A member of the executive committee of Iran’s football federation has said that in the meeting that was recently held, he requested from Ali Kaffashian to publically apologize to the Iranian fans for the series of defeats and poor results of Iranian teams in recent competetions.

Shehab-Uldeen Aziz Khadem , has said that that Iranian fans have endured hardship and have been greatly disappointed by one defeat after another in the international arena and it is a high time that someone takes responsibility and  prudently apologize for these defeats.  He added that the public and fans are quite obviously dejected,   disconsolate and losing hope and it is the duty of the federation to change and positively react to this situation. The absence of the fans in the league matches of the last round was an obvious indication of the public feelings and sentiments towards football.

Commenting on the meeting , Khadem said that there was a suggestion of a meeting between Queiroz , Kaffashian and the executive committee. The proposal was put forward to limit some of the authorities and powers given to Queiroz “We believe that Queieroz should serve the interest of Iranian football not vice versa.” “ We need people to come out of their cocoons and air their criticism , as  shying away from criticizing the team and the coach  and instead praising a team whose performance is lackluster and devoid of success on the pretext of national interest, will never serve our progress in football.”

“Admittedly, looking back at the results of Iranian football in the recent years , we have to say that the federation has failed in meeting the high aspiration and expectations of the Iranian fans. I am not talking about individual failures here , but addressing a group in the shape of Iran’s football federation.” Khadem said. The outspoken Khadem also mentioned that the absloute majority of the committee memebers agreed with Torabian’s resignation as the head of Iran’s futsal team , but Kaffashian was dragging his feet on the issue. Torabian has been a close ally and a confidante of Kaffashian during his tenure as the head of IFF.

Khadem demanded immediate reforms within the federation as the failures in football and futsal have been far too frequent. This administration must act and properly interact with the public and media.

TEHRAN TIMES – TEHRAN

Akbar Mohammadi stepped down as coach of Iran U19 football team on Wednesday.

Iran was knocked out of the AFC U-19 Championship last week after being crushed 4-1 by South Korea.

“I apologize to all Iranian people since we failed to qualify for the World Cup. But I keep my head up because I did my best in the team,” Mohammadi said.

Iran futsal coach Ali Sanei and head of Iran’s Futsal Committee Abbas Torabian, have previously resigned from their jobs after the futsal team lost to Colombia in the 2012 Futsal World Cup in Thailand.

(FIFA.com) Thursday 22 November 2012

 In a sense, one scenario Iran had not prepared for in their planning for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualification was a home defeat. Carlos Queiroz’s side, after all, boast a proud home record at the legendary Azadi Stadium which had seen them undefeated in 15 matches across three years, with the last defeat coming in March 2009 when they were edged out 2-1 by Saudi Arabia during South Africa 2010 qualifying. Thus last week’s solitary-goal defeat against Uzbekistan not only brought an abrupt end to that record, but also deprived them of the chance to move top of the section. While the Uzbeks were catapulted to the summit of Group A, Iran slipped to third, trailing behind Korea Republic on goal difference, with only three matches left. Taking solace in history On the surface, Team Melli were punished by their inability to provide a killer punch in front of goal. Although they dominated large periods of the home match against the Uzbeks, it was the visitors who grabbed the match-winner with Ulugbek Bakaev firing home off Server Djeparov’s free-kick.

Queiroz’s outfit had finished the previous round as the biggest scorers with 17 goals scored across six outings. Yet, the Iranians are now, alongside Lebanon, the most goal-shy of the ten remaining Asian teams having scored just twice in their five matches during the ongoing final round. While the fans are still bemoaning last week’s defeat, it is the lingering goalscoring problems that are causing the most concern. Having long dazzled the continent with a knack of constantly finding the back of the net, Iran now see their campaign in jeopardy due to their profligacy in front of goal. On the road to France 1998, the team emerged the group’s top scorers with 13 goals – 5 more than top-finishers Saudi Arabia. They racked up seven goals in the final round for Germany 2006 which sealed their early qualification, and even in their failed campaign for South Africa 2010 Iran were the group’s second best scorers with 8 goals.

As a country which has produced global goal-king Ali Daei, Iran have never been short of striking talents. Aside from Sepahan marksman Mohammad Khalatbari, notable amongst Queiroz’s attacking options is 22-year-old Karim Ansarifard who finished the last Iranian season as top-scorer with 21 goals, while both Fulham new acquisition Ashkan Dejagah and Belgian-based Reza Ghoochannejhad also enhance the attack. Neither are lacking in creativity, with captain Javad Nekonam pulling the strings in midfield, a fact which even Uzbekistan Mirdjalal Kasimov coach acknowledged. “Iran created many good chances but they failed to break our deadlock,” he said. “And that is exactly what happened to us in the first leg.” Iran assistant coach Antonio Simoes, overseeing the game for the suspended Queiroz, though, shed light on where the team must improve. He said: “We played well, but the winning spark never lit for us and the players lacked support from each other in different moments.”

Team Melli seek to rebound While the defeat was a rude awakening for Team Melli, Queiroz received unwavering support from Iranian FA boss Ali Kafashian. “Queiroz is a good coach and he will continue as Iran coach,” the latter was quoted as speaking to local press recently. “He has a good knowledge of Iran’s football.” Aside from the faith offered by his pay-masters, the Portuguese coach has over six months to prepare for their next crucial match in Qatar on 4 June next year. In order to test more new faces, he announced a young squad for next month’s West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship in Kuwait. Meanwhile, he continues to scour Europe for more overseas-based recruitments with Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari recently on his radar. “Our duty is to fully concentrate on the next match,” said the 59-year-old. “We respect the other teams, but we will make our best effort to win.”

In a press conference held today, Ali Daei the current Rah Ahan coach has denied rumors that he has been approached to take over the Team Melli coaching job. The pre-match press conference was being held ahead of Rah Ahan match against Mes Kerman in the Persian Gulf League.

Daei , who was the Team Melli coach in the last World Cup qualification, said that ” Team Melli already has a coach. I was not offered nor approached by the federation to take over the coaching of Team Melli, but even if they do offer me the job , I would respectfully decline.”

Commenting on Ali Karimi’s nomination for the Asian Player of the year , Daei said “This shows the value of Ali Karimi despite his age. I sincerely hope that he wins this award for the second time in his career and also hope that he quickly recovers from his injury so that we can see him perform for Team Melli and his club.”

Asked about the merits of nominating Mohsen Bengar along with Ali Karimi , Daei said that he was not in the committee to justify such nominations and asked the reporter to direct his question at those who have nominated him. However, Daei admitted that he is not aware of the criteria for nomination players in the AFC player of the year awards but commented on the good performance of Bengar in Sepahan in the last season competition and speculated that this could be one of the reasons for Bengar’s nomination.

After the disappointing results of Team Melli and the real concern that the team might fail to qualify to the World Cup finals in Brazil , there has been strong rumors regarding changes in the Team Melli technical cadre and coaching. The names of Amir Ghalenoei and Ali Daei , both former Team Melli coaches, have been mentioned in various circles as possible replacement for the current coaching team.

Ali Kaffashian has denied that there is any intention in changing the current coaching staff and has been backing Carlos Queiroz even during the poor performances and the poor results of the team.

In his first meeting with the press since Iran’s home defeat against Uzbekistan , Ali Kaffashian the incumbent President of the Football Federation , said that ” demands for the sacking of Carlos Queiroz for poor results and performance is illogical at this stage.” He assured the press that the Portuguese coach, is a true professional and will continue honoring his contractual obligation that he started some 20 months ago. Kaffashian , who was the target of the fan’s wrath at Azadi stadium last Wednesday by a section of the fans that demanded his own resignation from the federation , has said that to pick a new coach and start from scratch in order to take us to Brazil is very unreasonable logic.

The President of Iran Football Federation, was attending Zanjan Province football committee elections on Monday Night, also said that “We are trying to consolidate and take into account the views of other experts and the inputs from various coaches including our own technical committee in the hope of displaying some attractive football and gain the right results in the remaining 3 matches (in the WC Qualification matches) “ Asked about his intentions to resign, Kaffashian said that “the continuation or departure of a president in the federation should not be related to winning or losing a football match! The general assembly of the federation is the only legal body that can decide in these matters and I am obliged by their decision”

Questions then were asked about the demands for his resignation due to the continual failure by all Iranian teams during his two terms in the office. Kaffashian said “those who demand my resignation better show their own plans and scenarios for improving football in our country. If they do not have any alternative solutions, then they better not demand my resignation. Such calls are all part of a personal vendetta against me rather than any attempt to improve the status of football”

In his responses to question by the press asking about the reasons behind all the failures and defeats suffered by Iran’s football at all fronts , and why are there always the same old excuses tprovided by the federation after each loss , Kaffashian commented “There are no excuses provided, we only talk facts (…). It is clear to everyone and the public who is doing the hard work and just talking. Some countries have invested a lot in their football and that is why they are so are successful”.  He claims that compared to previous tournaments , Team Melli is actually playing better against the opposition and that is the result of our hard work, unfortunately though , we lost to Uzbekistan which makes the qualification that much harder. We still have 3 rounds to go and if the players have taken the opportunities better, we should have been in a much more comfortable position by now.

Ali Kaffashin , has hardly ever admitted any personal shortcomings in his administration and never provided any apology or regretted to the public the losses incurred on the Iranian teams apart from providing the usual cliché of “We have been doing our best , but hopefully we will win the next match”. Demands for his resignation, or dismissal from his post can only be achieved by a majority vote of the general assembly of the federation members. Many observers doubt that such demand will be forthcoming as all the clubs are government owned and run , and it is unlikely that the paymaster will approve of such move. It is no secret that Ali Kaffashain has the Ministry of Sports backing and it was the government influence that brought him to power.

It is unclear what the hierarchy has seen in the gentleman’s abilities as a football administrator, though.

The nominations by the Asian Football Confederation for the Asian Player of the year award, which has been center of so much criticism and controversy over the years, once again raised a few eyebrows in Iran and raised further questions on the mechanism and merits of nominating players for that prestigious award.

For years, Asian players in the caliber of Park Ji Sung, Keisuke Honda and Javad Nekounam including almost all the Asian players in European clubs , have been denied the nomination and the award simply due to the fact that these players are unable to attend the presentation ceremonies which is carried around the busiest and the most demanding time of the European league seasons. Due to the timing and the travel distance involved,  The clubs are reluctant to release their players for the arduous and long trip to Kuala Lumpur and back.

 For years, the AFC has failed to find a solution or a compromise for this problem and insisted that players who are on the final list of nomination must be physically present else their nominations will be not considered. That requirement voids the spirit and the objective of the award, which is supposed to be given for the best player in Asia, not based on whether he can travel to Kuala Lumpur or not. In reality and and because of this AFC condition, the award has lost its value amongst the fans and the media. The distant past absurd nominations and winners , also was a contributory factor in the dilution of its value. Some of the past winners have been hardly recognized as the best within their own countries, let alone at Asian or international level.

Because the list of the annual nominees have frequently been marred with recurring unexplainable nomination, demands have been a plenty to improve Asia’s long-maligned Asian Player of the year award. With the changes that has occurred at the top, there was  hope that some reforms within the confederation that is currently being lead by China’s Zhang Jilong Incumbent President of AFC, will be initiated including improvement in the Asian Player of the year award.

Unfortunately, this year’s list is not much of an improvement and the arguments will continue.

The falsity of the nomination is highlighted in the case of the two Iranian candidates on this year’s list. Ali Karimi , a past winner and a deserved one for that matter in a year where he excelled and was by far the best player in Asian Cup 2004, is included in 2012 at a time that he has ill-performed on and off the field. Karimi , returning to his beloved club Perspolis after years of playing abroad, is not having a good season at all with his club. A championship pedigree club , Perspolis has always been a contender and challenger for championship titles , however, the club is lingering near the bottom of the Persian Gulf League. The former Captain of the team had disciplinary problems with his club and booted out from training by his Portuguese coach ( and since returned but not played) , he has not featured for his club in the last 4 league matches and now is suffering an injury. Perhaps the 34 years old player was considered the better player in a mediocre team , but has been far from influential and the results are obvious.

On the international level , Karimi has not fared much better either as Team Melli is struggling and there is a real concern by the fans that Iran will once again miss the qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2014. Team Melli , in which Carlos Queiroz has signaled out Ali Karimi as a pivotal player , has scored 2 goals in 5 matches of the FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, while suffering historical first time defeats against tiny Lebanon and Uzbekistan. In what was deemed to be a relatively easy group, Iran has already lost two matches in five and has 4 points out of maximum 9 at home with a return match against the powerful Koreans at the end of the campaign.

 Mohsen Bengar , the tough tackling defender , has hardly been a household name in Iran in the mold of Ali Karimi , however , he was part of the championship Sepahan team last season. Perpsolis lured him to the capital, but he had a bumpy start with the reds and was responsible for many goofs including several penalties called against him at crucial times of the match. Mohsen Bengar , a regular for Perspolis this season, is part of the defense that has conceded 14 goals in 15 matches.    The 33 years old Bengar has 9 caps to his credit , the last one was just under two years ago!

 Neither facts nor figures indicate that the two Iranian players are anywhere near the best in their country and that definitely raises many doubts about the merits, procedures and the selection criteria of the responsible committee within AFC that is seriously disengaged from the reality of football in Asia.

It is a real mystery how the selectors chose these two players and what criteria whether transparent or hidden have they used in their selection. What is clear , though , is the process of selecting the continent’s most valuable player requires a serious and a professional upgrade. Failing that , these awards and particularly , the Player of the year , shall remain a farcical selection based on whims, prejudiced by influential people within the confederation and/or at best, the selectors have no aptitude nor the essential knowledge to conduct their tasks.

Perspolis and Iran’s Ali Karimi, the 2004 player of the year, and his club teammate Mohsen Bengar are also among those nominated for the 2012 Asian player of the year award according to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Asian football’s governing body statement included the names of the Korean Ulsan Hyundai’s Lee Keun-Ho and four others who will vie for the Asian player of the year award.

The other two are defenders Lucas Neill of Australia and Chinese Zheng Zhi.

Ali Karimi who won the award in 2004 after his splendid performance in Asian Cup 2004 held in China, has been suffering a turbulent season with suspensions and injury. Ex-Sepahan defender , Mohsen Benger  (33 years old) who won his last of the total of 9 caps , 20 months agao in January 2011 , has also been going through a rough patch in his new team Perspolis. The Tehrani club , is having its worst season ever in its illustrious history. With over 12 rounds , Perspolis is still in the lower end of the Persian Gulf League table.

Lee Keun-Ho , a winger for South Korea’s national team, helped Ulsan Hyundai win the AFC Champions League for the first time this year.

The women’s player of the year award will go to a Japanese, with all three nominees coming from the national team which won silver in the London Olympics earlier this year.

They are captain Homare Sawa, last year’s winner Aya Miyama and Nadeshiko striker Yuki Ogimi. Sawa won the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award last year.

For Asian international player of the year nominations went to Fulham’s goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer of Australia, Manchester United’s Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa and Inter Milan’s defender Yuto Nagatomo, also from Japan.

For the AFC foreign player of the year award, three Brazilians have been short-listed.

They are ex-Sepahan’s striker Bruno Correa who plays for the UAE side , Al Nasr of Dubai; 2012 ACL top scorer Ricardo Oliveira who plays for Al Jazira; and Rogerio de Assis Silva Coutinho, a midfielder for the 2012 AFC Cup champions Kuwait SC.
The awards will be presented on Nov. 29 in Kuala Lumpur.

Last year Uzbekistan’s midfield maestro Server Djeparov won Asian player of the year.

The triangle of Iranian football failures has been completed with Team Melli defeat in Azadi against Uzbekistan. Futsal early elimination , the U-19 defeat afainst Korea and now the Uzbekistan defeat, all within a week. In a match which was a must win for Team Melli in order to cement its position for qualification to the World Cup finals, the team failed to get even a single point at home. This defeat is exaggerated considering that it was against a direct competitor for one of the two places in World Cup 2014. Uzbekistan is now leading the group with 8 points and has an easier task than Iran to collect the necessary points. Two matches at home against Lebanon and Qatar and one away match to Korea Rep.

It seems that Iran is facing much bigger problems than going through the customary if this and if that in order to qualify. The usual mathematical calculation and the possibilities of how many points are required in order to have a chance is marginalized by the real issues. It is apparent that football in Iran is suffering on many fronts and failing to deliver. It is apparent that success in international arenas’ and repeat of past glories require fundamental changes. It is very clear that unless these changes are implemented, the failures will be typical rather than exceptional. Changes have to be implemented starting right at the top of the pyramid beginning with the Football Federation.

Ali Kaffashian , could be a charming , jolly and ever smiling character, but the bucks stop there. He has displayed a real lack of leadership and knowledge, while his management skills leave a lot to be desired. His support team have not fared much better either.  Under his administration, Iran football has suffered many failures on the field and some embarrassing distressing letdowns outside of it. The heart breaking elimination of Iranian teams from FIFA or AFC competitions because of administration negligence are good examples of this admiration incompetency. Shy demands for his resignation have been echoed in the press, but for some odd reason, this person seems to have some peculiar immunity from prosecution.

In Kaffashian’s first term in office, Iran has failed to qualify for the World Cup, failed to go beyond the quarter finals of the Asian Cup and Iranian teams failed in almost all the continental competitions they entered, bar one single victory by the U-16 team. Many of these failures were attributed to the federation’s lack of leadership and support or appointments of technical cadres and coaches who were not up to the required qualification and abilities.   In a democratic process, where election rules, it is normal that failures do not win a re-election campaign and are either voted out of office or if the person has some dignity , he or she will realize self-shortcomings and refrain from seeking another term. Obviously not in Iran and not in the case of Ali Kaffashian. While his term in the office was ending, Kaffashian filed for re-election after some deliberation and refusal to publicly declare his intentions. He had two strong rivals to content with. Slowly but surely, each one of his candidates dropped out for no valid or convincing reason for Kaffashian to be re-elected unopposed as head of the Iranian football federation for another term!

The dubious conditions in which Kaffashian was re-elected, failed to raise eyebrows in Iran and even the normally critical media in Iran, remained subdued and retrained. This raised many question about who is really running football affairs in Iran. Ali Kaffashian is not a football pedigree neither on nor off the field. He was the Secretary General of Iran’s National Olympic Committee when he suddenly popped up in the football federation election list and surprisingly won what is considered as a tough and demanding position in Iran’s sport.

Time and again, the football administration has displayed lack of tact and skill in dealing with the various affairs of this highly popular sport in Iran. Football is extremely rich picking but peculiarly run in Iran. Clubs earn nearly all their income from government handouts and subsidies. Clubs are also owned by the government, which means that all appointments are sanctioned and approved by the Ministry of Sport. Millions of hard earned dollars are funneled into football. In Iran, wealthy footballers earn several folds more than any other athletes in the country without having anything to show for it. While the basketball team wins Asian championship and makes the Olympics, the Iran’s volleyball wins the continental title and qualifies for the elite of World Volleyball league, while the athletes in the London Olympics win medals and finish this tournament as the most successful ever Olympic participation in Iran’s history, football is registering one failure after another, with no end in sight.

Antonio Simoez , Iran’s assistance coach:

“A team that loses 5 points at home , has a mountain to climb. Football is a cruel game. It can only take a moment for you to win or lose a match and possibly  the whole thing. Although our team stared quite well in the first half ,  the further the match was ongoing the more we were making mistakes.”

When asked by a reporter why certain player was not in the lineup, Simoez said “It is the same old story, isn’t it? When we win a match , nobody questions the players’ selection or line-up , but when we lose , it was because of the players that was not included in the match!”

Andranik Teymourian Iran’s midfielder :

” We were unlucky today , we created enough opportunities but we were not lucky to score. It was a bitter defeat and I must apologized to the fans who dared and came to see us under this rainy condition. Nothing is lost , if we beat Qatar , we will be challenging again.“. Asked by a reporter if his playing in Qatar League has affected his standard , Ando Teymourian said “That is your opinion , and I respect that , but today I was the best player in the match and my substitution was due to the coach’s decision (…)”

 

Omid Namazi Iran’s assistance coach:

” Our mission is really difficult now , but not impossible by any means.  We have to defeat Lebanon at home and defeat Qatar away , then fight for our lives against Korea away. We have to be realistic , it is going to be a difficult task ahead to qualify for the World Cup , but we have the resolve to do it”

Mirdjalal Kasimov Uzbekistan’s head coach:

“ Victory against powerful Iran in Azadi stadium is quite sweet. This was an interesting game in the sense that both teams were going for a win. I was 100% sure that we could win even in front of a full capacity stadium. I appreciate the small number of our supporters who stood behind us during the match,”

Reza Ghoochanejad Team Melli forward

“Uzbekistan had one serious attack and that was on a dead ball, and they scored while we missed several scoring chances. I missed some chances myself. I admit that a team with a record of 2 goals in five matches is not very encouraging , but we have to create chances and have to take our chances. The mission is very difficult but we should not lose hope and more importantly , the fans should keep backing the team all the way to the end of the campaign”

:

Group A

#	Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1	Uzbekistan	5	2	2	1	5	4	+1	8
2	Korea Republic	4	2	1	1	9	4	+5	7
3	Iran	5	2	1	2	2	2	0	7
4	Qatar	5	2	1	2	3	5	-2	7
5	Lebanon	5	1	1	3	2	6	-4	4

Uzbekistan exacted revenge against Team Melli , when they won the 5^th round encounter 1 -0 in Azadi stadium. The rainy weather reduced the number of the fans to less than half the capacity (43,700 fans)

Team Melli, without the suspended Carlos Queiroz on the bench,  started the match with lightning offensive moves in a quest for an early goal to put the pressure on the guests.  Through the right flank , the combination of Heydari, Teymourian and  Dejagah created many chances for the forwards one such  opportunity resulted in a goal scored by Mohammed Nouri, but disallowed by the referee. It was a debatable call as Nouri receiving a diagonal ball from Andranik Teymourian from the right , shot and scored from just outside the box , however the  linesman raised flag for offside on Khalatbary, who was in an offside position , but had no effect on the ball.

After 20 minutes of sustained Iranian attacks, that yielded no goal, the Uzbek slowly started coming back into the game and managed to settled down creating some chances of their own.

The rest of the first half was mainly uneventful.

The second half started with Iran playing with ten men as Kari Ansarifard who was supposed to come in for Khalatbary , was unable to start due to administrative delay with his substitution card.

The second half was unlike the first as Team Melli looked slightly jaded.  The active right flank which created so many threats in the beginning of the match , was all  but disappeared in the 2nd half. The Uzbek were gaining in confidence and although not very open or adventurous, they did create a few chances , mainly through long range shots. Rahmati , however ., was not seriously threatened.

By the midway of this half, the match became quite a scruffy affair; with too many lose balls and wild passes. The slippery surface due to the all night rain, was not helping, although the host, Iran , was more vulnerable exposed with several of the players slipping or missing easy passes.

Almost all the offensive moves of Team Melli was based on sending crosses  from the flanks in hope of creating scoring opportunities. However , few , if any of the crosses reached Ansarifard or Ghoocahnejad in the presence of the towering Uzbek defenders.

In the 72^nd minute , a foul on the right hand side resulted in a free kick in which Servar Djabarov sent an immaculate cross  which was met by Bakatev’s  who cleverly dispensed of his marker , Teymourian , to simply flick the ball past the half idle Rahmati.

Iran still had ample time to get a result with some 20 minutes left , but the insistence on the same futile tactics of sending crosses into the opposition box and no other tactical variation , left Team Melli in in a precarious situation.

There was an exciting end with Ansarifard even sending the ball into the Uzbek goal to be ruled offside again., while Dejagah , who was visibly fatigued by the game’s end , also missing a chance to beat the on rushing Uzbek keeper.

At the end , the poor tactics of Team Melli and an offensive record which is the weakest ever in an official competition ( 2 goals in 5 games)  by Team Melli , meant that Iran , once again , have to endure some anxious moments in the next round against Qatar. Uzbekistan , meanwhile is comfortably topping the group with 8 points after a slow start to this campaign.

Full match details HERE