Iran’s reputation in events organization and management has once again been tarnished and NOT for the first time either!

The unveiling of the FIFA World Cup Trophy in Tehran could have turned into a real tragedy due to overcrowding, chaos, and poor management by the event presenter.

After touring several countries starting from Australia and Japan, on its way to Saudi Arabia and finally to Europe, Africa, and America, the World Cup Trophy arrived in Iran for the first time. As one of the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, The Iranians were given the opportunity to view the actual trophy.

The ceremony, in which unlimited numbers of guests like veterans, city counselors, and the many representatives from clubs were invited was abruptly cut short in the worst possible and truly embarrassing way. While this event was scheduled about a year ago and the FFIRI was aware that the World Cup Trophy tour is going to be held by passing through all qualified 32 countries, the unveiling ceremony of this trophy in Borj Milad turned into an ugly scene as a result of the wrong decisions of the organizers, and specifically the host of the show.

The shambolic presence of a countless number of people on the stage, all kissing and hugging around the trophy, while others jumped in for selfies and photo shots, became so awful it resembled the crowd in the bazaar. These scenes forced the lady representatives of FIFA, to quickly take the trophy off the stand fearing permanent damage to this expensive and exquisite piece of art.

The Lady quickly returned the trophy into a special suitcase and ran out of the hall (picture above)

According to FIFA protocols, the unveiling ceremony of the World Cup Cup was supposed to be held in the presence of six people and by a FIFA representative, but none of these regulations were observed in Iran. Instead,  in direct violation of the protocols and FIFA Guideline for this event, the show host, Javad Khiabani invited a large number of veterans to the stage all at the same time, creating a mess with people squeezing in to find space to stand.

Not satisfied by the crowds already on stage, the presenter invited even more guests to create complete chaos in the conference hall of Milad Tower in Tehran. It was so bad it could have ended in heavy cost financially and morally.

The lack of proper planning for the unveiling of this valuable trophy, which reached Iran for the first time in its 90-year history, led to the bitter words by one of the representatives of the football federation, who accused those present in the hall of “not respecting Iranian culture and customs”. The chaos occurred in the background of Iran repeatedly claiming that it is ready to help Qatar in holding part of the important event of the world cup in Iran and providing assistance and support. The pictures and videos released from the World Cup Trophy unveiling ceremony, however, paint an entirely different picture. Those were proof of the fact that the Iranian football administration is incapable of organizing the simplest of events let alone helping in organizing events such as the World Cup. Lack of respect for protocols and guidelines is one of the biggest failures but not the only one.

It seems that one year was not enough time to do proper planning for the unveiling ceremony, but in the end, this ceremony, which could have gone so smoothly and briefly, turned into a bitter experience of incompetence and disarray highlighting the lack of organization, poor insights, chaotic behavior, lack of respect and tragic poor planning model. Comparing today’s unveiling ceremony in Iran to what happened in Australia and Japan shows a huge difference in the culture, event planning, and organization. There is an obvious ocean between them and Iran.