The President of FFIRI was quoted as saying that a proposal of a friendly against Italy and Team Melli is being studied. Ali Kaffashian confirmed that there is active study and negotiations to finalize a game between Team Melli and Italian National team hosted in Azadi stadium.

“The Italians demanded US$ 1.5 million for the match. We are currently studying a sponsorship deal, projected revenue and other aspects to see if we can cover the costs of the match. If that can be achieved, then we will definitely sign the contract and the match between Iran and Italy national teams will be on.”

Kaffashian was speaking in the aftermath of Iran’s failure to secure the hosting of the next Asian Cup tournament in 2019 which the AFC granted to the UAE.”I am sorry that I could not achieve this for our country. It would have been a great boost for Iran’s football. We tried our best, but we also need to admit that the conditions always favored the United Arab Emirates especially in the marketing and generating revenue aspects.”

Kaffashian said that the AFC executive committee has made its decision in favor of the UAE and we will be asking them why so as to note our weak points and work towards improving them for future bids.”

On the comment made by Queiroz expressing his bitter disappointment if the Chile match is cancelled, Kaffashian said “it true that the match is not finalized yet. We have asked for the contract to be sent to review it.  We are trying hard in order for the match to take place. I can confirm that there is some outstanding payment that needs to be settled to the agency and it has to be paid.”