Mohammad Rouyanian , the CEO of Perspolis and the ever controversial character known for his contentious claims and statements, has come up with more of the same on the subject of Khalatbary.
The Team Melli forward player has been a subject of debate since he transferred from Sepahan to Ajman club in the UAE League. The re-naming of the UAE professional league created much antagonism and anger in Iran as the authorities discouraged any Iranian playing in a league under such false name labeled in defiance to the world community.
Khalatbary’s precipitously found himself in a dilemma.
Perspolis immediately took this opportunity and showed interest in the services of the player. A reported one million dollar penalty clause was included in the contract with Ajman, and hence Perspolis requested the football federation for their financial backing to pay the penalty fee and bring back the ex-Sepahan and Zob A
han player back to Iran. The Federation flatly refused Perspolis’ request and declared that they are not in the business of supplying funds for clubs to buy players.
Rouyanian said that Khalatbary is currently in Iran after a slight injury prevented him joining the Ajman training camp in Turkey. “There was supposed to be a meeting between our representative and Ajman club last night, however our representative was late to the meeting by more than one hour because of the heavy traffic and the meeting was cancelled !!. We will try to arrange another meeting this Saturday. Another problem has developed in this respect as my request for a visa to UAE was denied. I think there are people working behind the scene to deny me a visa (…) ” declared the belligerent Rouyanian.
“I heard a lot of rumors about the source of money that allowed Perspolis to open negotiations with Ajman Club. Some have claimed that I am providing 5 billion toman (US$ 407,000) from my own pocket to Perspolis to buy the player. Where do I have such money from? If I had that sort of money, what would I be doing in Perspolis? A kind person has offered us this money to help the club, it is none of your business who that person is !!!” Rouyanian expressed his disgust and continued “They take every opportunity to bad-mouth me while our rivals Sepahan and Esteghlal do not wish us get this player”.
“Right now, Khalatbary is 70% a Perspolis player” declared the defiant Perspolis CEO. However, he declined to explain or go into details on how this figure of 70% was derived.
On the subject on another ex-Team Melli player, Rouyanian said that “He liked Ali Karimi quite a lot. He was one of the players that I always liked even before I was involved in football. However, I don’t find him of much use for our team. Karimi , a player who has always professed his love and affection for the club, should have also tolerated some of the difficulties faced.”
Ali Karimi unceremoniously declared his retirement from football right after his club Perspolis was defeated in a penalty shoot-out against Sepahan in the final of Hazfi cup last season. A few weeks later, Karmi changed his mind and admitted that he acted in haste. Perspolis management and particularly Rouyanian, who had personal clashes with Karimi beforehand, were not amused by such act and refused to include him in the team roster after his change of mind. The appointment of Ali Daei as the coach, did not help Karimi’s case either.