With just about 22 days to go to the defining match for Team Melli against South Korea , Carlos Queiroz, Team Melli’s coach is in dilemma after seeing many of his main players or those he has named in the squad, tumble in one way or another.

Perspolis Club of which the Portuguese coach has selected no less than 7 players in his squad (Karimi , Ghazi , Ansarifard , Nouri , Hosseini , Pooladi and Mahini) on regular basis and also has named Gholamreza Rezaei in this list whenever he was fit , is struggling near the end of the league table.

The most popular club in Iran , has been going through turmoil on and off the field with lackluster performances. On Sunday , they lost to the current champions Sepahan Esfahn by 2-0 to register their fourth losses in 9 matches while lingering at the bottom of the table one point away from the lowest ranked club, Zob Ahan. To add insult to injury, the star studded team has played the match against Sepahan without Ali Karimi , a player Queiroz has depended on so heavily in his line up in Team Melli. Karimi was dropped from the Perspolis squad by Coach Manuel Jose due to his poor form and disciplinary issues. Furthermore, the Portuguese coach of Perspolis also dropped Karim Ansarifard , another of Queiroz men , due to poor form. Ansarifard was the league top scorer last season with Saipa last season, but has scored one goal this season with Perspolis.

Outside of Iran, the Team Melli legionnaires did not fare much better either. Masoud Shojaei who has only recently recovered from a long term injury, yet used by Carlos Queiroz in the last two matches for Team Melli, did not even feature in the 18 man squad for Osasuna this weekend. The bottom team of the La Liga registered its fourth loss in 5 matches with 1 point only. Neither of the two performances of Masoud Shojaei was encouraging as the Osasuna man looked heavily lacking match practice and out of sync with his teammates.

The recently transferred Ashkan Dejagah , did not have much better luck with his team Fulham. The Ex-Wolfsburg player and undoubtedly one of the better current Team Melli players, was not included in Fulham’s 18 player squad for the visit to Wigan where the Londoners won the match 2-1.  With 9 points and a solid looking team, Dejagah will have a difficult time gaining a regular starting position in Martin Jol’s team thus being deprived of competitive match practice which is so crucial at international level.

Further closer to home, Teymourian and Aghli play in the QSL (Qatar Star League). Aghili was quite unfortunate when he was injured chasing a long ball which eventually resulted in a double whammy for him. Not only his slip cost his team a goal, he also injured his thigh in the process and will be off football for an estimated 1 month ruling him out of the Korea match.

Ando Teymourian who has also played his first official match for Al Kharitiyat , was not much luckier than his compatriot as his slip and misguided wayward header reached the opposition forward player who utilize the mistake by Team Melli midfielder and scored the only goal of the match.

 Such events does not augur well for the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz who has been heavily criticized for selecting players from weak performing teams or sticking to players regardless to their current form.  His selection of several players for Team Melli while they are not even in their club’s regulars or not even in the squad, has been a source of concern. With such sort of selection , it is no wonder that Team Melli has performed so poorly under Queiroz, as various experts have been quoted. Recently , even Ali Daei , a staunch supporter of Team Melli who has been rarely critical of the team spoke out at Queroz selections , yet the ex-Team Melli coach has demanded that the public support the team and the coach.

While the Football Federation has publically announced their support for Queiroz , it remains to be seen how long this support will last in the current football atmosphere and the tension around Team Melli. Ali Kaffashian , the beleaguered head of Iran’s football federation who himself is in the center of controversy and demands for his removal circulating in the league , has a track record of announcing strong support for a Team Melli coach, yet such verbal support did not prevent him firing the coach. This happened during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2010 when under fire Ali Daei was sacked after the home loss to Saudi Arabia despite the earlier declaration of total support by Kaffashian for Team Melli coach!!

After the series of poor results by Team Melli , the players have boycotted the media and none of them is willing to be interviewed or talk to the press citing unfair criticism of the players. Queiroz ,. Himself has also refrained from answering questions by the press and keeping a low profile. However, he has always maintained his stand that he and Team Melli needs full and unconditional support by everyone.

It remains to be seen what , if any , changes Queroz would do in the players’ selection after these hard times for the current squad and whether Karimi and Ansarifard would be selected again.

Last week , Iran’s national TV Legal Adviser accused the Singapore based World Sport Group of extortionate policy over the broadcast right of FIFA World Cup qualification matches. WSG is an Asian Football Federation partner and has the right to sell the matches under a long term agreement which includes Asian clubs competitions in addition to the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Gholamreza Rafiee, the jurisconsult of IRIB, discussed the recent problems between Iranian television and World Sport Group over buying broadcasting rights of Iran’s national football team in World Cup qualification matches. In the weekly popular program hosted by Adel Ferdowsipour , Rafiee accused the other side of ask far too much for broadcasting rights which is breaching international rules.

“Four years ago at the same time we paid $4 million to broadcast Team Melli matches in World Cup qualification. But now World Sport Group wants to charge us over $40 for the same service. We paid $7.5 to broadcast World Cup 2010 and we bought the London 2012 broadcasting right for only $1 million. World Sport Group is trying to swindle Asian countries for broadcasting World Cup qualification matches.” Said Gholamreza Rafiee during the live TV show watched by million of Iranian TV viewers.

“Lebanese television also didn’t buy the broadcasting right of the match between Iran and Lebanon. The same problem has occurred for South Korea.” Gholamreza Rafiee added.

World Sport Group angered many Asian football fans by increasing the price of the broadcasting rights for the AFC World Cup Qualifiers 2014.

Veteran journalist and soccer scholar James M. Dorsey has recently published a report about the controversial $1 billion contract between AFC and World Sport Group. Dorsey has revealed an unexplained payment of $14 million to Mr. Bin Hammam by one of the company’s shareholders. His statements are backed by formal and reliable documents. WSG has filed a complaint against the reporter in Singapore High Court.

WSG reacted to those accusations by sending a formal statement on this subject to Kabir News, in which  Shyamala Velappan, Communications Manager of WSG, said:

“World Sport Group strongly refutes the claims made by Mr. Gholamreza Rafiee in the media this week with regards to the cost of broadcast rights for the FIFA World Cup 2014 – AFC Qualifying Rounds.   The information Mr. Rafiee has presented is incorrect and misleading.   Firstly, the previous agreement to broadcast various AFC events for the period 2009 – 2012 was valued at US$4.5 million.  The broadcast rights fee which we are negotiating with IRIB for the new cycle is US$11 million for all AFC national team and club competitions, which consist of approximately 1,300 matches over a four year period, not just the FIFA World Cup 2014 AFC qualifying matches.  To put this figure into context, it represents only a tiny fraction of the rights fees being paid by other countries in the Middle-East for the same number of matches.”

Despite the refusal to pay for the broadcast rights, Iran’s national TV broadcast the 30 minutes delayed match by using Al Jazeera Sport TV signal.

WSG Nature of Business

Singapore-based World Sport Group is Asia’s leading sports marketing, media and event management company. WSG manages almost 600 days of sports events and produces more than 5000-hours of sports programming annually in 30+ countries across the region including the Barclays Singapore Open, AFC Asian Cup and AFF Suzuki Cup. It also owns the global media rights for the Indian Premier League and is a member of the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium.

Queiroz: I love this job

© AFP

Portuguese Carlos Queiroz is one of the most recognisable faces in world football thanks to his spells in charge of some of the most prestigious sides on the planet. Much praised for his work as right-hand man to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, he went on to coach Real Madrid and Portugal after leaving Old Trafford, and he is now focusing his talents on leading Iran to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.

FIFA.com met up with the respected tactician to discuss his brilliant career, which got off to a magnificent start when he led Portugal to consecutive triumphs at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1989 and 1991.

FIFA.com: Let’s start by discussing your role as Iran coach. How do you rate your side’s chances of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup?
Carlos Queiroz: The signs are promising, but I’m well placed to know that it’ll be very difficult to qualify directly. For me, the top two spots will be contested between Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Qatar. I have a lot of respect for Lebanon, who have what it takes to spring a few upsets and have a chance of finishing third.

What strategy have you adopted for the qualifying campaign? What will you ask of your players?
We know the qualifiers are difficult and that each match requires the best possible preparation. Since arriving in Iran, I’ve endeavoured to change the mentality of the players. I want them to understand that every game is important. All the teams are competitive and whoever you’re playing against, there are always three points at stake. They need to fight to win those three points, both at home and away. Beyond that, there’s always luck and other factors you can’t control. I would also point out that our schedule is tough. It’s a veritable obstacle course getting from one end of Asia to the other, and not every team has a private jet. I hope that changes because it’s a real hindrance for us.

Since arriving in Iran, I’ve endeavoured to change the mentality of the players. I want them to understand that every game is important.

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz

Turning back to your campaign with Portugal at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, how do you explain your side’s loss in the last 16?
Before that disappointment, we’d played a lot of games – a total of 21 in 2009 and 2010. We only lost the very last one, against Spain, who knocked us out of the competition before becoming world champions. Still, I’d also like to point out that we weren’t at our best. After a long season, we had to prepare in a hurry. Because of that, we lost players due to injury, such as Nani, on the eve of the competition. Others were just coming back and the rest of the team wasn’t at its highest level technically or physically. You only have to look at the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo, who usually shines at big events. That said, overall I’m satisfied with our campaign.

Portugal are always one of the favourites in major competitions but they have yet to win a world or European title. Why is that?
That’s the way football is. I think the major reasons have to do with resistance to change and a certain stagnation. We have a small country and our choices are limited. We need to strengthen our squad to find more solutions on the pitch. The final of EURO 2004, which we lost and will unfortunately never forget, was without doubt the high-water mark of a generation. Football is sometimes ungrateful towards the big teams. The Netherlands know all about that too as they’ve never won the World Cup.

What can you tell us about your experience at Real Madrid?
We suffered because of a bad policy on the part of the President, which consisted of selling players without addressing the technical needs of the team. He refused to listen to [former general manager Jorge] Valdano and me. The emphasis was placed on recruiting stars, which destabilised the squad, cost the club millions and led to the sacking of several coaches. I’m delighted with the policy of the President now, who listens to the coach and heeds advice. As a result, the club have won two important titles in the last two years.

My favourite moments are on the pitch, with the players.

Carlos Queiroz

What are your thoughts on the intense rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona and their stranglehold on Spanish football in the last few years?
They’re two radically different entities. Barcelona have great players like [Lionel] Messi, Xavi [Hernandez] and [Andres] Iniesta, who’ve allowed them to collect a lot of titles in the last few years – and in style too. Once Real rediscovered their identity, though, they were able to dominate Barcelona, thanks also to excellent players. I think they’re the best two teams around at the moment. Messi and Ronaldo are the kings of football. They’re exact opposites, but our sport needs them both. As a coach, you don’t want to come up against them, but that doesn’t stop you feeling treated every time you see them.

You served as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson, who recently oversaw his 1,000th match for Manchester United in just over a quarter of a century. Do you have a message for him to mark that occasion?
It’s difficult to talk about him. I’d say that whereas the rest of us each make up a small part of football, he embodies football because of his exceptional personality. He’s made from the same stuff as Pele, [Diego] Maradona, [Alfredo] Di Stefano and [Ferenc] Puskas. In football, there are men who inspire respect. When they walk into a stadium, you can’t help but applaud them – and Ferguson is one of them.

Lastly, you have coached at club and international level. Which do you prefer?
They’re two different jobs. I love the role of national coach at the start of a preparation phase or the start of a match, but I miss being a club coach during the long periods without any competitive activity. I love the day-to-day work, going to the stadium and leading training sessions. My favourite moments are on the pitch, with the players. It’s different with national teams as that requires another type of commitment. You’re working for the supporters of all the clubs, which is very difficult. You can go from heaven to hell in the space of one match. When you lose, you’re as low as it gets because the whole country holds it against you. That said, I don’t know why but I love this job.

Tehran: Iran came from a goal down to defeat a Laos side that made the AFC U-16 Championship hosts work hard for the 3-1 victory in their Group A opener on Saturday.

Anousay Noyvong stunned the hosts when he put the South East Asians one-up with just two minutes on the PAS Stadium clock but Iran quickly gained the ascendancy with Amirmohammad Mazloum bagging a brace with goals either side of a Seyedmajid Hosseini effort after his initial spot-kick had been saved.

Iran, champions in 2008 and runners-up in 2000 in Vietnam, where the clear favourites going into Saturday’s second Group A fixture following Kuwait’s 1-1 draw with Yemen, but remarkably it was Laos that took the lead after just two minutes played through midfielder Anousay Noyvong.

However, parity was restored in the 17th minute when Amirmohammad Mazloum equalised at the second time of asking after Vathana Keodouangdeth had saved his initial effort.

The luckless Laotian was beaten again two minutes later when Seyedmajid Hosseini drilled home the rebound after Vathana had blocked the Iran skipper’s 19th minute penalty, awarded after midfielder Mohammadreza Bazaj was fouled in the box.

Iran were in the ascendancy but couldn’t add to their tally in the remainder of the first-half but just two minutes after the interval Mazloum got his second and the tournament hosts third as Ali Doustimehr’s side continued to assert their authority.

Iran dominated possession and with 15 minutes remaining Saeid Ezatolahi’s bullet header drew a fine reflex save from Vathana before Sasan Jafari headed wide from the resultant corner.

The pattern of the game continued but the earlier exertions of the players started taking their toll with numerous misplaced passes and mistimed tackles as Iran emerged with the three points that took them to the top of the Group A table after the first round of matches.

Iran coach Ali Doustimehr : ” think that we have the potential to be champions of this tournament.”

  Ali Doustimehr is confident that the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship hosts will get better as the tournament goes on following their sluggish start in their 3-1 win over Laos on Saturday.

Iran went into the match as favourites but the two-time U16 champions made heavy weather of their Group A opener, with Laos taking a shock second minute lead through Anousay Noyvong before the hosts quickly gained the ascendancy with Amirmohammad Mazloum bagging a brace with goals either side of a Seyedmajid Hosseini effort after his initial spot-kick had been saved.

The early goal stunned the home crowd at the PAS Stadium but Doustimehr brushed off the early setback as part-and-parcel of the game.

“This is the excitement of football. We lost the early goal but we didn’t lose our concentration,” the Iran coach said at the post-match press conference.

“I said before that the game against Laos would be very tough as it is the first game and the first game of every tournament is always difficult.

“I must say sorry to all the supports and the media who came to the stadium because we didn’t play at the level of champions.

“But hopefully we will get better game by game and I think that we have the potential to be champions of this tournament.”

Laos gave a brave account of themselves despite being under the Iranian cosh for the majority of the match and despite citing a number of logistical setbacks that effected the build-up to their Group A opener Laos’ North Korean coach Han Hyung-il was magnanimous in defeat.

“Our players’ technique is not as good as the Iranians,” he admitted.

“Nobody wants to lose and we will do our best in the remaining two matches.”

Source: the-Afc.com

Cairo

In a surprise announcement from Cairo , Amer Hussain the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) acting president said on Friday in a statement to the daily Al Ahram that Egypt will be playing Iran in a venue in the UAE on 12th October. Egypt was scheduled to play against Brazil on that day , however , financial dispute has resulted in cancellation of that match , although Hussain mentioned that the reason for the cancellation of the Brazil match was the busy schedule of the South American team !

Al Ahram statement mentioned that Egypt will play against Iran on 12 October after their scheduled friendly against Brazil was cancelled,  The national team will face Iran on 12 October and Tunisia four days later in the United Arab Emirates,” Amer Hussein told Al-Ahram’s Arabic language sports website.

“The contracts for both games will be signed within two days,” he added.

Egypt will hold a training camp in the UAE next month as they prepare for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

There was no word of confirmation from Tehran on that news. Team Melli are supposed to meet North Korea in preparation for the crucial match against the South Koreans , however , after the loss to Lebanon , it is reported that Carlos Queiroz had cold feet about that match and murmurs of cancellation has been reported in the media.

The Egyptians have unilaterally canceled a match against Team Melli in 2008 due to political reasons. The Iranian Football Federation  said that it will complain to football world governing body FIFA over Egypt’s decision to cancel that  friendly match because of a controversial film.

“This is a political issue and we will mention to FIFA that the Egyptians are mixing political issues with sports.” the head of Iran’s Football Federation, Ali Kafashian was quoted as saying by the state run television news website.

Iranian coach  at the time of the scheduled match , Ali Daei told the ISNA news agency: “Whether we like it or not sport has become intertwined with politics and sport is being used as an instrument in the hands of politicians.”

The Egyptian Football Association said that the match, scheduled for August 20 in the United Arab Emirates, had been cancelled due to tensions over an Iranian film on the assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

The film, entitled “Assassination of a Pharaoh”, says Sadat was killed for signing the 1978 Camp David Accords that led to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the first by an Arab country.

“We have decided to cancel the match because of tensions in relations” between Cairo and Tehran following the airing of the documentary on the 1981 assassination, federation president Samir Zaher said.

“We have been in contact with the (Egyptian) foreign ministry during the last 10 days regarding the situation and we finally decided to cancel the match so it did not provoke in one way or another, further tensions,” he said.

Relations between Iran and Egypt have warmed after the fall of Hosny Mubark, with both countries signalling a willingness to restore ties.

The venue mentioned by the Egyptian for the match against Team Mellli is in itself an intriguing one as the United Arab Emirates cancelled a friendly match against the Islamic republic earlier this year  in a protest  against  a visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Tomb Bozorg and Tomb Kochik islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE to be their territory.

Tehran: Hosts Iran are kicking off their AFC U-16 Championship campaign against underdogs Laos at the PAS Stadium on Saturday but head coach Ali Doustimehr is wary about the unpredictable nature of the game when it comes down to the age category.

Meeting Laos, who are participating for the first time after the tournament was changed to U-16 from AFC U-17 Championship in 2008, would definitely give them more chances to collect all three points but Doustimehr is not seeing those three points in bag before kicking the ball.

“There are advantages and disadvantages of being hosts as the entire country is watching you closely and want you to lift the title. But it won’t be easy given the qualities of the opponents,” Doustimehr said during the pre-tournament press conference. “We are waiting for this time immediately after the qualifications and now it’s the time to show the people how much we have progressed,” he said.

Being the hosts, the Iran Football Federation has left no stone unturned by organizing and participating at various competitions over the months. According to Ali who led Iran to the title in 2008, Iran toured Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Abu Dhabi (to participate in a tournament), Georgia and Kazakhstan as part of their preparation. In Kazakhstan where they were up against six teams including four European countries they emerged winners.

As defending champions, Iran failed to progress through the group stages in 2010.

In a relatively balanced Group A, Kuwait and Yemen are other contenders who will face each other on Sunday. Kuwait also failed in the group stages like Iran in 2010 but this time around they are determined to progress further.

“Our aim is no different than other 15 countries who are here in Tehran,” Kuwait’s Serbian coach Goran Matkovic said. “We played a total of 11 matches in Egypt, Hungary and in Kuwait so we are prepared for this championship. On the top of that, we are also happy to rub shoulders with the best of Asia in this championship.

“We expect to play good football and produce results and will see what unfolds,” he added.
Matkovic’s counterpart Amin Alsunami rues the lack of preparation his team had but he stressed the quality of Yemen team.

“Our only preparation was Arab U-17 Championship apart from that unfortunately we did not compete in any friendly international,” said Alsunami. “But we have some promising footballers and I hope they will try their best to win matches,” he added.

Yemen were impressive in the Arab U-17 Championship held in Tunisia where they managed to progress in the semi-finals after winning their group matches against Algeria and Morocco.

Source: afc.com

Team Melli’s Central defender Hadi Aghili is reported to be suffering an injury that will keep him off the filed for over 4 weeks.

Hadi Aghili, who is a new signing for Qatar FC in the QSL ,  suffered a sudden injury in the match against Al Rayyan , as he raced to a long ball, allowing the Brazilian Nilmar to take advantage to find himself one on one with the Qater FC goalkeeper and scoring. Aghili had to leave the field with what turned to be a thigh muscle that will keep him out for around a month.

Becuse of this mishap , Team Melli will be facing Korean Rep without Aghili on October 16th in Azadi . Carlos Queiroz who has already changed the long standing central defense partnership of Aghili and Hosseini , by replacing the latter with Pejman Montazeri , is obliged to change his central backs again for the crucial match against the group leader and favorite Korea Rep.

On a positive note, Esteghlal’s influential midfielder Mojtba Jabbari has reported fully fit and resumed his training with the club. Jabbari , who has suffered several injuries in his career which has hindered his progress , is yet to feature for Esteghlal this season. It is not known if Queiroz will pick him for the Korea game so soon after recovering from a long lay off, although the Portuguese coach has a track record of doing so when he played Masoud Shojaei who had a much longer injury spell  than Jabbari, for the Lebanon match.

The Osasuna midfielder has not featured for his club in the La Liga. while playing in the World Cup 2014 qualifier , not even making the bench.

Iran is second in the group with 4 points with better goal difference than Qatar.

Tehran.

Ali DoustiMehr , Iran’s U16 coach has announced his final list of young players who form the squad that will be participating in the upcoming AFC U=16 Championship which will be held in Tehran starting September 22nd.

Iran will be playing in Group A along with Yemen , Kuwait and Laos.  Iran’s U16 team which won the Asian title in 2008 and were finalist in 2000 will open their campaign with a game against Laos on the 22nd.

The players will be starting their training in a closed camp set up at the Olympic hotel and will be camping there until the opening day of the tournament.

Iran team which defeated Japan 4-1 on July 13th in their friendly match played as part of the preparations for the upcoming AFC U-16 Championship 2012, is expected to be a strong contender for the title.

Mojtaba Moqtdaei, Ali Hazamy, Sassan Jafari Kia, Erfan Wejdany, Komeil Haghzadeh, Reza Karmla Cha’ab, Daniel KazimNia, Ali Rigi , Seyed Sajjad Seyed, Seyed Majid Hosseini, Amir Mohammad Mazloum, Ali Shojaei, Omid NoorAfkan, Mohammad Bazaj, Milad Da’ai, Amir Nasr Azadani, Keyvan Hashemi, Shervin Kazemi, Saeed Ezattolahei, Sadegh Moharrami, Parsa, Salimi, Abdolreza Zarei, Erfan Estakhri

In an exclusive interview with ISNA , Ali Kaffashian  admitted that Team Melli result has been a deep disappointment  for the Sport fans in Iran and accepted that the recent loss to Lebanon was on par with defeats against  Saudi Arabia at Azadi in the last World Cup campaign and the loss to Bahrain in the qualification for the 2002 World Cup.

The President of the Iranian Football Federation , however ,  distanced his administration from blame and the poor performance of Carlos Queiroz and his team!

Asked by the reporter if he accepts that the performance of the Team Melli in the recent months and particularly in the World Cup Qualifiers, has been dismal and unacceptable while other sports in Iran are delivering and achieving historic feats , particularly the best ever Olympics and Para-Olympics results in addition to the success of Iran’s Volleyball team , Kaffashian agreed and said that he definitely accepts that Iran’s football team results has been grossly disappointing for the fans and played substandard. Kafashian said  he realizes that the fans, experts ,administrators and even the players themselves are very disappointed by the loss against Lebanon which is as worst as the two famous losses against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. “This loss has hit us heavily and we are quite concerned with it. We have expressed our concern since the poor performance with Uzbekistan and Qatar but we really expected to get at least a good result against Lebanon. It was not to be.” The president of IRIFF said.

Kaffashian continued “These are defining moments , a loss or victory were equally important and defining. This loss is a heavy blow to us but at this stage we have no other option but to support the team and the coaching staff as much as we can.  Our objective is to make the fans happy and hence we have to work towards that.”

Asked about his own personal opinion why Team Melli is performing so poorly and below expectation, Kaffashian said that the coach has been with Team Melli for close to one and a half year. Queiroz  has been  fully supported and all provided with the resources available even it it meant pulling those resources  away from the clubs. The coach had ample time to watch the teams and select his own players and according to his own wishes , so , it is apparent that the complexion and the fabric of this team has major weaknesses.

 Kaffashian’s conclusion was that the clubs have not produced quality players to feed the National team. “ Years ago , the clubs provided good player and hence we had  good and successful Team Melli. Even if there was some negative  results , Team Melli played well , at least and that was the least the fans expected from Team Melli all the time , to play a good match.” “ However , this team is not doing so.  The core of the problem remains the weak supply by the clubs , failure to produce quality players , failure to raise and develop players from youth system which has ultimately  affected the performance and the output of our national team.”

Kaffashian’s  stressed that  Team Melli must bounce back and needs to deliver. A failure will be very harmful to our football and the first people who will suffer from such failure would be  the players themselves.

When quizzed about the role of the Football federation in all these failures, Kaffashian , said the federation has no real role in all this . According to him , the role of the federation is restricted to employ the best coach available. “Carlos Queiroz is now ranked no 15 in the world (!)  and first in Asia, whatever the coaching staff asked , we provided, including arranging of camps and friendly matches. All this support was despite the fact that the finances were tight at the federation but we have not stopped at anything for the sake of Team Melli. Our conscious is clear despite the fact that this team has not responded well and performed poorly.  “ Kaffashian said in his own defense.

DO you think that the situation now is beyond us and depended on others , Kaffashian expressed his concern that at this stage it looks like the destiny of Team Melli is more dependent on others rather than the teams own result. “ Yes , I think we are going to that direction , one more bad result , and that would probably be for certain that we have to wish for the others to fail ”

On the issue of that was recently discussed in the Iranian sport media demanding an apology from the football federation to the sport fans due to these series of poor results, Kaffashian categorically refused to provide any such apology and insisted that an apology will make no difference on the fate of the team.

Kaffashian denied any intention by the federation to interfere in Queroz job and that includes player’s selections, he said that the coach is responsible and accountable for the team and there is no need to impose anything on him by the federation.