Former national team coach believes the foundation of our football is in the hands of people who are alien to the sport. “That is the reason behind so much stuttering , delays and failures to complete simple tasks. At the end, it is our football that will suffer and ultimately it is our football that will be compromised.” Homayoun Shahrokhi said in a short interview with Khabar Varzeshi on Wednesday.

Shahrokhi was coach of Team Melli in 2003. While he was appointed as the Manager of Team Melli during the reign of Ivankovic including the World Cup 2006.

Q: Negotiations with Queiroz has protracted and it is taking far too long. What is your opinion in this matter?

This issue has turned into a joke, in the style of the classic Persian humor. Today, when you mention Team Melli and the coaching situation to any layman, he will only smile at you. When decision making people are alien to football, you should expect these things to occur. Once a coach is selected, it is the easiest job to put pen on paper to finalize the contract. Somehow this contract negotiation is turning into the Pythagorean Theorem. This is a sign of ill-preparation, and poor decision making by football federation officials. There could be some doubts and hesitancy and I suspect conflicting ideas and outside interference as well”.

Q: “What are the prospects for the upcoming and important AFC Asian Cup 2015 under such circumstances?”

“Since these gentlemen really hyped Team Melli during the World Cup, naturally the expectation of the fans has gone way up the scale. That expectation is a heavy burden on the shoulder of any coach.

However, if they eventually manage to get Querioz onboard and he continues as Team Melli coach, they already have two scenarios for him. If he wins the title, then he will be portrayed as a great coach . If he doesn’t and/or the results are poor, they will probably use the same old cliché, late preparation, time pressure, lack of resources and all those excuses that we have been accustomed to here in Iran.”