Former finalists Persepolis kicked out of Asian Champions League

By Michael Church

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Two-time Asian Champions League finalists Persepolis from Iran will not play in the 2022 edition after having their licenses to participate withdrawn, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Friday

Tehran-based Persepolis, who lost in both the 2018 and 2020 finals of Asia’s elite club competition, are one of three Iranian clubs to have had their licenses revoked.

Esteghlal, winners of the 1970 and 1991 Asian Club Championship — the forerunner to the Asian Champions League — and Gol Gohar Sirjan are the others.

“The ECB (Entry Control Body) determined that the three clubs had not satisfied all of the mandatory criteria … and, accordingly, should not have been granted licences to participate in the AFC Champions League 2022,” the AFC said.

Esteghlal, who were also kicked out of the 2007 edition for failing to submit their players’ list on time, had been due to feature in the qualifying rounds after a third-place finish in the Iranian league.

Gol Gohar Sirjan did not qualify for the competition but the sanction means they cannot be nominated as a replacement for either of the excluded teams.

Foolad have already secured their spot in the group phase after winning last season’s Hazfi Cup, Iran’s primary domestic knockout competition, while league runners-up Sepahan will play in the qualifiers.

The draw for the 2022 Asian Champions League will take place on Jan. 17.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal are the defending champions after they defeated Pohang Steelers from South Korea in the final in November.

 

 

Esteghlal, Persepolis and Gol Gohar are out of the AFC Champions League.

The professional status of three Iranian clubs Esteghlal, Persepolis, and Gol Gohar Sirjan was referred to the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee.

The Asian Football Confederation, after 20 inciting days for Iranian teams, finally decided to revoke the professional licenses of Esteghlal, Persepolis, and Gol Gohar Sirjan. As a result, these three teams, due to not obtaining a professional-grade A are prohibited from participation in Asian Club competitions. All three teams have already qualified for the AFC premier club competition, the AFC Champions League but the decision to revoke their professional licenses means they are banned from playing the next season’s edition.

The case of these three Iranian teams was also referred to the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee by the decision of this confederation, so that, if it so chooses, further actions regarding the issuance of professional licenses of these three teams in Iran can be made.

It was crystal clear that under the present rules and regulations of the AFC professional clubs’ requirements, the most popular teams in Iran and arguably in the whole of Asia, will not make the grade. Both Persepolis and Esteghlal are owned, controlled, and managed by the government, in itself a major drawback in maintaining their license as a professional club. There are loads of other reasons, including failure to regulate and control their finances, mounting debts, failure to produce balance sheets, legal cases against the clubs in FIFA committees and CAS plus failure to respect contracts of foreign players with non-payment and illegal reduction of wages being the main points.

The fact that both Persepolis and Esteghlal managed to operate for years in such shambolic status is a miracle, however, their luck has run out and Iran as a proud footballing nation has received a humiliation which we might not have heard the end of it yet.

Taremi would be available for selection against UAE & Iraq.

Team Melli will host Iraq and the UAE in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 22 qualifiers on 27thy January and 1st February in a bid to register its early qualification with a few games in hand.

According to Mojtaba Khorshidi, the Manager of the national team of Iran, the camp of Team Melli will start on January 24th with the presence of domestic league players, while the legionnaires will start joining the local players a day later. Khorshidi, who was speaking to reporters at the national teams’ camp on Tuesday, was asked about the possibility of Mehdi Taremi returning to the national team: “Taremi’s problem has been resolved and we will most probably experience his presence in the squad.”

Tarami was dropped out of the national team list for the games against Lebanon and Syria and was excluded from the training camp after the challenge on social media issued to the head coach Dragan Skocic, over the “tactics” of the Iranian players. “This issue has finally been solved with the mediation of the seniors” according to Khorshidi, “Taremi will also be present in the next camp of the national team.”

The head of the national football team also said in response to the rumors about the invitation of Ali Alipour, the Iranian striker of the Portuguese Maritimo football team: “I do not know. Our duty is to write to their clubs based on Skocic’s list, but Skocic has not yet arrived in Iran and has not provided a list. They should give us the list first and see if Ali Alipour is there or not. I am as ignorant as you are and this is the first time I have heard about it”

Mojtaba Khorshidi, did not explain how did he figure out Mehdi Taremi was on the list of invited players if according to him, none was provided by Skocic !!

Elementor #53687

ُSYRIA

IRAN

Last Match

Esteghlal & Persepolis on the brink of elimination from AFC Champions League.

The two most popular clubs in Iran Esteghlal and Persepolis football teams are on the verge of being eliminated from the 2022 AFC Champions League due to the non-compliance of their obligations to the Asian Football Confederation.

The AFC deadline for Esteghlal and Persepolis to resolve two major issues, joint ownership and tax debt, expires next Monday, and there is little hope that either club can resolve these issues given that the issue could not be resolved in almost 43 years olds. The seriousness of the matter has led Dariush Mostafavi, head of the Professional Licensing Appeals Committee, which is in fact one of the arms of the Asian Football Confederation and the AFC communication bridge between clubs and the Football Federation, to personally ask the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, to address these issues directly. Mostafavi also called on Ali Shamkhani, chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, to hold meetings to remove obstacles in front of the two teams and try to prevent their expulsion from the competition, handing over the two clubs administration and control to “their own people” who are “trusted”.

In a comprehensive interview that Dariush Mostafavi’s gave to Radio Varzesh on Thursday evening, the former Persepolis, Team Play player, and a former head of the Football Federation, FFIRI underlined that the expulsion of Esteghlal and Persepolis has nothing to do with the managers of the two clubs and the football federation, and more to do with the structure, administration, and ownership of the two clubs.

The AFC requires team participation in its competition to achieve professional status with licenses issued according to strict guidelines and bylaws. Neither Persepolis nor Esteghlal have earned the license and hence they are not qualified as professional clubs.

Esteghlal and Persepolis and both owned by the government of the Islamic Republic. Appointments are directly controlled by the Ministry of Youth & Sports. Both clubs were taken over by the government right after the revolution in 1979. As such one of the basic and essential requirements of a professional and independent club is lacking in such a scheme.

Government after the government promised the masses that these two clubs in a partisan football of Iran will be returned to the private sectors, on the strict condition that the owners pass through unclear criteria, Islamic competency, and be approved by the regime’s higher counsels. Apparently, in many decades, the government has not found a suitable company or a group of people deemed to be eligible to run Persepolis and Esteghlal!

Italy beats Iran futsal in the second match.

After the defeat in the first of the two friendlies matches in  Salsomaggiore Terme, the Italian national futsal team redeems itself in a big way by surviving a late challenge, in the match against the powerful Iran team, ranked seventh in the world.

Italy’s approach to the game was promising, so much so that in the middle of the first half  Gui, perfectly assisted by the usual Merlim unlocks the challenge with a flying torpedo. The second goal comes at a tight turning point, with the same Gui serving Caponigro who, as soon as he enters, invents a brilliant backheel shot that is worth doubling. 2-0 for Italy.  For the Feldi Eboli player, it is the first goal with the Italian national team shirt. The first half of the Bellarte team was at the limits of perfection, but Iran is a great team and in the final minutes manages to equalize the match from the double of the regular scorer Abbasi.

In the second half, however, it is still a great Italfutsal, with Bellarte playing the wild card Berthod: the Goalkeeper of the Under 19 plays with a great personality in the second half. In the fifth minute, Nicolodi finishes a super action of Musumeci to put Italy ahead 3-2, then right from the feet of Berthod the maneuver of the new double advantage is born. The Aosta goalkeeper throws with a perfect assist, for De Oliveira who pushes the ball into the net. The score is now 4-2 for Italy which tries to control the pace of the game, but Iran activates the powerplay movement, always managing with Abbasi to bring the score back to 4-3. That was a warning that Iran was on the brink of a comeback. Merlim and his teammates defended with the grit of their teeth until the final whistle, taking home a sweet-tasting victory in the last outing before focusing on Euro 2022.

ITALY-IRAN 4-3 (2-2 p.t.)
ITALY : Pietrangelo, Murilo, Fortini, Merlim, De Oliveira, Nicolodi, Caponigro, Musumeci, De Matos, Gui, Arillo, Stringari, Podda, Berthod, Molitierno.

Coach: Massimiliano Bellarte

IRAN: Sepehr Mohammadi, AliAsghar Hassanzadeh, Hossein Tayyebi, Mehdi Karimi, Alireza Rafeipour, Hossein Derakhshani, Jamedi, Moslem Oladghobad, Ahmad Abbasi, Mohammad Shajari, Shavardazi, Salar Aghapour, Bagher Mohammadi.

Coach: Nazem Al-Sharia

GOALS: 9’06” p.t. Gui (IT), 11’02” Caponigro (IT), 19’00” and 19’49” Abbasi (IR), 5’06” s.t. Nicolodi (IT), 8’14” De Oliveira (IT), 16’12”

Abbasi (IR)

Yellow cards: Murilo (IT), Arillo (IT)

NOTES: al 12’03” s.t. Merlim (IT) fails a free throw

REFEREES: Dario Pezzuto (ITA), Giulia Colombin (ITA), Simone Zanfino (ITA) CRONO: Giovanni Zannola (ITA)

Iran defeats Italy 6-4 in a friendly futsal international.

the Iranian national futsal team defeated Italy 6-4 today Monday in the first international friendly training match. In this game, which was held at 20:45 (Tehran time) in Salsomajore, Mehdi Karimi (three times), Mohammad Shajari, Hossein Tayyebi, and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi scored for Iran. The goals of the host team were also scored by Alex Merlim, Gabriel Motta, De Matheos, Morillo.

In the first of the two friendlies with Italy, missing Mammarella due to injury and on the day of the 100th appearances of Alex Merlim’s the host Italy, lost 4-6 at the end of a challenge of rare intensity against the seventh-ranked team in the Wolrd, Iran. Spectacular and fun game, with many reversals of results. First half – Iran, looking ready and strong immediately put the Azzurri under pressure; after just one minute and forty seconds, Karimi unlocked the Italian goal by overcoming Molitierno for 1-0.

Mehdi Karimi

– MEHDI KARIMI –

Molitierno had to drop the shutter on a couple of other occasions, and Iran found the way to double the score, bagging again with Karimi the net of 2-0 at the thirteenth. In the most difficult moment of the first half, Murilo gets a penalty kick that Merlim converts the Penalty kick for 1-2 which puts Italy back in the game. Iran puts fierce pressure on the possession of Merlim and his comrades, but it has the only demerit of charging itself with fouls. Two minutes before half-time, with Nazem Al-Sharia’s team in bonus, Motta took advantage of the free throw and scored the equalizer. Thirty seconds later, Musumeci provoked the direct red of the Iran keeper Bagher Mohammadi, but Merlim did not take advantage of the following free. Like the extra man, however, Merlim redeems himself by creating the assist for Cainan: the goal of the Azzurri put them 3-2 with half a minute from the end of the first half.

Second half – The start of Iran’s recovery is sumptuous. Still, Karimi, with the personal hat-trick, puts the match back in parity after just seventy seconds and in the sixth, it is Shajari who creates the counter and scores.  with a goal behind (3-4) Italy suffers in the dribbling phase, with the Iranians continuing to put a suffocating defensive pressure. Bellarte’s team, however, has the strength to rebalance the challenge with Murilo’s touch under goal for 4-4 in the ninth minute. However, it is still Iran that scores by putting its head forward with Benfica star Hossein Tayyebi. Bellarte responded by immediately putting the goalkeeper in action for power play, but the hopes of a draw were shattered on the saves of the substitute Sepher Mohammadi and on the post hit by Motta 50 “from the end. Just on the counter Abbasi, taking advantage of the 5 vs 4, scores the definitive sixth for guests Iran (4-6) with an empty goal. For the Azzurri, however, a test of character against one of the strongest teams in the world.

Tomorrow the match between the two teams at 5 pm will be repeated in the same venue at the Palasport of Salsomaggiore Terme.

Italy is preparing for the Euro 2022 championship and the match against Iran will be the team’s last preparation game.

First “Nowruz Tournament” to be held in Iran.

The football federations of Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan reached an agreement after a meeting in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to expand cooperation, conduct appropriate training camps and arrange friendly matches between the member states. According to the deal, a tournament called “Nowruz” will be held from the next year 2022 with the permanent presence of four member states of CAFA. Also, the  Senior teams of each country will play in a competition on the occasion of Nowruz and in the days leading up to the celebration of the New Year, for a 4 side tournament.

Hassan Kamrani Far, Secretary-General of Iran’s Football Federation, who was representing Iran in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was appointed as the executive director of the first tournament, along with Asian refereeing veteran Roshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan. The period of holding the Nowruz 2022 tournament will be decided by the members of CAFA after further consultations.

The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is a subdivision of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) association of the football-playing nations in Central Asia. Its headquarters is in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and the President is Rustam Emomali from Tajikistan.

The member states of CAFA are Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.

Another Semi-Final heartbreak for Queiroz!

Carlos Quieroz experienced yet another heartbreak in the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup when his team, Egypt conceded an injury-time goal to lose 1-0 to Tunisia.

Queiroz lead Team Melli to two World Cups in Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018. He was also the head coach in the two editions of AFC Asian Cups 2015 & 2019 and was on the brink of making the final of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in UAE before losing heavily to Japan in his last match as the head coach of Team Melli. Queiroz and Iran were denied the trophy that eluded team Melli for over 40 years. On the other hand, this loss to Tunisia in Doha was yet another setback for the veteran coach who does not seem to make it to the finals nor win trophies.

The match which was refereed by Iranian Alireza Faghani was a sell-out.

Faghani whistled for a penalty in the second half for Tunisia, however, after he reviewed the VAR, he changed his decision and canceled the penalty.

Faghani, who was given the tough task of refereeing this highly sensitive and volatile match, succeeded in controlling the match while awarding a yellow card for Carlos Queiroz for continuous encroachments. The Portuguese coach of Egypt continued his bickering even after the yellow card which saw the no-nonsense Faghani return back to Queiroz to give him the last warning pointing to the stand, a place that Queiroz would have ended up if he did not shut his mouth.

Carlos Queiroz will now have the tough task of taking Egypt to the World Cup 2022.

12 years later it is confirmed that Ahmadinejad fired Ali Daei!

 in April 2009, after  Team Melli’s defeat against Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010  qualifiers, it was suddenly announced that Ali Daei, the head coach of the Team, had been fired. The dismissal came while the Iranian team still had a good chance to advance to the World Cup, but with the dismissal of Daei and the presence of Afshin Ghotbi, Team Melli finally failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa and experienced a major setback.

Daei had repeatedly stated after the incident that his dismissal had nothing to do with the Football Federation and that institutions higher than the federation had decided to fire him. Although this claim was initially denied by the then president of the Football Federation, Ali Kafashian, over time, various interviews with federation officials and members of the national team at the time confirmes Daei’s claims.

However, today, Saturday, Mohammad Akhundi, who was the spokesman for the Physical Education Organization at the time, confirmed that the dismissal of Ali Daei, was a decision taken by the office of the Presidency and in particular the president himself (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).

In this regard, Akhundi said “this decision was taken and announced in the presidential palace. They called me to announce the news, but I said that it was the responsibility of other people and the football federation to do so and not the PEO.” He added: “We refused to announce the dismissal of Ali Daei in the Physical Education Organization.”

The former spokesman for the Physical Education Organization, who was a guest in a radio program, was asked “Is it true that Ahmadinejad took that decision on his own?” He said: “What I know unofficially is that the President himself made this decision, but officially it came from the presidential Palace!. The justification for Daei’s dismissal was the pressure of public opinion, those around the group concluded that Ali was not to continue.

Akhundi was asked if Ali Daei’s dismissal was due to the fact that he did not allow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to enter the locker room between the two halves of the Iran-Saudi game: “I have no information about this.” A former spokesman for the Physical Education Organization said: “That change (dismissal of Ali Daei) was wrong. If Daei continued, we would have probably qualified to the World Cup.”