After a period of suspense, Esteghlal and Team Melli defender Pejman Montazeri eventually signed for Qatari Club “Umm Salal”.

Montazeri has declared his intention to leave Esteghlal after he grown tired of the club delaying payment of wages as a result of Esteghlal’s. While the Cheif Executive  financial problem. Montazeri was a number of many players who refused to train after exhausting all resources with the club to adhere to their terms of contract and timely payment of their wages. Chief Executive Fathollazadeh , through some clever maneuvering and promises managed to hold some players from leaving the club and continue training and playing , but it was just a matter of time for players to lose patience.

The long standing financial problem of Esteghlal disrupted several training sessions and threats of leaving the club from several players including the Captain, Javd Nekounam. The atmosphere created by the club;s failing to respect its financial commitment , threatened to disturb  the team’s harmony and its strong challenge for the title.

Montazeri , who had several offers from Qatar and China , eventually settled for “Umm Salal” and signed an 18 months contract believed to be worth US 1.5 million. Esteghlal would be receiving 20% of that amount according to Fathollazadeh.

Montazeri will be the third active Iranian player in the QSL alongside both of his former teammates, Fereydoon Zandi and Mojtaba Jabbari.both playing for Al Ahli club.

The 30 years old ex Foolad Khuzestan and Esteghlal defender , will be playing along several notable players in Umm Salal such as Brazilian forward, Cabore , natrualized Brazilan Qatari  Fábio César and the Autralian defender Saša Ognenovski  who is the captain of the team.