A panic has ensued in the corridors of power in Persepolis club as possibilities of Persepolis Club seizing activities has surfaced as result of financial difficulties and default on payments.
Persepolis , like Esteghlal, the two most popular clubs in Iran by far , are owned and run by the government. Both have been facing financial difficulties for many years. Although the government has been tolerant with the clubs demands , in the recent years and especially under the general difficult economical situation of Iran , the government has been reluctant to bankroll their activities, accusing the clubs of failing to generate revenues and operate within a reasonable budget. Although the government has promised for decades to privatize the two clubs, it has failed time and again to stand by its promise. The most obvious and clear calls to privatize the clubs came during the reign of the ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who during his two terms has strongly promised to act upon the privatization , but he left the office without delivering on that promise.
In a series of developments , an official from the government’s Finance Ministry has recently declared that “the country cannot keep pouring money into the two Tehrani clubs who have failed for years to generate a sizable revenue to sustain their operation.” According to government official , both clubs situation are getting worse every year with Persepolis facing several court cases due to failing to honor their financial commitments and contractual obligations. Following the public outcry and demand for investigation fueled by the refusal of Persepolis players to train , the government has sent auditors to Persepolis club. Question of mismanagement , misappropriation of funds and corruption has been previously raised by some members of parliament who pressed the government to act much positively this time. The other motive for the audit was to check on the level of debts. The recently departed club CEO , Mohammad Rouyanian , has publicly announced that he left the club with an equivalent of US$ 2 million in debts , but the auditors have discovered that the actual debts of Persepolis, arguably the most highly supported club in Iran , is far higher that what the ex-CEO has claimed and is more like US$ 25 million and getting worse. This figure, which has not been officially confirmed by the auditors nevertheless, conveniently leaked , is sending shock waves in the entire Persepolis organization and slowly reaching its large fan bases in Iran and abroad.
While Persepolis player have gone on strike by refusing to train as the result of non-payment of their wages, Ali Parvin , the recently appointed Chairman of Persepolis, did not inject much confidence when he announced in public and private , that he is not promising anything to anyone and has no solution for the financial difficulties of the club!. With such a statement and the discovery of the larger than expected debts of Persepolis , the situation has reached a critical stage. The bleak situation has lead to rumors of club defaulting on payments to staff and suppliers and hence announcing bankruptcy. The situation will prevent the club from completing its last 4 matches in the league, especially the matches away from Tehran. The only possibility for Persepolis to recover from such a dire situation is a government bail out.
With only a few months left to the World Cup , there is some hope that the government might find the will to help the struggling club, as a face saving exercise. However , this same government has failed to properly support Team Melli program and inject funds in FFIRI despite all the public support and statements by the ministers and government officials , so what are the chances that Persepolis will be bailed out?
For the good of football in Iran and Team Melli , we hope that a quick solution is reached , else Persepolis and most probably Esteghlal , might seize to exist in this form. The clubs could be disbanded and re-formed into a new entity and very possibly with a new names.