Tag: Habib Kashani

Habib Kashani quits as Omid Team Manager in protest.

Habib Kashani the former CEO of Persepolis club and the Manager of Omid Team has quit his job.

On his appointment for the highly demanding job after the Asian Games debacle, Kashani was in action quite quickly and managed to secure the services of Zlatko Kranjcar to coach the Omid team with the aim of taking the U23 team for the Olympics in Rio for the first time in 40 years. After completing all selection processes and formalities  Ali Kaffashian announced the news to the press that Kranjcar has been selected and approved by the federation’s Football Development & Technical Committee. However, only a day later Kaffashian suddenly had a change of heart. He claimed that there is one more filter to go through before signing the contract.

That filter was none other than the Ministry of Youth and Sports ,  notorious for interferences in the work of football federation. The Ministry has previously been a strong opponent of Queiroz contract extension and now it appears that Kranjcar is not a suitable coach for the Omid team, according to their own football expertise panel . The Ministry keeps denying direct involvement, but both the Minister Goudarzi and his deputy Sajjadi have been vocal and consistent in their ongoing interferences on the pretext of providing advice, read order, to the football federation. Such interferences are in direct violation of FIFA

Kashani has issued a long emotional public letter on  his resignation. He stated that he was not in need of or pursuing a job but was pursued by the federation for such a critical mission. With a 40 years absence being a black mark in Iran football heritage, Kashani had a national mission to answer, according to his letter.

“Although I believe that all the three organizations involved in the Omid Team, the FFIRI , The Ministry of youth and Sport and Iran Olympic Committee IOC,  are sincerely and diligently working towards the success of the team top break this 40 years absence, I correspondingly believe that the establishment of a Technical Committee in the Ministry of Youth and Sport that can over-rule the football federation , is a direct violation of the football law and interference in the running of an independent NGO. However , I still respect that committee’s decision if it was based on technicality and/or genuine valid reason.”

“Instead, an international coach with a pedigree and a resume of success in Iran and oversees is rejected based on non-footballing issues. This is totally unacceptable.”

“I still want to be a soldier and a servant for this country and in this respect, I shall resign my job to allow a suitable candidate who is capable of working with the trio of organization to achieve its goal of qualifying to the Rio Olympics Games.”

Barazay “Kranjcar is the perfect coach for Omid Team”

The Captain of Team Melli U-23 , known as the Omid Team , has spoken to ISNA about the aspirations and the prospects of the team.

Behnam Barazay , the current Rah Ahan player and the Captain of the U23 team , believes in strong preparation games ” unless we play against quality teams for our friendly games to get the big experience , I am afraid we will not be able to qualify for the Olympic Games.”

The young striker , is also confident that the Croat coach Zlatko Kranjcar is the best candidate for the Omid team ” He has coached at different levels, his record is quite good , he coached in Iran and his approach is professional. I believe he is the perfect coach for Omid Team.”

“Although many players prefer to work with Iranian coaches, and I am one of those players , as communication is easier , however a coach in the class of Kranjcar can make a big difference.” Barazay added.

Regarding the recent failures specifically in the Asian Games in Incheon, Barazay said ” The players were under tremendous stress after the Asian Games. In the Qatar camp , quite a lot of work was done on the psychological aspect but fear of losing still causes a lot of stress.”

About his own future career and whether he will follow his teammates Alireza Jahanbaksh and Sardar Azamoun in to Europe,  Barazay Did not want to think about that for the time being although he received an offer from an Arab team. ” All my concentration right now is on the form of my team Rah Ahan. I have  not succeeded in gaining the full confidence of Hamid Estili yet. My goal is to do that. I need to get it right here in Iran before thinking about abroad and becoming a legionnaires”

The situation with the appointment of Kranjcar took another weird twist when it was decided that a committee within the football federation will have to examine the Croat coach resume and give its seal of approval before the coach can be appointed. This development cam up aright after Ali Kaffashian and Habib Kashani confirmed the appointment of the ex-Sepahan Esfahan coach as the head coach of the Omid Team. Many observers are suspecting some interference by the Ministry of Sport who always claims that they have no role in appointing coaches for National Team , but in reality they exert pressure on the FFIRI and Kaffashian to pass their own candidates.

 

Behnam Barazay

Behnam Barazay

Kranjcar appointed as the head coach of Omid Team.

FFIRI has approved the appointment of the Croat Zlatko Kranjčar as the head coach of Omid Team (U23/Olympics) with immediate effect.

Mehr News Agency reported  at the meeting of the board of the FFIRI , the President Ali Kaffashian cleared the way for the coach Zlatko Kranjčar’s work to start immediately.

Fereydoun Esfahanian acting as a spokesman for the federation, confirmed the news to the media.

The selection of  Zlatko Kranjčar was expected as the terms were agreed with Kashani , who is the Manager of the Omid Team and the formality of board and President approval was obtained today.

As reported earlier , it seems that Carlos Queiroz has washed his hands completely from the Omid Team after his compatriot and close friend Vingada was fired from his job following the dreadful performance and result in the Asian Games. Although the federation officials have denied any rift between the two coaches, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. The fact is that when Kranjčar was the coach of Sepahan , he was very critical of Queiroz ways and his total focus on Team Melli plans without considering the interest of the clubs during the World Cup preparation program. Some accusations have been exchanged between the two , at least in the media. With the way that Queiroz have been operating , it is doubtful that he will forget such criticism so soon. He is not known to be kind to people who do not agree with him and does hold it against them. It will be interesting to see if the two can forget the past and work together.

Kranjčar has not publicly commented on the subject.

Kranjčar main goal is to qualify Iran’s U23 to the Rio Olympic Games 2016.

Team Melli U23 list announced for Qatar Tournament

FFIRI’s announced the list of 23 players selected for the International friendship tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Nearly half of the team members who played for the U23 team in the Asian Games have been dropped for this tournament including famous players such as Kaveh Rezaei , Mehdi Sharifi, Mohsen Mosallman, Morteza Pouraliganji , Shahriyar Shirvand , Yaghoub Karimi and  MohamadReza Khanzadeh. The performance of these players were quite appalling particularly in the humiliating defeat against Vietnam resulting in Iran not even qualifying from a 3 team group in Asian Games. MohamadReza Khanzadeh added insult to injury by being red carded after he pushed a Vietnamese player to the ground and escaped heavy sanction by AFC due to this disgraceful act.

Many new faces have been selected  for the squad from diverse places.  A young promising player like Darvishi who was born in Minab on the Persian Gulf shores made the list as well as unknown or unheard of names such as MohammadHossein PourAghaMalaki. As usual in the last few years , neither Persepolis nor Esteghlal provided any players for the Omid team (U23). The team will assemble in Tehran Azadi complex where they will be undergoing light training without the head coach Vingada. The Portuguese coach of the Olympic Team is out of the country and unable to return fearing being arrested for tax evasion. This is yet another anomaly of Iranian football.

It is not clear who will take charge of the training, although Mohammad Khakpour and Mehdi Tartar have been named as assistant coaches to Nelo Vingada. Habib Kashani , the ex-CEO of Persepolis club is currently the Team Manager.

 

List of Iran U-23 Squad

November 2014

Seq Player Name Club Birth date Post
1 Ali Karimi Sepahan 11-Feb-94 FW
2 Amir Abedzadeh Rah Ahan 26-Apr-93 GK
3 Aram Abbasi Saba Qom 13-Jul-94 MF
4 Arash Rezavand Naft Tehran 05-Oct-93 MF
5 Arsalan Mottahari Naft Tehran 10-Mar-93 MF
6 Ehsan Pahlavan Gostarish Foolad 25-Jun-93 MF
7 Farshid Esmaeili Fajr Sepasi 23-Feb-94 MF
8 Hojat Sedghi Mes Kerman 07-Feb-93 GK
9 Mehdi Mehdipour Rah Ahan 21-Mar-89 MF
10 Mehdi Torabi Saipa Alborz 10-Sep-94 FW
11 Milad Mohammadi Kashmarzi Nirooi Zamini 29-Sep-93 DF
12 MohamadReza Akhbari Saipa Alborz 15-Feb-93  
13 Mohammad Daneshgar Fajr Sepasi 20-Jan-94 MF
14 Mohammad Hossein Mordmand Sepahan 22-Jun-93 DF
15 Mohammad Sattari Rah Ahan 30-Oct-93  
16 MohammadAmin Darvishi Gostarish Foolad 20-May-93 DF
17 MohammadHossein Kanan Zadegan Persepolis 23-Mar-94 DF
18 MohammadHossein PourAghaMalaki      
19 Morteza AghaKhan Mahallati Peykan 05-Apr-93 DF
20 Roozbeh Chashmi Saba Qom 24-Jul-93 MF
21 Shahin Saghebi Tractorsazi Tabriz 45-Aug-93 FW
22 Vahid Haidariya Peykan 02-Jan-93 DF
23 Yusuf Vakya Foolad Khuzestan 30-Sep-91 DF