Although Carlos Queiroz is officially under the employment of FFIRI until the end of July when his contract runs out , The jet-setter Portuguese coach has not been seen in Tehran except when he had to meet Kaffashian for contract negotiation. Queiroz , preferring the be in Dubai, continued negotiation with several football federations in pursue of the highest bidder for his services. The only two main contenders who showed real interest were South Africa and Iran , although an unnamed African country has been rumored to be on line as well.

The news from Johannesburg today has revealed that the South African Football Federation, has practically pulled out of the race as SAFF is not willing to pay the asking price of the Portuguese coach. The demand of nearly US$ 200,000 a month is four times the pay of the South African National Team’s last coach. SAFF President Danny Jordaan reportedly favors Queiroz, but has vowed not to become entangled in a bidding war.

“If Queiroz is unavailable, there are other candidates,” he told reporters. “We will not become involved in a bidding war.”

A wise man indeed.

That means in effect , that the South Africans have withdrawn from the race to recruit the ex-Real Madrid and Portugal coach, leaving Iran’s FFIRI as the only serious offer on the table.

Queiroz has cleverly managed to up the ante and negotiate his asking price with the Iranians. But , financial terms were not his only victory against Kaffashian and FFIRI management. Queiroz has practically turned down all the conditions that Kaffashian has mandated upon Queiroz in order to renew the contract. Under pressure from his peers and the football league, Kaffashian was forced to impose several conditions and went publicly announcing them to the media.

Not only Queiroz refused to be report or even be questioned by the so-called , Technical and Football Development Committee, he also objected to FFIRI nominating a Team Melli Manager as Queiroz wants his candidate to be appointed. The Portuguese coach wants full control of the teams Friendly matches schedules and concession with other teams, and full control of Training camp programs from scheduling to selecting sites and negotiations. There is also no accord on the appointment of two Iranian assistant coaches, as Queiroz insists that he will hand-pick the ones he wishes to work with rather than his accepting his paymasters nominees.

Although Queiroz has not turned out to be a master tactician on the football pitch with Team Melli , not to mention with the other teams he coached, he has proved to be a shrewd negotiator and master of self-promotion. He practically defeated Kaffashian by default, in itself not a major accomplishment , as his opposite number is not known to be a master of anything , but for his clever skills in negotiation , persistence, stubbornness , he does, perhaps, deserves what he originally wanted.

It seems that all that talk by Queiroz about not willing to come back to Iran because the Iranian government is not fully committed to support football, was simply rhetoric and a smoke screen to pressure his paymasters. It seems to have worked well , disregarding the ethical part of the equation , The Portuguese is on his way to sign a brand new lucrative contract worth US2.5 million in hard currency and laughing all the way to the bank.

Good luck to him , if he finally puts pen on paper and signs by the end of the month. On the bright side, Queiroz’s appointment will, hopefully, activate the preparation program for the upcoming AFC Asian 2015 which is 5 months away and Team Melli , as always , is falling behind schedule.