Tehran:

Iran’s football association has banned Hadi Aghili,  Team Melli central defender for a year and fined him 15 million toman as a result of the player violating the rules by leaving the camp without obtaining proper clearance and without authority. The Disciplinary committee of the Iranian football federation accused and sentenced the player after he left the camp on the eve of the match against Lebanon. The action by Aghili was carried out after the player found out that he will not be starting the match and hence left the camp in protest. The Disciplinary committee ban applies to activities in Iran and does not extend it o other countries.

The suspension does not affect current status of Hadi Aghili who is playing for Qatar FC in Doha , Qatar. However , the defender has indicated that he wishes to return home to Iran after the conclusion of the current Qatar Professional Football League season with a possible move to his old club Sepahan Esfahan.

Aghili has repented and asked for forgiveness in several public announcements before the sentences was passed, but the IFF has ignored his pleas and apologies and passed the sentence regardless.

Seyed Mehdi Rahmati ,  Esteghlal and Team Melli’s goalkeeper is apparently upset about the fact that he was not included in the latest list of players for Team Melli which is preparing for Kuwait match.

The latest list issued , does not include the long serving Esteghlal goalkeeper and instead has a new addition in Daniel Davari , the German-Iranian goalkeeper.

The situation seems to be contradictory and confusing for many observers as Rahmati repeatedly denied any notions that he has retired from or abandoned Team Melli. Rahmati who has  played 76 times for Team Melli has declared that it is his civic and national duty to play for the Team, while on the other hands , Calros Queiroz has been quoted that Rahmati will NOT be selected of the team as long as he is at the helm!!

Press reports after Uzbekistan match where Iran lost the critical home, have quoted Rahmati saying that he will NOT be available for Team Melli selection due to him being targeted for unfair criticism. This followed much negative comments about Rahmati and his role in the two defeats against Lebanon and Uzbekistan. Somehow and soon after that statement , Rahmati seemed to do a U turn on the statement and changed his mind, possibly on advice of his peers at the club, saying that he will be at the service of Team Melli anytime.

Rahmati’s discontent about not being selected was published in his own website.  Rahmati sarcastically said that he will keep quiet about this latest affair to let some old friends to cherish the moment of him being left out of Team Melli!  The ex-Fajr Sepasi and Sepahan goalkeeper, added that he will  not comment on his omission from Team Melli in respect to the critical situation of both Club and country.  That last statement begs a question then , if he wants to maintain silence and not rock the boat, then why is he declaring his anger and discomfort in the public and in his own website?

Tehran :

Iran’s U-22 team coach  Coach Alireza Mansourianshorlisted 20 players  for particpation in the Qatar International Football Tournament that will commence in Doha on March 21.

Iran will play Morocco (21st March) , host team Qatar (23rd March) and Turkey (25th March) in the event.

The Final list of players

1. Ahmad Zendehrouh (Tractorsazi Tabriz)
2. Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Damash Gilan)
3. Alireza  Piranvand (Esteghlal)
4. Amir Abedzadeh (Perspolis)
5. Amin Hajmohammadi
6. Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad Khuzestan)
7. Eman Sadeghi (Malvan Anzali)
8. Hadi Dehghani (Aluminium Hormozgan)
9. Kaveh Rezaei (Saipa Alborz)
10. Milad  Gharibi (Saipa Alborz)
11. Mohammadreza Khanzadeh (Perspolis)
12. Mohammad-Vahid Esmaeilbeigi (Mes Kerman)
13. Mohsen Mosalman (Zob Ahan)
14. Morteza Pouraliganji (Naft Tehran)
15. Morteza Tabrizi (Pas Hamedan)
16. Navid Khoshhava (Saba Qom)
17. Omid  Alishah (Rah Ahan)
18. Payam Sadeghian (Zob Ahan)
19. Saeid Lotfi (Saba Qom)
20. Shahab Karami (Foolad Khuzestan)

Related Article

35 players invited for Team Melli Olympic squad

 

 

The list of players invited to the Team Melli camp has been announced in preparation for the Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers. Iran, leading the group  is to meet Kuwait right after Nowrooz in Kuwait City on 26th March 2013.

Team Melli will have a prepatory camp in the UAE before flying to Kuwait for the match. The German-Iranian player , Daniel Davari who plays his football for the Bundesliga II club  Eintracht Braunschweig, is finally joning the squad.

The list of invited players.

Goalkeepers:

Rahman Ahmadi – Saipa
Alireza HAGHIGHI, – Ruben Kazan , RUS
Daniel Davari– Eintracht Braunschweig, GER

Defenders:
Khosrow HEYDARI– Esteghlal
Hossein  MAHINI – Persepolis
Jalal HOSSEINI,– Persepolis
Pejman MONTAZERI – Esteghlal
Mohammad NOSRATI – Tractor Sazi
Shojaa  KHALILZADEH – Mes Kerman
Mehrdad POOLADI – Persepolis
Ehsan HAJSAFY – Sepahan

Midfielders:
Javad NEKOUNAM – Esteghlal
Andranik TEYMOURIAN – Kharaityat, QAT
Ghassim HADDADIFAR – Zob Ahan
Omid EBRAHIMI – Sepahan
Mojtaba JABBARI, – Esteghlal

Strikers:

Ashkan DEJAGAH  – Fulham, ENG
Reza GHOOCHANEJAD – Standard Liège , BEL
MohamadReza KHALATBARY– Sepahan
Yaghoub Karimi – Naft Tehran
Mehrdad OULADI – Malavan
Jalal RAFKHAEIi – Malavan
Masoud SHOJAEI – Osasuna

 

Iran regained its 4th spot in Aisa in this month’s FIFA Ranking after losing it to Uzbekistan in February. With 540 points , Iran is in the 57th spot one ahead of its direct rival Uzbekistan on 536.

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking

 

Continental Ranking

 

Highest FIFA ranking

15 – July 2005. .

Lowest FIFA Ranking

122 – May 1996.

Best Mover

65 – July 1996

Worst mover

-43 – October 1995

Ranking History

Iran average position from FIFA World Ranking creation is 47

Ranking Evolution

Two of the Lebanese national team players that are amongst the team squad in the FIFA world cup 2014 qualifiers were banned for life. Lebanon is in the same group as Iran and has defeated Team Melli 1-0 in the home match in Beirut while losing to Qatar  in Beirut with the same goal margin under under suspicious circumstances where one of the players who has been banned for life , Ramez Dayoub played a poor back pass that led to the only goal in a 1-0 defeat by Qatar..

FIFA has neither commented nor acted on the match or the suspensions by the Lebanese football association. There are also no indication of whether Iran’s Football associations  will lodge a complaint or request an investigation in the match that affects Iran’s chances of qualification to the Finals of the World Cup.

In an the following article and interviews , Lebanon’s German coach with the BBC, Theo Bucj=ker reveals his anger over match fixing by Lebanon players , or at l;east two of them.

Lebanon head coach reveals anger over match fixing

By Steve Crossman BBC World Service

A national team head coach has revealed his torment after two of his players “sold out their country” and were convicted of match-fixing.

Lebanon defender Ramez Dayoub and forward Mahmoud El Ali have been banned for life pending an appeal after being found guilty of the offence by their national association.

The charges relate to incidents in a 2014 World Cup qualification game and a tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where the opposition were gifted a goal and an attempt was made to coerce a team-mate.

For German head coach Theo Bucker, who played for both Borussia Dortmund and Schalke in a 19-year playing career, the news has cast doubt on his own future.

“I’m really mixed up in my way of thinking these days,” he told the BBC’s World Football programme. “I don’t know what the next step is.”

Bucker, 64, first took charge of Lebanon at the turn of the century and returned in 2011. His second stint has proved to be hugely successful, with the nation progressing into the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time in their history.

The achievement has proved bittersweet, however, as it was in the opening game of that stage that Bucker’s suspicions of foul play were first raised when Dayoub played a poor back pass that led to the only goal in a 1-0 defeat by Qatar.

“We were showing some good action and then suddenly a [Qatar] player has the ball in a one-on-one situation and you get the feeling that something is wrong,” he said. “The guy looked paralysed or something.

“I never came close to the idea that someone could not just sell the game, but sell their country.”
Play media

Europol head Rob Wainwright said his findings were a “big problem for the integrity of football in Europe”.

“Then I checked the video and found that this guy had tried to make the same pass several times, helping the opponent striker to score – this was very suspicious,” he added.

“We didn’t have any proof and I was trying to find an excuse by believing that he couldn’t handle the pressure of such an important game.”

Any thought that he might have been mistaken was rejected in July during a tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when two Lebanon players tried to persuade their goalkeeper to leave the game. The keeper refused and reported the behaviour.

Both Dayoub and El Ali – who were also fined $15,000 (£10,000) – insist they have done nothing wrong.

“This is a serious allegation,” said Dayeb. “I have no doubt there’s something behind this.

“If I really am guilty of match-fixing, [football’s international governing body] Fifa will investigate and suspend me, not the Lebanese FA.”

A Fifa statement has praised the Middle Eastern nation for the strength of their response.

The suspensions form part of the latest match fixing scandal to come to light in the wake of Europol’s investigation into match fixing, which uncovered suspicious activity relating to 680 matches worldwide.

Seyed Hadi Aghili , Team Melli’s central defender , strongly denied the press reports and accusations that he has left Team Melli camp on the eve of the match against Lebanon. Aghili was absent from the team roster in last Wednesday which was the first  match of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers.

Aghili said that he did not leave the Team Melli camp and the hotel without permission , however he declined to go into details and admitted that he should have had the proper authorization before leaving the hotel.

Aghili was speaking from Qatar on the phone in the highly popular “Navad” TV show and stated that he will properly defend himself in person as talking on the phone in a TV show is not the proper means od doing so.

Tehran.

ISNA new agency reported that the date of the match between Kuwait and Iran in the Qualification rounds of AFC Asian Cup 2015 which is supposed to be held in Kuwait Al Kazma Stadium on the 22nd of March 2013 , has been put back to 26th March , four days later than scheduled.

ISNA is quoting kooora.com Arabic website , which in turn is quoting Mohsen Al Enazi , an official in the Kuwait Football federation saying that Kuwait FA received a request from its Iranian counterpart requesting such delay because of Nowrooz Holidays in Iran !!!

This sounds like a highly unusual request by IRIFF  especially since the match is held in Kuwait , which itself celebrates its national day on 25th February.  There was no confirmation from AFC on this. teammelli.com is pursuing the matter for confirmation.

 

 

Tehran.

Team Melli and Qatar FC central defender is facing a long term ban after he unceremoniously left the Team Melli camp, without the approval of the management just before the match against Lebanon on Wednesday.

The reason for his departure is unclear although it is suspected to be related to his status as a starter in the team and the preference by Carlos Queiroz for other defender to start the match against Lebanon. Aghili has not been selected for the Team Melli squad in the last few matches. Although he was absent from Team Melli , he refrained to publicly criticize the coach for not selecting him and insisted that he will work harder and play better to regain his place in the national team.

In a statement to the press after the Lebanon match , where Team Melli comprehensively defeated Lebanon 5-0 , Ali Kaffashian , the head of IRIFF indicated that Aghili might be off Team Melli permanently for such a move. He said that such attitude cannot be tolerated with players who are supposed to be at the service of their country regardless to what grievances they have against the federation or Team management personnel.

In a separate statement today , Esmael Hassanzadeh , the head of the disciplinary committee of the IRIFF has said that his committee has not yet received an official request to investigate Aghili’s misdemeanor. He explained that there are certain procedures to be adhered to and both parties need to give their own version of events before a final judgment would be issued.

Hassanzadeh , said that the normal ruling in cases of players refusing to train or take part in the Team Melli matches upon the request of the coach , may result in a life ban on the activity of that player at domestic level. Asked whether such domestic ban will affect a affect a footballer playing outside Iran such as Hadi Aghili, Hassanzadeh confirmed that the ban is domestic only as the IRIFF has no jurisdiction on other countries, however he said that if a player is banned in his own country then obliviously the football federation will not issue the ITC that is required by international football regulation to allow him playing in a foreign country. In the case a footballer already playing abroad and his ITC has been issued , such as the case with Hadi Aghili playing for Qatar FC,  there is no such restriction to play for a foreign club.

Hadi Aghili has played for Iran 69 times and scored 10 goals in his career for Team Melli. The number of goals he scored as a defender puts him at the top list of defenders scoring list for Team Melli.

Tehran – Azadi Stadium

Team Melli defeated Lebanon 5-0 in Azadi Stadium in the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers Group B. The result was a swift revenge for the match in Beirut where Iran lost the match 1-0 in the WC Qualifiers.

Javad Nekounam scored a hat trick while Ghoochanejad helped himself with a brace. in a match that  Team Melli controlled from the start of the match . The domination continued through the match except for short periods in both halves.

The European based players , played a major role in this victory with Ashkan Dejagah playing a mjor role in the match by assisting in three goals , two assists resulted in penalties scored by Captain Javad Nekounam , while the third was from his defense splitting and immaculate pass to Ghoochanejad. Masoud Shojaei assisted in Nekounam’s third goal with wonderful work on the right flank.

IRAN  vs, LEBANON    5 :0

AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifying rounds –

Group B

Azadi Stadium – Tehran

Scorers:

Reza GHOOCHANEJAD (25)
Javad NEKOUNAM (pen.) (45)
Javad NEKOUNAM (pen.) (60)
Reza GHOOCHANEJAD (61)
Javad NEKOUNAM (80)

 IRAN: Rahman AHMADI: Pejman MONTAZERI [68′ Mohammad NOSRATI], Mehrdad POOLADI, Jalal HOSSEINI, Khosrow HEYDARI, Andranik TEYMOURIAN,  Javad NEKOUNAM, Mojtaba JABBARI [ 71′ Yaghoub KARIMI] , Masoud SHOJAEI,   Reza GHOOCHANEJAD ,  Ashkan DEJAGAH  ( 78′  Mehrdad OULADI )

Yellow Cards: Pejman MONTAZERI (19)

 

The-AFC.com report

Tehran: Captain Javad Nekonam scored a hat-trick as three-time champions Iran opened their AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifying campaign in style with a 5-0 win over 10-man Lebanon in Tehran on Wednesday.

Standard Liege’s Reza Ghoochannejhad also netted twice at Azadi Stadium to open his international account as Iran gained revenge over Lebanon having lost last year’s FIFA World Cup qualifier 1-0 in Beirut.

With two teams from each group securing automatic qualification for the 2015 finals in Australia, Kuwait – who entertain Iran at the end of March- join Iran at the top of Group B after beating Thailand 3-1 in Bangkok.

“I appreciate the effort from my players; they kept fighting and never gave up. We were able to highlight the gap between Iranian and Lebanese football,” said Iran coach Carlos Queiroz.

“After we lost at home to Uzbekistan we needed to do something to relieve the pressure and we were able to beat Lebanon 5-0 which will alleviate the negative atmosphere.

“I opted to substitute Ashkan Dejagah and Reza Ghoochannejhad for two less experienced players as we had already achieved the result and I wanted to give the opportunity to some of the young players.”

Iran had to wait until midway through the first half to open the scoring as Mojtaba Jabari fed Ghoochannejhad for the Belgium-based striker to fire past Lebanon goalkeeper Abbas Hassan for his first international goal.

Anderanik Teymourian and Fulham midfielder Ashkan Dejagah both went close for Iran as the half progressed, with Hassan Maatouk creating Lebanon’s first real opportunity after 31 minutes.

But in first half stoppage time Iran finally doubled their lead as Nekonam converted from the penalty spot.

And Iran’s third arrived just after the hour mark as Nekonam again netted from 12 yards after Nour Mansour had been sent-off after picking up a second yellow card for a foul on the lively Dejagah inside the penalty area.

Ghoochannejhad’s second international goal extended the lead soon after as the striker converted from close range before Nekonam’s deflected strike with 10 minutes remaining sealed the win and his hat-trick.

“We didn’t travel here to win, a single point from the tie would have been enough, but the way the game played out caught me off guard,” said Lebanon coach Theo Bucker.

“We lost concentration after both penalties and we were unable to get it back.”