdavikia added.

“This is an insult to the 1998 team. The match was unfair and ridiculously unbalanced and it made a mockery of the senior players who were supposed to be honored. Thanks to the federation confused and irrational arrangement Instead of honoring Team Melli of 1998, it turned them into a laughing stock!” lamented Mahdavikia who scored Iran’s second goal against USA in Lyon in the 2-1 historic win.

“The poor planning was obvious. The federation should have planned this program month in advance and clearly defining the objectives and contents of this event to the public.  This would have attracted the interest of many spectators and Team Melli fans.  Early planning would have given the chance for many participants to arrange their schedule accordingly. “Mahdavikia added

I would have not played in that match even if I was in Iran

“I already had plans to be in Germany but I would have not played in that match even if I was in Iran. It does not take a genius to predict the outcome of such unfair and unbalanced competition. The five goals, with mercy , in the first half was just the icing on the cake to humiliate the players who were supposed to be honored. The intent of the federation was noble and honorable but the execution was poor and the match idea was absurd.”

Mehdi Mahdavikia was in Germany for talks with SV Hamburg , the club that Iran’s former midfielder has played for a period spanning 8 years. Discussion about a testimonial match, German style, has been going on between the two parties.

Iran’s U17 youth team will be taking part in the 4th China Weifang Hope Cup . The annual International Youth Football Tournament will be held in Weifang city, Shandong Province, China.

Team Melli U17 is grouped with North Korea U17 , Sao Paolo (Brazil) and Chivas (USA).

 

The match schedule is a s follows:

Sunday 28th July 2013            Iran U17 vs North Korea U17 

Monday, 29th July 2013          Iran U17 vs Sao Paolo U17

Wednesday , 31st July 2013   IranU17 vs. Chivas U17

(All time are Iran Summer Time)

 

The tournament is played in 3 groups. the Others group includes, Botafago (Brazil) , Shandong (China), Myanmar U17  and China U17 team , while the third group consists of Porto (Portugal), Laling FC (China). Mongolia U17,and HK Rangers (Hong Kong).

The top three teams plus the best second placed team will qualify for the semi finals of the tournament.

 

In a statement to the official FFIRI website, Ali Doustimeher, the coach of Youth teams said that the U17 team will be flying to China on Thursday for the tournament. ” The team will be coached the newly formed coaching team headed by the experienced youth level coach, Rahim Meerakhoury. The purpose of this tournament is to gain experience at international level and top class opposition. Results are irrelevant at this stage.” Doustimeher added. will

Abbasi , the sports minister said that Mohammad Reza  Khalatbary is not representative of  the government of Iran in any capacity and therefore the government cannot compensate him nor pay any financial penalties if he refuses to honor his contract with the UAE club. The Sport minister was answering question after the testimonial match between the 2014 Team Melli and the 1998.

The question was brought up by a reporter after rumors that Perspolis wants the services of Khalatbary, but cannot afford  to pay the penalties and compensations for Ajman Club ,  and therefore looking for to the government to receive some handouts. Abbasi denied that such arrangement has been discussed and said that the government will not entertain such requests. “Players who sign contracts with professional clubs , do so on personal basis between themselves and the clubs involved. They are the ones who are liable for all what is mentioned in the contract clauses. We have no role to play and cannot force them either way” the Sports minister commented. “ We also cannot compensate them for failure to honor their contract for whatever reasons.”

Apparently , Khalatbary is disillusioned with Ajman Club, and claims that the UAE football federation’s naming their League , Arabian Gulf league, has dampened his enthusiasm to play in that country. Khalatbary was supposed to start training with his club Ajman, but he is still in Iran. The club has given him up to Monday , to join the training camp  in Ajman before taking the appropriate actions..

On the subject of a large number of 1998 World Cup veterans failing to turn up for the testimonial match and event, Abbasi responded to the reporters by saying “You have to ask those who were not absent, not me.” He also explained that “We cannot assure the presence of everyone when we arrange such an event. People might have social, personal or professional commitments that prevent them from attending such event. We wanted to pay tribute for the football players, men and woman who achieved honors for the country. This event was for them.”

The poorly attended (estimated 3000 fans in the 100,000 capacity stadium) event saw the unique presence of woman in Azadi albeit in a glass enclosure!. On close scrutiny, it turned out to be the Women Futsal team members who won the Silver medal in the 4^th Asian Indoor Games a couple of weeks back. They were supposed to be honored by the sport minister, but only their team manager who got close to the tribune, the rest of th e women were kept away to their utmost disgust..

Several reporters complained about the harassment they received from the security at the Azadi gates. There were also wide spread criticism at the poorly managed functions, and the chaotic scenes during the presentation ceremony. The football match itself also ended prematurely with one half played only. It is not clear why the match was abandoned.  All those mishaps, perhaps explains why many top ex-Team Melli player of 1998 team , such as Ali Daei,  Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi, Ahmedreza Abedzadeh . Karim Bagheri , NaderMohammadkhani and Mohammad Khakpour refused to attend this event for one reason or another.

Foolad Khuzestan midfield player , Bakhtiar Rahmani has confirmed to the Mehr news agency sport reporter that the club has talked to him about a possible transfer to the German Bundesliga.  Rahmani declined to give the name of the club or any other details saying that he is under strict instruction from the club to keep things under wrap until the negotiation is concluded.

The highly talented 21 years old midfielder who has just been named in the latest list of Team Melli, just commented on the transfer talk by saying that he is under the orders of the club. He has signed a 3 years contract with Foolad Khuzestan and it is their decision whether a transfer can go a head or not.

Meanwhile Hossein Ibn Qassim , the spokesman for Foolad Khuzestan club , confirmed that a representative form a German club has visited Ahvaz to look at the Academy and also talk about the transfer of Rahmani. The Foolad spokesman declined to name the club and added that his organization welcomes the opportunity for one of its players to play in one of Europe’s finest leagues. When asked if his own club Foolad will be handicapped by the departure of the highly influential midfielder , Ibn Qassim dismissed such notion and said that the club has quite a handful of players and continues producing talented and quality player from the ranks.

Foolad Khuzestan will be participating in the next season’s AFC Champions League after they managed to grab the 4th place in the table.

 

A testemonial match between two generations of Team Melli was carried out on Saturday eveneing between the current team that qualified for the 2014 World Cup  and the 1998 Team Melli that qualified to France Worlds Cup. The teams were called as 2014 and 1998.

Representing the 1998 team were:

NAKISA, Nima , .ZARRINCHEH, Javad (OSTADASADI, Ali Akbar), SHAHROUDI, Reza, MINAVAND, Mehrdad (DEENMOHAMMADI, Sirous) , SAADAVI, Naim, PEYROVANI, Afshin, ESTILI, Hamidreza, PASHAZADEH, Mehdi, LATIFI, Ali, EBRAHIMI, Omid, HATAMI, Farzad,

Coaches Bijan Zolfagharnasab and Faramarz Zelli.

The currrent Team Melli team was represented by:

AHMADI, Rahman (HAGHIGHI, Alireza)  , HOSSEINI, Jalal , MONTAZERI, Pejman,  HEYDARI, Khosrow (KHANZADEH, Mohammadreza) , MAHINI, Hossein,  HADDADIFAR, Ghassim, HAJSAFY, Ehsan, JABBARI, Mojtaba , NEKOUNAM, Javad, KHALATBARY, MohamadReza, REZAEI, Gholamreza

Coaches: Omid Namazi and Alireza Mansourian.

Zarinchesh and Nekounam were the repected Captains of the two teams.

The match was played in one half only and ended 5-0 for the 2014 Team. In the one sided match , Jabbari, Rezaei , Nekounam, Mahini and Khanzadeh scored the goals.

 

 

 

The negotiations between Javad Nekounam and the UAE club, Al Sharjah has failed as the sides failed to reach an agreement. Esteghlal and Team Melli Captain returned back to Tehran empty handed. The Esteghlal Club CEO , Ali Fathollahzadeh immidiateli claimed  that he has secured Nekounam signature on a contract extenson. The midfield player will extend his contract with the Esteghlal club for another season. This comes in the aftermath of intense disputes between the player and the club which started shortly after the start of the last season.

Nekounam like many other players in the team, were not given their dues which resulted in threats and counter threats. Nekounam was looking for a club other than Esteghlal, but very few clubs in Iran could afford his wage demands. Al Sharjah, a club in UAE that Nekounam has already played for .  had showed a strong interest in Nekounam but were not ready to meet the Iranians’ wages demand nor the requested transfer fee.

While it seems that the matter was coming to an end with Nekounam return from the UAE and failure of his transfer to materialize, Amir Ghalenoei did not hide his displeasure by the commotion that Nekounam has created which has affected the team’s preparation and also affected the morale of other players.  The Esteghlal coach made his views public which prompted Nekounam to react and  threaten to expose Esteghlal club mismanagement and the disregard for contracts and continuous false promises to players.

With less than a week remaining for the Persian Gulf League kick off, 3 notable Team Melli players are under the threat of suspensions.

Yaghoub Karimi , Shoja’a Khalilzadeh and Abolghasim Dehnavi are bring investigated by the football federation’s disciplinary committee for what is deemed as an act of deceptions and betrayal.  All the 3 players have signed contracts with Perspolis club and received partial payments , but subsequently , they also signed with Sepahan Esfahan club! Karimi & Khalilzadeh are still training with Sepahan , while Dehnavi  returned back to Perspolis after serving a temporarily suspension by the FFIRI.  All the three players have been named in the latest list by Carlos Queiroz for the training camp in Portugal.

 

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]assanzadeh , the Head of the FFIRI Disciplinary committee, was present in a meeting between Perspolis and Sepahan management in the aftermath of the two major clubs trading accusations and threatening legal action against each other. With the Federation being present as observer, the two clubs decided to end their conflict without involving the legal authorities and the federation. The players who received money after signing the initial contracts will have to return it back and any official complaints will be withdrawn. However , Hassanzadeh insisted that all the players involved will be liable to prosecution for what he labeled as “a blatant violation of confidence and written contract”. The head of the Disciplinary committee, said that such acts of betrayal spoils the good name of football in Iran and leads to conflicts within the relationship amongst individuals, or between individuals and organizations putting the name of football in disrepute.

There was no word on the nature of the punishment , although it is not normally customary for the FFIRI to pass heavy sentences in Iran. The players might be given two or three match suspension plus a nominal fine. Anything beyond that will be extremely unique in Iran’s football.

 

Iranian football federation announced the list of more than 40 players who will participate in the training camp of Team Melli. The squad will be shortlisted to 25 players who will joining the next phase of Team Melli camp in Portugal. The camp will be concluded with a friendly match on FIFA Day of  14th August. The opposition for Team Melli is not clear nor was it officially declared. While Kaffashain , the head of FFIRI has mentioned a friendly match with Benfica, other sources have mentioned the national Team of Gabon..

None of the foreign based players are included in the list, however , it quite likely that players such as Dejagah , Ghoochannejad, Masoud Shojaei and Daniel Davari will be joining the squad in Portugal or be available for the match against the African team.

Notable absentees form the list are  Karim Ansarifard, Shehab Gordan, Ali Karimi, MOhammad Nosrati , Pejman Nouri, Mehrdad Pooladi and Gholamreza Rezaei.

 

no	Name
GOLAKEEPER
1	AHMADI, Rahman
2	BIRAVAND, Alireza
3	HAGHIGHI, Alireza
4	MAKANI, Sousha
DEFENDERS
5	BEIGZADEH, Hashim
6	DEHNAVI, Abolghasim
7	ESMAEIL-BEIGI, Vahid
8	FAKHERIDINI, Milad
9	HAJSAFY, Ehsan
10	HAMOUDI, Ali
11	HEYDARI, Khosrow
12	HOSSEINI, Jalal
13	KHALILZADEH, Shojaa
14	KHANZADEH, Mohammadreza
15	MAHINI, Hossein
16	MONTAZERI, Pejman
17	SADEGHI, AmirHossein
MIDFIELD
18	EBRAHIMI, Omid
19	HADDADIFAR, Ghassim
20	HAGHIGHI, Reza
21	JABBARI, Mojtaba
22	MOSALMAN, Mohsen
23	NEKOUNAM, Javad
24	NOURI, Milad
25	NOURI, Mohammad
26	RAHMANI, Bakhtiyar
27	TEYMOURIAN, Andranik
FORWARDS
28	AFSHIN, Arash
29	EBRAHIMI, Mohammad
30	GHARIBI, Milad
31	GHOLAMI, Mohammad
32	GOUDARZI, Shahram
33	HASSANZADEH, Ahmad
34	HATAMI, Farzad
35	KARIMI, Yaghoub
36	KHALATBARY, MohamadReza
37	NAZARI, Mohammad Mehdi
38	OULADI, Mehrdad
39	RAFKHAEI, Jalal
40	SADEGHIAN, Payam
41	SHOJAEI, Mostafa