Category: Editorials

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Editorial

It was arguably the best performance that an Iranian team has displayed in a World Cup, perhaps only challenged by that glorious win against USA in Lyon in 1998.

Carlos Queiroz displayed a masterclass in coaching a young team against the icons of world football. Spain. The land of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the World Champions, European champions and the richest country in football.

Like him or hate him, Carlos Queiroz is a genius and has no fear of any team in the world including the best of them. When his team defends, it is a bastion, a fortress which was only broken by a fortuitous goal. When the teams intend to attack, like they did after conceding the goal, they are real threats.

Vahid Amiri’s bamboozling of Gerard Pique and leaving him for dead, after he slipped the ball between the legs of the Barcelona defender, perhaps highlighted the ability and the skill of the Team Melli players.

The disallowed goal by Saeid Ezatolahi, which was rightly called by the help of the VAR, was a huge disappointment and heartbreaking moment especially after the wild celebrations, however what followed and the chances that the Team Melli boys created, endeared this young and brave team. There was no shame in losing so narrowly to the mighty Spaniards, no shame at all. It was a performance full of grit and passion. It was a winning performance, but shame about the result. Iran deserved better.

Kudos to Team Melli players for a fine performance that will linger in the memories of the fan and critics for long time to come. Kudos to Carlos Queiroz, a brave man by all meanings of the word, for putting confidence in a 22 years old rookie with 3 caps in the center of defense in a World Cup match against a title contender and a World Cup champion. And the icing on the cake was the excellent performance of the boy, Majid Hosseini, who delivered and hardly put a foot wrong.

Regardless to the result versus Portugal, which the fans of course dearly like to see a repeat performance, the team and the coach have already done us proud.

Yes Minister !!

Masoud Soltanifar was spot on when he issued instructions to Mehdi Taj and ordered FFIRI to investigate the management calamity that has led to a heavy fine and sanctions by FIFA imposed on Persepolis club that might approach the 800,000 Euro including legal cost.

The Minister of youth and sports was even more judicious and decisive when he demanded, in no uncertain terms, that the football administrators get their act together and start learning the skills of the trade by attending courses or workshop in order to improve their knowledge in international law and football management.

On the surface of things, the reaction of the minister is praiseworthy. Mr. Soltanifar, is more than concerned about the repeated failures of Iranian football management and poor decision making leading to wastage of public funds. Virtually all clubs, but most significantly the two top popular ones, Esteghlal and Persepolis, are run by the government in some form or another. As such this control has cost the public coffers tens of millions of dollars in expenditure and wastage. There is another motive for issuing the order by Mr. Soltanifar. He is, no doubt bracing himself for questioning in the Majlis (the Parliament) by members who will question his authority and criticize his role in this humiliation.

Indeed, humiliation is the right phrase used by no other than Carlos Queiroz to describe this whole affair.

However, on close scrutiny of this event and the subsequent reaction by the Minister, it seems that this is a clear case of self-incrimination.

The individuals who are running Persepolis are appointees of the Ministry in the first place. The Youth & Sports Minister approves the Chief Executive, board member and major posts in the club, and hence he is directly accountable for the actions by the club. It is him that has failed to appoint a competent team of administrators and it is appropriate that he is questioned and held accountable for this fiasco.

Those who run football in Iran, particularly Esteghlal and Persepolis clubs, from directors to key administration personnel, are mostly political appointees. Rather than competency or merit based appointments, the candidates for the posts are either ex revolutionary guards’ commanders, military,  police or government employees who have served the regime and in returned are rewarded for their loyalties. This might work if those people are competent and experienced in this field. There is no place for entrepreneurs, businessmen or professionally trained and experienced executives in the boards of Persepolis and Esteghlal.  It is more important to be a pious man who does not miss his prayer rather than being a capable manager with knowledge in marketing, financing, legal affairs and public relations talents. There is a distinct lack of personnel who can run clubs as corporate entities.

It is not surprising that fiascos such as this can be committed by the likes of Mehdi Taj, Ali Kaffashian and Ali Akbar Taheri. A person such as Mohammad Rouyanian, led Persepolis to the verge of bankruptcy while at the helm of the club a few years back. The affairs in the other popular club , Esteghlal, is not much better.  The Minster and the government must shoulder the responsibility especially since the concern is wastage of public funds that can be used in much needed areas of football development (such as having a decent training ground for Team Melli)

The lack of accountability is quite rife in Iran’s football. It is indeed rare for a coach, Chairman or an accountable manager to accept responsibility for a failure and resign his post.  All those aforementioned have one undeniable skill and that is bargaining! The word Chaneh, meaning bargaining or lack of a better term, maneuvering, dodging and evading an issue by the use of justification, excuses and pleas. This is instilled in the Iranian culture and accepted in the bazzar when buying a commodity but it is also widely used in business and administration process. It is a trait that takes those who excel in it to great heights in the hierarchy. With maneuvering and use of words and terms, these people get away with murder. Fortunately, in international law, there is no place for such maneuvering and that is where Iran football gets caught. The suspension of Iran by FIFA post Word Cup 2006 is still fresh in the memory.

It is not that Iran lacks managerial and administration skills to run a successful football club or football federation.

When the country has the likes of Mohammad Javad Zarif and his team of negotiators on the nuclear deal who have done the nation pride by their skills, professionalism, knowledge and proficiency that has gained the respect of the whole world, it is pity that such skills are nowhere to be seen in football administration which is now a global multibillion dollar business and not just purely a sport.

The government has no business running football in Iran, not in any other country for that matter. By owning and running sports clubs, there is a great responsibility that has to be accomplished in a successful manner. The reality is that the government has a vivid lack of vision, tools and competency in doing so. Their priorities are focused on security and fear of expression of discontent leading to mass revolt. It might be a legitimate right for the regime to protect itself, but by controlling football clubs and federation, it is exposing itself too . The government should have much more important functions and priorities other than running Esteghlal and Persepolis. 

Yes Minister. You are correct in your demands for answers. But it is a step too late. In corporate terms, this is a reactive measure rather than proactive. Even if there is partial success in reducing the penalties, it only serves as a cover for the real perennial problem in Iran’s football…incompetent management.

Iran U-20 loses in the last minutes and knocked.

While a win was very much in the hands of the Team Melli U-20 in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 final group C match against Portugal, a loosing mentality and a lack of self belief and confidence allowed the Portuguese to win the match and knock Iran out of the championship.

A brilliant header by Iran’s Reza Shekari from a corner kick put Iran in the lead as early as the fourth minutes. After the goal , Iran parked the bus and hoped that the Portuguese , who were quite pathetic in the first half , will not score.

Defending well without having any ambitions to score another goal finally resulted in what Iran wanted and that one goal lead at half time.

The second half, Portugal team must had a real grilling from the coach as the same players who were performing inadequately suddenly turned into winners. Not only Portugal had most of the possession, they created all the scoring chances as well. Iran was content with defending and sending long aimless balls just to clear their 18 yards. It was a sorry display of football by Iran which has a talented team that could have easily qualified for the next round but for the mentality of one amateur coach who has added yet another failure to his CV.

Portugal scored the equalizer after a poor clearance by Shehab Adeli , the replacement keeper, and a poor marking by Omid Noorafkan but frankly it was only a matter of time before the winner goal would be scored by the former champions and that goal unfortunately for Iran came in the form of a friendly fire. A harmless shot from the Portuguese player on the right of the keeper was deflected into Shehab Adeli’s goal late in the match to make it 2-1 for Portugal.

Ironically , after that goal , Iran U-20 team played it best football and in true offensive style, creating more chances in a 7 minutes remaining of  the match (regular and added  4 minutes time) than the whole of the match. The Fans have the right to ask , why this capable team with so much talent was not directed to play in this style  earlier,  instead of sending hail Mary balls or play acting , grass rolling to waste time. The Iran U-21 could have scored another goal and then controlled the match but that was perhaps not in the coach’s gameplan.

Getting the best out of a talented pool of young players , require professional and high quality coaching. Peyrovani , is not in that class. He is a “B” or “C: coach without any pedigree and it was quite evident in South Korea that he just does not have it in him to lead an Iranian team at the world stage.

One of the best teams in Iranian age group departed the Championship at group stage, yet again.

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.

The dirty beautiful game of football.

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[column size=”1/2″] Once again and with tedious regularity, stories of corruption in World Football crops up. The most popular sport in the world and by far the top money generator has been polluted for a long time. FIFA, football’s world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption. Icons of football such as Micheal Platini , Franz Beckenbauer, Joseph Blatter and a host of other influential football personalities have been indicted, suspended or jailed as a result.

It is foolish to think that after all these events and exposures; corruption in football has vanished or even subsided. There is far too much at stake, too much of interest, far too much money that fools like us spend to watch our cherished game. The criminal minds and Mafia’s of this world are always on the lookout for the source of money. What’s better than that rich and beautiful game of football.

This week was the FIFA day with most countries playing for a place in the FIFA World Cup 2018, in itself a dubious and controversial venue full of alleged corrupt practices. For most countries, the prestige of qualifying to the finals is prized enough to do everything possible, legally and honorably, but for some even going beyond ethics and letter of the law to ensure the that rich payout.

Mission possible

Saudi Arabia, a country that has invented the project of humongous expenditure on football using its petrodollars in the 70’s, has not qualified for the World Cup since 2006. It is a matter of honor for them because any success in football is attributed to the efforts of the ruling clan. Failure reflects badly on them, especially when things are not politically comfortable for them on the diplomatic scene. The despot regime is desperate for positive PR where it has little to show in the past few years with accusations of harboring Islamist extremist and involvement in 9/11.

The World Cup 2018 campaign was not going very well for the Saudis in the opener match at home against the resolute Thai team. It was heading for a goal-less draw. But by the grace of God , and a little compassion from the Chinese referee, the simplest of contact between a Thai defender and Saudi forward was called a penalty in the 84th minute. The Saudi’s scored, the Thai were furious and heartbroken feeling betrayed.  Questionable call is quite simply a gross understatement.

Five days later the story repeated itself with the Saudi’s against Iraq in Malaysia this time. Iraq was leading by a goal when Qatari referee called two consecutive penalties in 81st & 88th minutes to ensure all 3 points goes in the rich Saudi’s bag.

 

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[column size=”1/2″] The Saudi haul

2 matches, 6 points, 3 penalty goals. Is it a coincidences?.

 

Not if you dig deep enough into the practices  of the highly influential Saudis , who have handpicked the current President of AFC Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, a tiny island state that the Saudi dominate financially and politically.

AFC , time and again , has been influenced by the Saudi pressure and there is no doubt about that.

Nomination of Australian referee Williams is yet another cause of debate which AFC could have very easily avoided. Creating psychological pressure on Iran is one way that the Saudis, who are sworn enemy of Iran, will show its influence against its hated neighbor. Out of the hundreds of referees, they had to choose the one that the Iranian despise and have issue with. Even if there is no bad intent by the AFC, the IQ of the administrators in the Kuala Lumpur AFC HQ should be much higher than to create such controversy.

AFC of course is famous for the Bin Hammam affair whose ill repute made world headlines.

Of course, Asia , Africa  and Latin America are not the only culprits. The whistle clean Europeans are also as shady, however, they do seem to be doing it diligently , cunningly and artfully. TV deals are perhaps this biggest basis of corruption and a highly kept secret deals with no transparency on why certain broadcasters win, not necessarily on the basis of highest bids.

Europe does it better

But the corruption is not limited in the corridors of power in Europe. A few days ago a Slovakian defender has made a startling claim that England’s World Cup qualifier against his country was fixed.  England scored in the 96th minute two minutes over the top of added time declared by the referee. It is fair to say that the Slovak Keeper was being treated in that added time.

Whether we like it or not, corruption is part and parcel of football, and most sports for that matter. Simply said, the stakes are too high and the money, easy money that is, is plentiful for the sharks.

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What is Queiroz’s real problem?

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[column size=”1/2″] The controversial Portuguese has been hitting the headline lately with some provocative and to many, some offensive statements.  “Team Melli ship is sinking “ that is how he described a team which just hit 9 goals in 2 international friendly matches this week three of them against a European opposition.

 
For that statement alone, Queiroz must have lost quite a few friends and the paltry number that showed up in Azadi on Tuesday against Kyrgyzstan is a testament of his popularity. His last statement in an interview given to Radio Varzesh has not been received too favorably in the press even amongst his allies and suitors.  
What is behind the continuous nagging and rhetoric of Queiroz i? What is the real story ?
Does Queiroz think that his “Lack of resources” pretexts are sold so easily on the masses? No one in the history of Team Melli coaching , including expatriates such as the long serving Branko Ivankovic, has received so much funding as him and during his reign. Facts and figures are evidence of that.  The local Team Melli Iranian coaches like Daei and Ghalenoei would have dreamed of the type of support this Queiroz has been receiving.
Not that Queiroz is wrong in demanding the best for Team Melli, but the fact remains that this is the type of structure and management that administers football in Iran always had and nothing will dramatically improve real soon. Only the naïve will believe that Mehdi Taj, with all the good intents, will revolutionize the football in Iran. Queiroz is much savvy and clever to believe all the promises that Taj has given him lately.
If Queiroz is not complaining about lack of funds and resources, he usually gets embroiled in verbal battle and assault with someone.  It could be the VP of the FFIRI, another coach, a Lady administrator, the Director of Azadi stadium, journalist, TV reporter and the list goes on. He has no respect for his position nor does he care much about the slander and defamation laws of the country either. That seems to be strange since another famous antagonist, whose tongue slashing is legendary, was jailed recently after a court case where the judge found him guilty of defamation and contempt. That is the famous Daei vs. Mayeli-Kohan case. Queiroz is so far has a diplomatic immunity and can say whatever he likes.
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[column size=”1/2″] It seems that no one is immune from the Portuguese wrath, including Minister of Sport and his associates!
It is possible that many punters believe him and support his cause, but behind all this belies a fact or two  that needs a careful scrutiny.
Known Fact one: Carlos Queiroz does NOT want to continue working with Team Melli and working in Iran. Proof and evidence: he has submitted his resignation, which was rejected as he is bound by a contractual obligation. Queiroz is also known for his continual absent from Iran on holiday or assignment abroad.
What are the reasons for Queiroz’s lack of enthusiasm for Team Melli? Only Queiroz himself knows but it could anything of these, lucrative offers from other countries, a new challenge needed, lack of riches in Iran, lack of total and absolute support, difficulty adjusting to Iranian social life, and/or doubt in the fortunes of Team Melli as evident from his notorious quote “Team Melli ship is sinking”
Known Fact two: with the renewal of his contract after the last World Cup, Queiroz must serve the period or pay penalties if he opts out. The quickest way and the most profitable for him is to get the sack. Not only the FFIRI has to pay the severance amount, they have to pay him until the remaining of the contract. It is in the millions of US$ and FFIRI is certainly not willing perhaps incapable of raising that money.
As such, Queiroz rhetoric will continue while Taj and Kaffashian will set suffering the embarrassment of the old moaning Portuguese. Kaffashian , incidentally , still has a plenty of major roles in FFIRI although he is officially only the Deputy for Taj.
It is a pitiful situation for a team that has been sitting at the top of Asian FIFA ranking for over two years. A team, although failed to win any trophies, managed to qualify for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil and has a big chance of repeating it again. A team that has played some good matches, beautiful football and defeated Chile, the Copa America Champions. A team that has only lost once in that period against Sweden, scored 48 goals in 19 matches since January 2015 and has a winning percentage of 73.7% in all competitions
Unless there is an intentional sabotage brewing within Team Melli, we have a strong belief that this team with a set of young talented players mixed with experienced campaigners has plenty of potential and can make it to the World Cup. This is hardly a sign of a team sinking.
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Editorial Note.

TeamMelli.com would like to thank all those members who have sent us feedback on the World Cup 2014 coverage. Special thanks and appreciation goes for all those who sent us kind words of support. We appreciate it and as such, this encourages and aspires us to give it our best.

One piece of not so good news is that with the increased popularity of the site, or any site for that matter, it attracts hackers and spammers who are intent to penetrate and inflict damage. That is why we have raised the security level of the site, including registration process, to the maximum. All the security checks are automatically initiated and goes through several levels. There is no manual  process except the log that briefs the administrator on what actions was taken.

Unfortunately, we believe that some genuine cases of registration might have not been accepted or rejected because of this tight security.

For all those genuine people whose registrations were not accepted , especially our compatriots , please try once again. If the registration is denied , you  may send us a feedback so that the staff can manually register the genuine cases.

 

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