Javad Nekounam, the former Captain of Team Melli and the current coach of Foolad Khuzestan has claimed that the football federation had no role to play in the appointment of the current coach.

Nekounam joins a score of football observers and experts in claiming that Dragan Skocic was never on the shortlist of candidates for the Team Melli head coach post as prepared by the FFIRI suggesting that his appointment was dictated upon the federation.

These claims came in a Radio Talk show on Tuesday. When initially asked if he was approached by the FFIRI for the post of Team Melli head coach, Nekounam declined to answer but said: “he was flattered if they have considered him for the job, but in reality, it was another administrative and leadership blunder to let Carlos Queiroz leave.”

“If the decision making in our football was any good, we would have experienced much better results. If Queiroz continued, Omid team would have qualified for the  Olympics (…) and Team Melli status could have been much better. This bad planning hurt our coaches and teams.”

“When Queiroz was the coach, there was a good rapport between him and the president of the federation, I also attended some of the meetings between the two. “

Asked if the federation had negotiated with him, Nekounam said, “I have nothing to say. The coach of the national team has been selected and I do not want to go into the details and discussions that have taken place.”

Nekounam continued: “To those Friends who criticized Queiroz, I would like to ask; where Iranian football is now. I said it then, and I say it now, our football is going downhill, and you can see that.”

” Queiroz was willing to stay in Iran with less money than Wilmots because he had full knowledge and could get other honors. (…) It was our mistake to release him and it was the lack of appreciation that caused the separation of Queiroz.”

“The football federation was not the decision-maker in Skocic’s appointment” Nekounam claimed.

“No one in the federation has taken the responsibility to declare that we (FFIRI) did it. If someone in the federation declares at this stage that it was indeed the FFIRI decision, then it is done under duress and to ease the pressure. Team Melli coach has been chosen elsewhere. People know where and how the head coach was selected. It is clear that a coach who is criticized and opposed by all of Iran is selected and disrespected by Iranian coaches.”

Despite Javad Nekounam’s speculative and self-serving opinion mixed with his bitterness for not being considered for Team Melli head coach (which would have been a true disaster), his unsubstantiated claim regarding Dragan Skocic not being the choice of football federation, is yet another of many that believe that FFIRI is toothless and executing the Ministry of Sports orders rather than being an independent self-governing Non-governmental Organization. The lack of strong leadership since Mehdi Taj allegedly resigned, was a big opportunity for the ministry to have its day and run the football federation as it wishes.