Human Afazeli, who was the Technical Manager of the Omid Team that has miserably failed in Asian Games 2014 Incheon, said that one of the biggest hurdles in Iran, and not just in football, is that the society favors , trusts and accepts people with experience and reputation on those who are educated , qualified and professionals in their job.
“This type of mentality will remain a big hurdle against development and progress, since we are not utilizing the competence, scholarship and the qualification that is dearly required to successfully accomplish the tasks. Instead we chose to appoint people with experience and reputation without necessarily having the qualifications for the job. Such appointments lead to a lot of trial and error situations which we are experiencing right now in Iran’s football. There is no guarantee of success, quality & standards or even continuity”
As an example, Afazeli mentioned the appointment of Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia to National teams’ managerial or coaching positions as proof of such concept that prevails in Iran. Afazeli said “utilizing and taking advantage of the popularity of those ex-Team Melli players would lead to many experts shying away from criticizing such appointments. No one dares to mention any reference to the suitability, qualification and competency of such appointments.”
Afazeli said that both Karimi and Mahdavikia have taken risks. “Without knowing if Ali Karimi is going to be a good coach or not , or even if he has any real intent or interest in coaching , he was dragged into Team Melli coaching team. This could bounce back in his face if the team fails, which is exactly the case with Mahdavikia”
The former assistant coach to Branko Ivankovic in Team Melli and expert match analyst added “The warning bells were there for a long time, but we failed to realize or act. “Group sports are disappearing and so are the spaces for practicing. Football being the main sport has lost quite a large of space and areas to practice and play in our cities. I think in a few years’ time, with the lack of foresight, we might face a real disaster in our football.”
Afazeli said that he put his thoughts forward to Ali Kaffashin in regards to Team Omid (Olympic Team ) failure , but the head of FFIRI had a completely different vision and mentality. Afazeli said that he realized that they are in two different planets which lead him to shake hands with Kaffashian in full respect and resign his position in the federation.
Human Afazeli was the Technical Manager of U-23 team and member of the FFIRI Technical committee. Ali Karimi has been appointed by Carlos Queiroz as assistant coach without any experience or qualification as a coach at any level. Mehdi Mahdavikia has been accompanying youth level teams in the capacity of advisor and mentor without being involved in technical details.