Long delay in Team Melli flight generated lots of frustration in the squad. The charter flight of Team Melli to Tashkent left Mehrabad after nearly 3 hours delay.
Reza Ghoochannejad was one of the players who were extremely upset by this delay and the uncertainty surrounding the flight.
“They are really treating us like kids with such behavior. How dare they deal with the national team like this?” The dismayed Ghoochannejad, expressing his anger while talking to Mehrnews reporter while awaiting the delayed chartered flight to Tashkent. The flight to Uzbekistan’s capital city was supposed to depart at 11:00 sharp.
“I have taught myself not to get stressed or be surprised by the events surrounding Team Melli. We players always try to look at the positive side, but every time we have an event, there is a hidden unpleasant surprise. I really don’t know what is the status of the squad right now and whether or not we really will fly to Uzbekistan.” Team Melli forward added:
“I don’t understand why these events keep happening to the national team which was present at the World Cup. It is an insult to the characters of the team. These events make us look bad in the world. It has a negative reflection abroad.” Team Melli team striker continued expressing his frustration with the long delay in the chartered flight which was arranged to minimize the flight time to the Central Asian countries.
“Even in the smallest countries of the world, such chaotic events do not occur, but it always does in Iran where people take a pride in their Team Melli. We always experience problems even in the smallest of things.”
Ghoochannejad continued “The expectation of the people in Iran of their national team is quite high and that is understandable, I don’t think any national team in the world faces problems on monotonous regularity like we do .”
“We are stranded in the airport for hours, we don’t know what is happening, everyone is speculating. Some say that it is money issue and the charter fees have not been paid yet. Someone else comes up with another reason and so on. Such behavior is reminiscent of how kids are treated and that is a great disrespect towards a great national team.”
The striker stressed “How dare they treat national team like that? The national team is supposed to bring joy, happiness and dignity to the Iranian people, but with these conditions and behaviors, I cannot see how we can do it.”
The frustration of Ghoochannejad was shared by the rest of the squad and Carlos Queiroz who must be approaching the combustion point with this administration.
The heart of the matter is that Team Melli and other teams representing Iran will always face frustration and hardship because they are dealing with a highly incompetent and inept administration. Not only the standard of management and professionalism of this federation is quite embarrassing, what complicates the matter even further, is the fact that they are also cash strapped. To put the icing on the cake, the FFIRI is being regularly harassed, confronted and meddled by the Ministry of Sports, which does not help them perform.
After the flight eventually left Mehrabad, a spokesman for FFIRI said the delay was due to administrative reasons not financial. Of course, players like Ghoochannejad are supposed to feel quite relieved by this fact!! , but then again, the Iranian fans are well accustomed to the news of administrative failures in FFIRI by now.
Kudos to Team Melli players and Carlos Queiroz for operating under these extremely stressful environments.
Team Melli will face Uzbekistan on Thursday at 17:30 Tehran time in a friendly international match.