26/03/201426/03/2014

AFC Asian Cup 2015 Groups

Team Melli was drawn in group C alongside 3 ot it Persian Gulf neighbors, Bahrain , Qatar and UAE. Iran has never lost an AFC Asian Cup match against the 3 teams before.

In the draw held at the Sydney Opera House, it was mixed fortunes for the host team Australia (Socceroos), who were drawn to meet the Kuwaitis, Oman and the highly credentialed South Korea in Group A.

Following their clash against Kuwait at AAMI Park, the Socceroos meet Oman at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on January 13.

The Socceroos then face the toughest test of their Group A campaign when they host the South Koreans at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on January 17.

The Defending Asian Cup champions Japan are in Group D with Jordan, Iraq and the winner of this year’s AFC Challenge Cup, being held in May in the Maldives.

Joining the Maldives in the tournament are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Palestine, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines and Turkmenistan.

Group A: Kuwait, Oman, South Korea and Australia.

Group B: North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

Group C: Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Iran.

Group D: 2014 AFC Challenge Cup winner, Iraq, Jordan and Japan.

[divider]

Coaches reaction

Group C – Iraq, UAE, Qatar & Bahrain

	Iran Coach Carlos Queiroz: Football is all about pressure, and pressure to win the next game.I’m sure that after the World Cup the team can have a lift with the preparation and the experience, they will be more strong when they start the Asian competition.
	UAE Coach Mahdi Ali: I did not wish to have three [Gulf Cup] nations in the same group to give more chances for them to qualify. A small competition reflecting the big one in Asia. We have already announced we want to be in the best four teams in Asia and I hope we achieve our goal. We wish to qualify to the semi final. I think that the UAE have spent a lot of planning for this generation, I think we have a good generation who have played many tournaments.
	Qatar Coach Djamel Belmadi: We don’t have any limits; we are here to win the tournament simple as that.I hope we will be strong enough and good enough and believe in ourselves to go as far as possible.
	Bahrain Coach Anthony Hudson: We’re going to quietly do what we’re doing. We’re building our team. We’re going to be optimistic and [try] to cause an upset and do something special.We’re not going to scream and shout too loud but we’re going to work hard and prepare. We’ve certainly come here to go very far. I think it’s a good group and I think we’ve missed two or three of the big teams were familiar with. We’re happy.

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23/03/2014

Three World Cup Stadiums Yet Unfinished

Mar 22, 2014

FIFA is starting a new round of inspections at World Cup stadiums in Brazil. With kick-off less than three months away, host cities are in a race against time to be ready for the tournament.
Operational inspections in six stadiums began Thursday and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke is expected in Rio de Janeiro next week for a series of meetings to discuss preparations.

Technical teams from football’s governing body and the local organising committee visited the Itaquerão Stadium in São Paulo on Thursday and will move on to Porto Alegre, Manaus, Natal, Cuiabá and Curitiba in the coming days.

“This inspection tour will be fundamental to consolidate operational plans and for each area to confirm the operations they have planned over the last few years,” said Tiago Pães, the operations manager for stadiums at the local organizing committee.

FIFA already knows that at least two stadiums won’t be ready until about a month before the tournament starts. The Itaquerão Stadium in São Paulo will be completed in mid-May, along with the Arena da Baixada in the southern city of Curitiba.

Cuiabá also doesn’t have its stadium ready, with concern over whether there will be enough time to install the temporary structures needed for technical teams, sponsors and media.

“This is the last occasion for the organizers to take stock of the operational preparations before the respective FIFA World Cup installations begin to be implemented in all 12 host cities,” FIFA said Thursday in a statement

19/03/2014

Year’s end thoughts on Iran’s football.

Two days before the end of the year and Nowruz the ancient Persian new year’s day celebrated by people from diverse ethnic communities and religious backgrounds for thousands of years and the national holiday of Iran, we look at some of the ups and downs of Iranian football.

Qualification to the World Cup 2014.

Without a doubt, qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil was the biggest achievement of Iran’s football. It was not just the fact that Iran has qualified for the biggest event in the World Football calendar, as Team Melli has managed this feat and qualified 3 times before that, it was the manner of qualification that was just short of spectacular.

Very few gave Queiroz men a chance especially after some lackluster displays and results by Team Melli including a historic loss to Lebanon, a team that until that fateful day, never managed to score against Iran. Iran really needed to win its remaining 3 matches, including the most difficult one against its nemesis South Korea in Ulsan, to assure the qualification.

With perseverance, purpose, style and some wonderful defending work at the back, Team Melli did exactly that and won 3 out of 3 heading its group and qualifying directly to Brazil and leaving the South Koreans biting their nails awaiting the Uzbekistan match result to know if they have made it along with Iran.

Iran’s Beach soccer

A historical achievement by Iran’s beach soccer team occurred in November 2013 , when Iran defeated Russia to win the championship of the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The Iranians beat the two-time defending Intercontinental Cup champion 4-3 in the final match of the tourney in Dubai. Players like Mohammad Ahmadzadeh , Peiman Hosseini , Mostafa Kiani , Moslem Mesigar, Hassan Abdollahei and Hassan Hajipour suddenly became household names in the Iran.

The Iranians love champions and championship pedigree. By winning the Intercontinental Cup , FIFA sponsored championship , Iran’s Beach soccer team ensured their names are engraved permanently in the hall of fame of Iranian football.

Persepolis and Esteghlal

No escaping the bipolar status of Iran’s football. The majority of fans, support one of these two teams wherever they are. Some even prefer the red or blue teams over their local teams. The destiny and fate of Team Melli depends largely on these two teams up to a certain extent. The success of these clubs normally is reflected on Team Melli.

Both these two teams are owned, managed and controled by the government since they took it over ( nationalized i) after the revolution. For 20 years, the government has been talking about the imminent privatization of these two clubs , especially during the two presidency terms of Mahmoud Ahmadineajd and his sports right hand man AliAbadi both of whom convinced the masses that the privatization is a done deal.

Not only such promises by the President never materialized, the two teams have faced immense financial problems, irregularities, poor management, anomalies and corruption. The extent of such has resulted in the migration of players out of Esteghlal , while Persepolis is virtually bankrupt unable to sustain its operation and hanging on a thread. No one knows exactly how these two clubs are actually functioning with debts in millions of US Dollars, unpaid bills and no revenue to even partially cover their debts or service the interest rates.

Active attempts by some old players to take control of the Persepolis , calling themselves the rightful owners of the club, has been met by skepticism and protests by many red fans. The New Year 1393 s expected to be a vital for these two clubs.

NAVAD program

Arguably the most controversial media programs if Iran broadcast weekly on Iranian national TV. Adel Ferdowsipour, the anchorman of this very popular program NAVAD (90) is more famous than a lot of footballers in Iran. He is also more popular than quite a few of them. His popularity, however, does not extend to the administrators, coaches, politicians, club owners and some of the hierarchy,.

Many of his critics see him as instigator of quandaries, agitator, controversy seeker, and a whistle blower that Iran’s football can do without. Many called for his removal while even the MP’s of the Majlis demanded his ousted. However IRIB management, to their credit , wisely and shrewdly stuck to their guns and maintained the popular man and his program, untouched, unchanged and unaffected. Such is his program popularity that most of players and coaches interviewed on post-match, plead to NAVAD program to give them a fair judgment on controversial calls or issues because they believe it is a fair and free tribune.

The true vote of confidence for this program came in the last edition, which was the final program of 1392 , when a telephone SMS poll gave it a whopping 96% vote of confidence from the fans. Simply amazing support that even dictators such as Hosny Mubarak and Saddam Hussain could not fabricate during their reign.

Ferdowsipour , despite some shortfalls of his own and some unorthodox style of presentation , remains one of the most powerful and influential people in Iran’s football , although he has no official designation at all.

A football federation that is always begging for money.

While the news of qualifying for the World Cup made a whole nation happy and full of joy, the reality hit hard when the football federation started complaining about lack of funds. Years of frail management, failure to market a good and profitable product, lack of outside interest in investing in football, sub-standard management skills amongst many other things, resulted in a football federation begging for money to support Team Melli activities.

As the result, this football federation under Ali Kaffashian was unable to arrange meaningful friendly matches against quality teams, cancelled planned training camps for Team Melli and has difficulty honoring contracts and payments of wages, and lost two assistant coaches through resignations under peculiar conditions.

With the government that is reluctant to bankroll the football activities, for very good reasons, the lack of funds to support Team Melli preparation for the FIFA World Cup , remains the biggest source of concern for every fan of Team Melli.

15/03/2014

Asian Cup legends Parviz GHLEECHKHANI

When it comes to AFC Asian Cup legends, the Iranian Parviz Ghleechkhani has no match in the long history of this competition which started way back in 1956.

Iran first participation was in the 1960 edition where they narrowly missed qualification to the finals in a group that also included Israel , Pakistan and India.

Iran hosted the 1968 championship in Tehran where they first tasted the honor of lifting the Asian Cup. Among the squad , a young 22 years old player by the name of Parviz Ghleechkhani made a strong impression. The Kian FC midfielder has already represented Iran as a 18 years old player in the football competition of the Olympics Games Tokyo 1964. Selection of a player as such age to represent Iran in one of the major competitions was unprecedented. Ghleechkhani was a unique talent as he continued his progress in the domestic scene becoming a fixed player for Team Melli.

The historic win by Iran was the beginning of the rise of Persian football power in the continent. Iran’s Captain Hassan Habibi lifted the Cup in full capacity Amjadiea stadium but very few predicted at the time that Ghleechkhani will repeat this three consecutive times.

Team Melli 1973 — Standing L2R: Ghleechkhani, Rashidi , Kargarjam, Haghverdian, Jabbari, Ghurab. Sitting L2R: Kalani, Kashani, Ashtiani , Parvin , Vafakhah

The move that made the biggest difference in Ghleechkhani career was his transfer to Taj Club. Arguably the top club in Tehran and by far the richest in Iran, Ghleechkhani’s career under professional coaching and management took a meteoric rise. By 1972 , Iran was the defending champion in the AFC Asian Cup held in Bangkok, Thailand. Between the two Asian Cups , Ghleechkhani’s continued success was evident in another major achievement with his club and a first for Iran’s football. Taj Club, with a youthful, skillful and aspiring squad under a shrewd coaching of the Yugoslav Ryjkov, won Asia’s top club competition. However, Gleechkhani was injured at the time and could not play with the team, nevertheless he was awarded the winner’s medal .

By 1972 Asian Cup , Ghleechkhani became a household name in Iran. Team Melli squad at the time had an abundance of quality players enriching the squad like Kalani, Behzadi , Habibi , Ali Jabbari and the rest . However, all these stars where at the twilight of their careers. Ghleechkhani , still young, powerful . motivated and skillful complimented the squad and made the difference. Ghleechkhani added advantage at this stage of his career was his experience as a utility player who operated in all the three lines, as a defender, midfield player and a forward, whenever required.

For the second consecutive time , Iran won the AFC Asian Cup and successfully defended the title by defeating South Korea 2-1 at extra time. The win was emphatic end to the campaign and the first ever success for an Iranian team away from home. Once again Iran won the with ease playing 5 matches and winning them all with a 12 goal haul and only 2 against. Parviz Ghleechkhani was ever present in all the matches and as expected, he was one of the key players of the team

In 1976 , Iran once again hosted the AFC Asian Cup. Ghleechkhani was now 30 years old, but still a star and key player. Some of the off field events , including political activities threatened to end his career prematurely, but the powerful man bounced back and was included in the squad for the 1976 AFC Asian Cup.

For the third time , Iran won the title and for the third consecutive time Parviz Ghleechkhani was a champion of Asia. The only match he missed was because the coach decided to field the reserve team against a weak opposition in 1976. Heshmat Mohajerani fielded the reserves team against South Yemen opting to rest the main players and still came out winners 8-0 .

Iran won the final match against Kuwait 1-0 from Ali Parvin’s goal from a free kick.

Gleechkhani was a strong player who excelled in all the three position, Defense, midfield and Attack. However, Parviz real position that would eventually be the hallmark of his career was the midfield position. His vision, powerful kicks, scoring ability and stamina was ideal for that post. Although fairly short, his aerial skills was remarkable for this utility player.

From 1968 to 1976 , Gleechkhani played in 12 out of 13 matches of Iran’s Team Melli in the AFC Asian Cup. 13 wins out of 13 with 36 goals scored and 8 conceded. Gleechkhani scored 2 goals in the Asian Cup and remains the only Iranian player that has held the Trophy on 3 consecutive occasions.

15/03/201415/03/2014

Iran road to AFC Asian Cup 2015

IRAN

Iran secured a record-equaling 13th appearance in the AFC Asian Cup.

An ever-present at the AFC Asian Cup since first hosting the tournament in 1968 Iran claimed their spot in the tournament after winning Group B ahead of Kuwait, Lebanon and Thailand.

Team Melli have plenty of pedigree in the AFC Asian Cup, having won three consecutive titles in 1968, 1972 and 1976.

Iran were then helmed by legendary manager Heshmat Mohajerani who not only took his country to their third AFC Asian Cup in 1976 and in that same year a quarter-final appearance in the Montreal Olympics, but also led the national side to their first ever appearance at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.

Since those glory years, Iran proved unable to match the achievements of Mohajerani’s men, crashing out in the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals on five occasions.

It also took two decades before the Middle Eastern giants returned to the World Cup, playing a part in the tournament in 1998, backed by the goals of their Bundesliga star and Iranian icon Ali Daei.

While Iran can also boast an appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, in recent AFC Asian Cup campaigns they have repeatedly come unstuck against fellow Asian powerhouses South Korea.

In four consecutive tournaments since the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon, Iran have encountered the Koreans at the first knockout stage and won just the one encounter – in 2004 when they went on to finish third overall.

Now led by former Real Madrid and Portugal national team manager Carlos Queiroz, Iran secured a place in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, topping their qualification group in the process, for their fourth appearance at the finals.

Skippered by evergreen Javad Nekounam who is nearing 150 caps, and with exciting new call-ups to the team that include attacking stars Ashkan Dejagah and Reza Ghoochannejhad who ply their trade in Europe’s top divisions, the AFC Asian Cup’s all-time top-scoring team have the ability to match their former glory and will surely be a side to be feared.

Coach: Carlos Queiroz (Portugal). Queiroz coached his home country through an under-achieving 2010 World Cup, where a 7-0 rout of North Korea masked some major Portuguese failings. They failed to score in three other matches — against Ivory Coast, Brazil and a testy 1-0 second-round loss to eventual champion Spain. Queiroz, the former Real Madrid coach and assistant to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, was fired once European Championship qualifiers began following the World Cup but he has resurfaced — and flourished — in Tehran. On Queiroz’s watch, Iran won its final Asian qualifying group, has advanced to the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia and is currently the top Asian team in FIFA’s rankings.

Fast Facts

Population: 76 million
FIFA ranking: 38
Ranking among Asian nations: 1
Year of first attempt: 1968
Previous attempts: 12
Best finish: Champions 1968, 1972, 1976
Qualified: top of Group B
Players to watch: Reza Ghoochannejhad (Standard Liege, Belgium), Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham, England), Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal, Iran), Javad Nekounam (Esteghlal, Iran)

Iran @ AFC Asian Cup

Players records

	Name	Openin.	Subst.	Goals	Yellows	Reds
1.	DAEI, Ali	16	0	14	1	0
2.	MAHDAVIKIA, Mehdi	14	3	0	1	1
3.	NEKOUNAM, Javad	13	0	4	3	0
4.	GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz	12	0	2	0	0
5.	KARIMI, Ali	11	3	5	2	0
6.	ABEDZADEH, Ahmadreza	10	2	0	1	0
	BAGHERI, Karim	10	0	4	0	0
8.	ABDOLLAHIE, Nassrollah	9	0	0	0	0
	GHAYEGHRAN, Sirous	9	0	1	0	0
	HEJAZI, Nasser	9	0	0	0	0
	MINAVAND, Mehrdad	9	0	1	2	0
	MOHAMMADKHANI, Nader	9	0	1	0	1
	ZARRINCHEH, Javad	9	0	0	0	0
14.	ESTILI, Hamidreza	8	1	2	0	0
	MOHARRAMI, Mojtaba	8	1	0	2	0
	ARAB, Mostafa	8	0	0	0	0
	FONOONIZADEH, Mehdi	8	0	0	0	0
	KALANI, Hossein	8	0	7	0	0
	KASHANI, Jaffar	8	0	0	0	0
	PEYOUS, Farshad	8	0	3	1	1
	REZAEI, Rahman	8	0	0	3	0
22.	AZIZI, Khodadad	7	2	2	3	0
	ALIDOUSTI, Hamid	7	1	3	0	0
	DERAKHSHAN, Hamid	7	1	0	0	0
	JABBARI, Ali	7	1	5	0	0
	KERMANI-MOGHADAM, Morteza	7	1	0	2	0
	ARABSHAHI, Zia	7	0	1	0	0
	HOSSEINI, Jalal	7	0	1	0	0
	PANJALI, Mohammad	7	0	0	0	0
	TEYMOURIAN, Andranik	7	0	1	2	0
31.	BEHZADI, Homayoun	6	2	4	0	0
	KAEBI, Hossein	6	1	0	2	0
	NOSRATI, Mohammad	6	1	1	1	0
	ROWSHAN, Hassan	6	1	3	0	0

15/03/2014

Team Melli news brief.

Carlos Queiroz has cancelled a press conference that was supposed to be held this morning to brief the media about the progress of Team Melli training and the upcoming South African training camp. The Football Federation simply posted a note in their website announcing the cancellation without giving reasons or justifications.

Javad Nekounam , Team Melli Captain who is currently playing for the Kuwaiti side , Al Kuwait Sport Club has informed ISNA , that he very much doubts that his club , involved in several competitions including AFC Cup, will afford to release him for the upcoming Team Melli training camp in South Africa. Kaffashian has pledged to intervene personally with Kuwaiti and Qatari clubs to release the Iranian players for the camp. That is simply a wishful thinking and hardly a step that any professional club will carry out especially if , like the Qatari and Kuwait teams, are involved in competition domestically and regionally. Kuwait SC, lost its last match against Fanja of Oman 2-1 , though the Kuwaiti team set up a tense finish as Nekounam headed home from Waleed Ali’s cross five minutes after the hour mark.

Andranik Teymourian who has suffered injury which prevented him taking part in any football activity , is on the road of recovery. Esteghlal is still involved in the AFC Champion’s League but with two consecutive defeats , their chances are slim for qualification. However, if Teymourian is fit enough , he might well travel with the Team Melli squad to South Africa. Final ruling by the medical staff on Teymourian will be given just before Esteghlal’s game against Al Jazeera in the AFC Champions League.

Carlos Queiroz said that any names that have been suggested by the media as his assistant coach is pure speculation. In a statement to Fars News Agency , Team Melli coach said ” I have not decided on the candidates yet. When the final decision is reached after a careful and meticulous process, then we will officially announce it to all. Anything that is being circulated now is pure speculation and not true.” Two assistant coaches left Team Melli camp abruptly. Tony Simoez , the Portuguese assistant coach and long time associate of Queiroz , resigned his post followed by Omid Namazi , the Iranian-American assistant coach. Both have cited family commitments as reason for their resignation, however speculation is rife that there are more to it than the customary family reason specifically 3 months before the World Cup.

Ali Kaffashian stated that his federation has almost secured the service of Carlos Queiroz after his contracts runs out after the World Cup. Kaffashian did not confirm that a contract has been signed with the Portuguese coach but remained hopeful that it will be a formality. On the other hand, Querioz himself remains tight lipped about his future with Team Melli except for saying that he has several offers from outside Iran.

14/03/2014

Argentina: Romero first choice GK despite being a reserve in his club!

It is not difficult for any fan or expert to mention the strong spots of Argentina national football team.

The FIFA ranked 3 team , has the services of the World greatest footballer in Lionel Messi and two of the world most lethal strikers in Sergio Agüero and Gonzalo Higuaín playing in the forward line. That combination can destroy any defenses at will. However , Argentina, like many teams have weak spots too and nothing is more obvious than their defense line. Despite having the services of several veteran players, none of their defenders are in the same class of their forwards. Recent matches in Europe highlighted some of the Argentine defenders shortfalls including lack of pace and some wild tackles leading to penalties and sending off.

The goalkeeping is one area that Argentina have traditionally fell short of expectation , and this time around, history is repeating itself.

Reuters has report on the current goalkeeper situation in Argentina team:

(Reuters) – Sergio Romero will be Argentina’s first-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup in Brazil in June despite spending most of his time at Monaco on the bench, national coach Alejandro Sabella said on Thursday.

The former winners are likely to have one of the strongest attacks at the finals but their defense has come under scrutiny with Romero being criticized for not always commanding his penalty area.

“Romero had a good match and I consider him an excellent goalkeeper who unfortunately is not getting continuity at his club,” said Sabella of the keeper’s performance in last week’s 0-0 draw with Romania in a friendly in Bucharest.

“Apart from the odd injury he has always been in my team … the position (at the World Cup) is his,” the coach told the Radio La Red Argentine station.

Sabella said he had decided on around 90 percent of his 23-man World Cup squad.

Argentina have been drawn in Group F with Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria.

13/03/201413/03/2014

Is Queiroz vindicated in overlooking of Rahmati?

The performance of Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions Leagues is always a good indicator of the standard of Team Melli since almost all the domestic players are from clubs playing in this competition, Persepolis being the exception.

After the second round, Iranian clubs results were mixed, with Esteghlal surprisingly for some, while naturally for others, faring the worst out of the 4 Iranian teams. Esteghlal, the most successful Iranian club in the history of the competition winning it twice and finalist once, is expected to at least qualify for the next round, in a group that is far from being difficult. However the two loses at home in Azadi against ALShabab of Saudi Arabia and then the defeat against Al Rayyan in Doha, has created an immense burden on Ghalenoei to achieve what many consider to be the minimum, which is the qiualifcation. The star studded team has Heydari, Beighzadeh , Teymourian & Sadeghi in Team Melli while they have lost the services of Nekounam , Montazeri and Jabbari other Team Melli players.

The defeat against Al Rayyan brought up one interesting discussion related to Team Melli’s players’ selection. The only goal of the match came after a terrible rudimentary blunder by Seyed Mehdi Rahmati who failed to grab an easy cross , with the ball slipping through his hands, giving the Al Rayyan forward a dream gift of simply tacking the ball into the empty net.

That goal gift by Rahmati was enough to sink Esteghlal naturally bring up the debate about Queiroz concerns with the most experienced goalkeeper in the league. Rahmati , despite his brilliance as a shot stopper , has an acute weakness in his tactics on crosses. His timing has failed him time and again , a a fact that Carlos Queiroz could not simply ignore or tuck under the carpet. It was his interest in having a replacement for Rahmati and criticism of the keeper that lead to Rahmati taking a break, according to his interpretation from Team Melli. That Petulant act was enough for Queiroz to cross Rahmati out of his list for good.

Another player in the Queiroz black list is Hadi Aghili , missed a penalty against Al Hilal but his blushes was saved by a injury time winner for Sepahan by Sukaj

For what it is worth, with Rahmati at least, it is quite clear that Carlos Queiroz was not far off in his assessment of the Esteghlal goalkeeper with his liabilities. Queiroz is surely vindicated.

13/03/2014

Iran drops 4 places in FIFA Ranking March 2014

In the latest FIFA Ranking published today by the World Governing body , Iran dropped 4 places to number 42 in the world with 692 but still maintained the lead as Asia’s top team.

Team Melli’s long inactivity ended with two consecutive matches vs. Kuwait and Guinea. Further matches are schedule to improve Iran’s ranking.

Japan was second with 622 points ranked 48 in the world.

Top 10 Asian nations in FIFA Ranking

World Rank	Zone Rank	Team	Points	Posn Change
42	1	Iran	692	-4
48	2	Japan	622	2
55	3	Uzbekistan	565	2
60	4	Korea Republic	552	1
61	5	United Arab Emirates	550	-3
63	6	Australia	545	-10
66	7	Jordan	521	3
75	8	Saudi Arabia	453	0
81	9	Oman	426	-1
98	10	China PR	339	-10

13/03/2014

Goudarzi” The government does not create football Billionaires.”

20 months after the conclusion of London summer Olympic games 2012, Iran’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) held a ceremony in honor of the Iranian athletes Olympic games medal winners .

In the ceremony attended by many dignitaries, including Iran’s vice-president Dr. Noubakht and Minister of Sport Mahmoud Goudarzi , the athletes received gifts in appreciation of their achievements. London summer Olympic games 2012 recorded the best medal haul for Iran since its first participation in London summer Olympic games in 1948.

The minister of youth and sports , Mahmoud Goudarzi in an exclusive interview with Iranian Students News Agency ( ISNA ) , commenting on the the ceremony, said “the main objective of organizing this gathering , was organizing a major sports event as well as meeting and honoring of Olympic medal winners and that was a good thing. We applaud NOC for holding such ceremony. We were honored to be present at the event and thank the heroes of Iran who were exemplary representatives and true credits for the sport and their country.”

Commenting on Vice-President attendance at the ceremony , the Minster highlighted the objective of one of the highest government ranks in the country to be among the athletes and sport administrators, is to see for himself the current status and the needs of sport.

“Tonight’s ceremony was attended by Dr. Noubakht , which was a positive move. The Vice-President was well briefed about some of the problems and shortcomings facing the various sports and also to get to know the athletes closely and keep in touch with them . Dr. Noubakht promised to help solve the country’s sport problems.”

On the program of Team Melli , the minster said ” We have special programs for successful participation of our national team in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. God willing, we are looking forward for a successful participation and honorable representation of the Iranian people who look up to this team . Some people say that I do not care much for football . I do not accept that at all. It is completely false.”

“When it comes to financial support , I have to tell you all that the government will NOT finance clubs to create football billionaires. We are not interested in that aspect. The income of the rich footballers that the fans are aware of , the money exchanged in the clubs for transfer of players, has not come from the government coffers.T he government does not create football Billionaires, I can assure of that. Some other supporters perhaps pour money into the clubs to buy players or take care of their wages. We at governmental level , cannot and will not afford that.”

“We have to face reality. Football is the most popular sport in the world including our own country, The support has to be appropriate but not on the expense of other sports. It is our firm policy to support all sport , especially those that bring us honor at international levels.”

Asked about the future and privatization of Esteghlal and Persepolis , the Minister got agitated and responded “Why do you keep asking about Persepolis and Esteghlal all the time ? Why not Sanat Naft, Tractorsazi , Damash Gilan? these teams need your attention as well (!!!)”

So, the the honorable minister of youth and sport , cleverly avoided the question that has been on every fans mind since the last President Ahmadinejad promised , which is the timescale of these 2 popular clubs privatization.

Iran @ AFC Asian Cup

World Rank

Zone Rank

Team

Points

Posn Change