Tag: Mehdi Taj

Rogério De Sa waits on Iran’s FA to see if he and Queiroz still have a job

Rogério De Sa’s future with the Iran national team is hanging in the balance and he says he will resume talks with the federation after the festive break.

The former Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits coach is back in South Africa from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

De Sa was Iran coach Carlos Queiroz’s assistant and their collaboration did not yield the required results of getting the team to the knockout stages for the first time in the country’s history. Team Melli lost 6-2 against England, beat Wales 2-0 and lost 1-0 against the US to end third in Group B.

De Sa and Queiros have Mozambican parentage and have worked together for some time. Earlier this year, they took Egypt to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where the Pharaohs, led by Liverpool talisman Mo Salah, were defeated by Sadio Mane-led Senegal.

Twelve years ago, the duo coached a star-studded Portugal at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“We are not sure about our future with the Iran national team but we will resume our talks with the federation in January. We hope to continue with the team next year,” De Sa said.

De Sa has already started working as an analyst on the pay-channel SuperSport’s World Cup panel. “After the World Cup, I will go on holiday for the rest of December,” he said.

Queiroz and De Sa only took over Iran in early September, replacing Croatian Dragan Skočić after Mehdi Taj was elected as Iranian FA president in October, returning to the position he held from 2016 to 2019. The South African assistant coach was quite confident of Iran reaching the knockout stages after a friendly 1-0 win against Uruguay

“But we are confident about reaching the knockout stages — that will be history, it will be for the first time Iran achieved that. In the last two World Cups, they came very close. We can only try again. But there is an amazing fighting spirit in the team. There are good attitudes in this team, no stars.”

De Sa said the limited time they had with the team, and a tough group always made for an uphill battle in Qatar. De Sa said the same thing about Egypt in the African Nations Cup.

“We were drawn into a very difficult group and our players were always going to find it very tough. We also did not have enough time because some of our players were arriving days before the games started.

“It was a different World Cup with so many different dynamics compared to other tournaments. Our team was made up of mostly local players, but it was an important learning experience for the boys playing against England’s superstars they see in the English Premier League, the stars of the US, and against players such as Gareth Bale [of Wales].

“We wanted to make history by qualifying for the knockout stage but we could not get over the line. It is very humid and the tempo of the matches is dropping [in the latter stages of the tournament]. There is air-conditioning at the stadiums but it is only switched on during matches. Some players are going to start struggling and that’s when you start seeing the big boys coming out on top.

 

Desperate FFIRI losing battle!

According to Mehr reporter, Dragan Skočić, the former head coach of Iran’s Team Melli, who was fired a few months before the World Cup, decided to confront FFIRI personnel following their slanders against him in the aftermath of Team Melli in the World Cup elimination. Those accusations were expressed by the vice president of the football federation, Mohhamadnabi on Friday.

For the first time since his departure, Skočić defended himself while harshly criticizing his successor, Mehdi Taj, and MohammadNabi,

In a hastily arranged, quirky, and clichéd response, the FFIRI while refuting Skocic’s statements (…), claimed that it will file a law suite against Skočić for defamation.

In the published statement of FFIRI, it was not clear which part of the Croat coach’s recent post, is false, libelous, or made to be harmful to FFIRI’s reputation, which a court of law can accept for such a case.

Skočić claimed that Nabi and his entourage were in contact with a certain group of Team Melli players before the elections of the Football Federation and lobbied them for support. It was the same group that had been in contact with Queiroz. This issue was brought up many times before by Mirshad Majdi, the acting head of the federation, as well as Hamid Estili, the head of the national team, and it was never denied, by Team Melli players, especially the supporters of Queiroz, who were mainly the senior players. The disgruntled players were subject to Skocic exclusion from the squad due to various reasons but mainly, an attempt by the Croat to introduce younger and more energetic players from the domestic league as replacements.

A smear campaign against Skočić started by spreading stories in several media outlets supporting the return of the former Team Melli coach, who has a track record of failure after failure not only with Iran but with Colombia and then Egypt. On the eve of the football federation elections, this shadowy group invited the members of the federation assembly to vote for Mehdi Taj to improve the conditions of the national team. Some unconfirmed stories of intimidation were published but quickly withdrawn after threats against the publishers. The group sought the support of Team Melli players.

In the end, it became clear that the senior players’ group was supporting the election of Taj, on the condition that Queiroz returns to Team Melli after the dismissal of Skocic, and of course, a guarantee that these old players are included in the squad participating in the World Cup.

Around the same time as these events, Carlos Queiroz, posted on his social media page a message that confirmed that he was fully aware of the situation in Iran, confirming contact(s) between Queiroz and his supporting players.  As such, such contacts as stated by Skocic is not a deniable or hidden issue that the Football Federation could use against Skocic to file a lawsuit!

In the post published by Skocic, he claimed that the Iranian national team was the oldest team present in the World Cup, which is easily proven based on statistics, and of course, the reason for the increase in the average age of the national team was the presence of older players who are, not accidentally, the proponents of Carlos Queiroz. To enhance his chances, Mehdi Taj and his aids, a group supported by the regime anyway, approached the Minister of Yout and Sports, Hamid Sajjadi, and claimed that the majority of Team Melli players and certainly the senior members are dissatisfied with Skocic while giving the minister several false and fabricated stories. Taj warned that time was critical, and his election will save Team Melli from humiliation in Qatar.

Sajjadi hardly bothered to research the issue meticulously or have his own audit or investigation, so he hastily approved the Taj’s plans and backed him fully to win the election. Since almost all the clubs are owned directly or indirectly by the government, it was not too difficult for the owners to demand their CEOs to vote for Taj.

It was quite predictable, that those players, such as Ehsan Hajsafi, Karim Ansarifard, Vahid Amiri, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, and Mehdi Taremi got rewarded for the efforts by being assured of a pace in the final list of Team Melli heading to Doha. With that list, Iran officially becomes the oldest team in its history present in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

In another part, Skocic addressed the members of the Federation by mentioning that they can enjoy the rewards and vehicles tax-free imports that they were awarded as a result of his efforts to assure Team Melli qualification. The reward officially announced by FFIRI specifically for qualifying for the World Cup, and naturally, this progress was guided by and achieved during Skocic’s coaching period, Therefore, this part of Skočić’s statement seems completely accurate and logical, and apparently cannot be denied by the Football Federation.

The former head coach of Team Melli also pointed out in another sarcasm that with the significant income he brought to the football federation (9 million dollars FIFA reward for qualifying for the World Cup), the officials of the federation can pay off the heavy debts resulting from their past bad deals and poor management. A veiled reference to the amount due to Marc Wilmots who was recruited by Mehdi Taj. That is, of course, an undeniable fact.

In other parts of Skocic’s post, issues such as players’ selection, trust in loyalty (towards the regime), and the lack of courage and bravery in the strategy of the game, are opinions on team issues that have already been discussed by many experts and veterans. Many experts and Iranian analysts have raised concerns similar to what Skočić mentioned. As such, these are not items that one party can file a lawsuit against.

In the end, the Football Federation should clearly and explicitly describe what it means by such accusations against Skočić instead of the issue of the clichéd statement against Skocic’s post and accusing the Croat of publishing lies and untrue statements. It is also prudent to mention how can these statements be prosecuted.

Dragan Skočić feeling of relief and pride after Croatia wins third place.

Croatia ended their World Cup campaign with the pride of claiming third place in a 2-1 win against Morocco, which marked the end of a journey but also promised a bright future, coach Zlatko Dalic said on Saturday.

Croatia, runners-up in 2018, prevailed with goals by Josko Gvardiol and Mislav Orsic to end their World Cup on a high as Luka Modric possibly bid farewell to the soccer extravaganza.

Croatia beat Brazil in the quarter-finals, but for Dalic, Saturday’s bronze medal game was the highlight of their tournament.

“It was a difficult, great match. I want to extend my congratulations to Morocco, they put up a great fight until the last minute, despite the fatigue.

“They can be proud, they remind me of us four years ago. We’re among the best teams in the world.”

Croatia can now look forward to the future with confidence.

“It’s the end of a cycle for us, the end of a journey. Tonight’s match and the win is the moment of the tournament for us,” said Dalic.

“Yes, this is the last World Cup for some of my players today due to their age. But we have young players in the team and it is great for Croatia,” he added, referring to  man of the match Josko Gvardiol, but also Lovro Majer and Borna Sosa.

“We have many of the players on the bench, too.”

Dalic, however, is still counting on his old guard for the Nations League and the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

“We would not have been that far without our older players. We have a great future, Croatia has nothing to fear. Is it the end of an era for a generation? Well, we still have the Nations League and the Euro qualifiers. All I know is that Croatia has a bright future.”

While the proud nation of only 3.8 million people is meager compared to the 9 million living in Tehran only, its football pedigree is something to be proud of. Finalist in the last tournament and third-place winner in the current 2022 edition, the Croats must be feeling elated and proud of their achievements. One person who was robbed of being a happy and proud man is non-other than Dragan Skočić. The Croat former head coach of Team Melli was unceremoniously removed from his post following the return of Mehdi Taj. After taking Iran to the World Cup finals, his reward was dismissal. The win for his country must at least have given Skočić some sense of justice and relief, while Mehdi Taj and his failed team are pondering what to do next, perhaps figure out a trick to reinstate the perpetual failure coach to ruin Iranian football again, this time in Asia Cup 2023.

Why does Carlos Queiroz not resign after failrues?

Republic of Korea’s Portuguese head coach resigned his post after the defeat against Brazil and the elimination from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in the round of 16.

It is not the first resignation of a kind for coaches present at the most important football event in the world. Before him, the head coaches of teams like Mexico, Uruguay, etc. also resigned after being eliminated from the tournament. The World Cup domain is an exceptional opportunity for coaches who have been able to develop as head coaches in this important international field.

There are many renowned coaches in the world who have never experienced the competition and the atmosphere of the  FIFA World Cup as the head coach of a national team. So, if a coach shows up at this sporting event, he likes to be seen. There is a lot of exposure and perks in taking part in the IFA World Cup.

However, the same coaches who have been in important football events for many years, when they experience defeat or failure in the world’s most prominent football arena, inevitably, have no choice but to step down and resign with courage and honor. Maybe resigning from a national team is not digestible for any of the famous coaches, but they have accepted that they no longer have room to stay. The Portuguese head coach of South Korea has been one of the brave coaches in this FIFA World Cup. After South Korea lost to Brazil in the knockout stage, he said he was going to leave. Portuguese Paulo Bento has been working as the head coach of the South Korean national team since 2018. Carlos Queiroz’s Compatriot resigned in order to maintain his dignity and respect in the eyes of Korean football players and fans. Because he knows that staying in South Korea after being eliminated from the Qatar World Cup will not bring him any benefits. After all, he failed to achieve anything of significance in the Korean star-studded team that has many famous players such as Son Heung Min.

But why doesn’t Carlos Queiroz follow suit and resign? His record is by far worst than Bento’s.

Doesn’t he realize that after experiencing three World Cups with Team Melli, he has failed to reach the next round, and doesn’t he comprehend that he can no longer be productive for Iranian football?

Paulo Bento knows that if he was supposed to accomplish special goals, he must have achieved them in these few days in the World Cup.

Queiroz has worked hard for Team Melli and there should be no doubt about it. We must realize that his strict disciplinarian approach and no-nonsense manner of players were a breath of fresh air in Iranian football. It was needed to put many players in their place. After all, he was supposed to be a prodigy of that famous strict Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson. His disciplinary style is now synonymous with his name in Iran.  The bucks stop there. His achievements in major tournaments for Iran are a big fat zero. To maintain dignity and respect, he should have resigned after the loss against the USA, in addition, it would have been quite prudent of him to apologize to the Iranian people for the failure to achieve expectations, just like his fellow compatriot Bento. However, Queiroz is not the type, and this in particular summarizes his character. A person who does not realize his shortfalls, never admits that he has failed and hence will never work to rectify and change. In management, that is the biggest drawback.

Carlos Queiroz’s failure in his plans and strategies, selection of old players who mostly warm the benches in Europe, insistence on piling up the defenses that crashed in the first match against England, his focus on short-term objectives, deficiency in forward planning, dearth of opportunities for promising young players, preference on players’ loyalty rather than suitability and many more other factors, has deemed this Portugues man as nothing more than a financial burden off the field and a failure on it.

Of course, there are others who blame a few players in Team Melli and Mehdi Taj for the untimely appointment of Carlos Queiroz. That school of that has its merits too as failure is the culmination of many facts, not just one.  However, this subject needs its own discussion and analysis.

it is the same old, same old Queiroz! a pentagon of failures.

Team Melli has just experienced its fifth major failure under Carlos Queiroz, meaning that the football federation, after spending billions of tomans (Millions of dollars) in the last 11 years, could not fulfill the two demands of the fans and people of Iran in football.

 11 years ago and when FFIRI decided to choose a renowned head coach for the national team to put an end to the failures and disappointments of Team Melli especially since Iran won the AFC Asian Cup three times in a row from 1968 to 1976, a feat not repeated until now by any nation. and also failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup, the leaders of the FFIRI did not imagine that even a 9-years tenure by a renowned coach,  still could not achieve anything of worth.

Carlos Queiroz was the option that the Football Federation chose to lead the national team in early 2010 based on analysis and research, as claimed! He was supposed to be the Messiah, able to break the spells of several decades of Iranian football failures and heartbreak. FFIRI objectives for Queiroz were clear and that would be to lead Team Melli into the knock-out rounds of the World Cup and win the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1976.  Two objectives had been set for Iranian football for years and the federation members spent millions of dollars to break these spells, but until today, they failed.

Qualification to the FIFA World Cup and winning thirds and fourth places in AFC Asian Cup were achieved by national coaches at a fraction of the cost of appointing Carlos Queiroz. In fact, Iranian coaches had a better performance than his team. Football Federation hired this Portuguese head coach at a very high cost that the FFIRI could not afford,  to break the two spells, but the 1-0 defeat against the United States was the end of the dream of qualification completing a pentagon of Queiroz’s failures with the Iranian national team.

Under Carlos Queiroz, In the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Team Melli had one draw and two defeats and was knocked out at the group stage.
In the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, the team experienced the same feat with one win, one loss, and one draw collecting 4 points.
Now,  in the FIFA World Cup Qatar  2022, the same thing repeated as Iran was knocked out with one win, two losses, and 3 points.

The Portuguese head coach was supposed to lead the Iranian national team to the title in the AFC Asian Cup, but during these competitions (2015 in Australia and 2019 in the UAE), when he was the head coach, Team Melli could not reach the finals with defeats against Iraq in the quarter-finals 2015 and loss to Japan in the semi-finals of AFC Cup 2019, and hence Iran completed its pentagon of failures under this Portuguese coach.

One of the criticisms that were leveled at Queiroz during this period is that he had a brute defensive mentality, commonly known as Park the Bus. It became synonymous with Queiroz and Team Melli quite unlike the Croatian coaches before him like Blazevic, Ivic, and Ivankovic who believed in offensive and attractive football.

While coaching Iran, Queiroz preferred strong defense detrimental to the offensive side. Whatever the coach’s playing strategy is, must be respected but ultimately he is responsible for the result. In Iran’s case, the defensive mentality of Queiroz failed to yield results.

In modern-day football and with so many advances in every angle of the game, it is rare that a coach survives that long in a team without achieving zilch.  Queiroz is unique perhaps an enigma. Why are they sticking to this man?

There is a logical reason, prepare a few for that. The first of which is the poor communication skills of the FFIRI, the nonexistence of quality international relations, and the twisted way that this federation is run. In Iran, the football federation is an extension of the government. It is an NGO by name only as the de facto leader of the federation is the Minister of Youth and Sports. It was the ministry that shouldered the coact of employing the highly expensive coach.

So, the failure of FFIRI is a natural extension of the failure of the government where loyalty rather than skills, intelligence, and suitability is the main requirement for appointment in every government-controlled organization.

Mehdi Taj has shown that he has a special faith in this coach because, despite past failures, he ludicrously went on to recruit the Portugues while the man who created a miracle that took Iran to the FIFA World Cup was fired with two months left! There was no logic and reasoning behind this but what it highlighted is the culture, or lack of it, of FFIRI leaders. A Culture of deceit, back-stabbing and immoral behavior.

FFIRI again in trouble with payments, this time it is Skocic.

Skocic’s financial burden is on the shoulders of the Football Federation

The president of the Football Federation has not yet managed to settle the severance pay that is due for the sacked Croat ex-Team Melli coach Dragan Skocic, Mehdi Taj promised Skocic that FFIRI will pay all his dues before he leaves Iran, but there were no settlements nor any payments.

Mehdi Taj decided to terminate Dragan Skocic’s contract after returning to the position of President of the Football Federation so that Carlos Queiroz can be recruited for Team Melli’s bench in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Taj is guilty of creating a catastrophic contract with Marc Wilmots, which caused Iranian football to be fined 3,325,000 euros plus a 5% per year delay fine, the heaviest case in FFIRI history .

When he was faced with demands of the Belgian coach to terminate his contract, Taj could not agree on terms with Wilmots. He even took two million euros in cash to Istanbul to pay off the Belgian who was by far the weakest foreign coach that Team Melli has had for decades but failed to satisfy the Belgian’s lawyers.

 After Taj’s proposals to settle with Wilmott failed, he returned to Tehran empty-handed. Conveniently, Taj resigned his post claiming ill health, thus avoiding the consequences of the FIFA fine and passing the torch to the next leader of FFIRI.

Now Taj is in another project that seems to be completely similar to what he had played with Wilmott, this time it is Skocic. Last Thursday, Dragan Skocic decided to leave Iran, even though he has not yet received his salary and other compensations, in order to partially satisfy the Croat who intended to return to Croatia in peace, Taj made some promises. The agreement reached shows that the former head coach of the Iranian national team is going to receive all his demands from the football federation before the start of the 2022 World Cup, but if this issue is not fulfilled, he will file a case against FFIRI with FIFA which will obviously include damages, delays, and other claims on top. FIFA also has an option to fine FFIRI for breaches of contract.

FFIRI responds to FIFA about Mashad incidents.

By the end of FIFA’s six-day deadline, the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI presented its defense in the case of the Iran-Lebanon match held in Mashad.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee on September 5th in a letter to the Iranian Football Federation demanded an explanation for the disorderly events of the match between Iran and Lebanon which was held in Mashhad. This match was the last game Iran played in the qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2022. As the spectators were entering the stadium, disturbances occurred outside Imam Reza stadium. The sole reason for the aggravations which were associated with some violent scenes were the security forces, who took it upon themselves to stop women from entering the stadium at the behest of some religious figures. There was no attempt by the FFIRI personnel to intervene. Some female spectators, most of whom held legitimate match tickets, were insulted and treated roughly by the security forces.

Social media was littered with such scenes.

FIFA had given Iran six days to respond to this case. According to Ehsan Usooli, today was the deadline for FFIRI, which felt the seriousness of the accusations and possible sanction by the world governing football body as a result. FFIRI sent its response on time and according to Mehdi Taj, the new head of FFIRI, the FIFA letter’s wording was somewhat worrying, and for this reason, we have officially corresponded with government officials from the presidency to the judiciary and the parliament asking the appropriate authorities to deal with the perpetrators of this incident in Mashad.

FFIRI has permitted the entry of females only after the government lifted the ban. The action of the security forces in Mashhad was not in line with the government and it was an individual act by the local commander that created those ugly scenes that harms Iran’s reputation.  The FFIRI letters to the government agencies have been attached to Iran’s response to prove to FIFA that the government and the federation of Football had no role in this disorder. Meanwhile, there is yet no official response from the government to FFIRI to indicate that any police or security personnel will be held accountable. Holding the government and especially security forces liable in Iran is a very rare occurrence and if it ever happens, it will definitely not be publicized.

FIFA has announced that this case will be heard on September 31. Some officials of the football federation, including the vice president of the football federation, have expressed concern about this case.

Although FFIRI was not the culprit in this case and has not acted in violation of the FIFA regulation, the fact that females, not only were stopped from entering but also treaded roughly by security forces, does not emblemish FFIRI. It does not form a good defense nor will it be considered a genuine justification as the violation has occurred in the country. With local government personnel or any individual local commanders acting as they please on this subject, it is difficult to predict if females will be allowed in the stadiums in various Iranian cities. FIFA also fears that freedom of access to stadiums by female fans will be selective rather than institutional and FFIRI will play its ignorance card.

 FIFA is expected to act harshly against Iran, although scenes of ladies in Azadi where cheering female fans made the headlines across the world, might reduce the intensity of FIFA’s action.

Mehdi Taj on the defensive in the press conference

The beleaguered Head of FFIRI acknowledged that many in the country oppose his return to the FFIRI and many more oppose Querioz’s return as head coach of Team Melli.

In the press conference after his re-election, the head of FFIRI talked about various issues, including his legal cases with the chance of prosecution and the state of Team Melli.  According to press reports, after the departure of Skocic who was replaced by Carlos Queiroz,

Mehdi Taj, in the press conference on Thursday at the national teams camp, started by defending himself against accusations and pending cases in the courts, some of which are serious in nature, filed against him in the judiciary. “I have been in management work for about 40 years and I have worked in different capacities. Whenever the Wilmots case is mentioned, they immediately shout corruption! This case is similar to the case of Branco Ivankovic, Stramaccioni, and Calderon, but the case of Wilmots is called, corruption comes to people’s minds.”

He also defended himself about alleged fraud cases in the Foulad Mobarakeh company “I was retired from Foulad Mobarakeh. My wages were 20 million tomans per month for three years. If anyone has any claims with documents against me then let him go ahead and publish them. A question was asked to the judiciary about my legal status last week and suddenly all the media wrote that the judiciary published all the crimes of Mehdi Taj, all that remained was to accuse me of murders and kidnappings! The only letter that was in fact sent to the judiciary was from the Secretary General’s inquiry from the prosecutor, who asked how many open cases I have, and they announced these three cases.”

Regarding the statements of parliamentarians, especially Ghazizadeh Hashemi, who has taken a special interest in the wrongdoing and fraud cases in football, Taj said: “The representative’s concern should not be only football. He can speak 100 times, 200 times or any amount he wishes on any network. At the end, It is the judiciary that decides each case. We did not know that he and Mr. Rastineh are so interested in football, but if they care so much, they should focus on the football of their own province. The whole parliament is not just about these two people, but we will answer any question that any member wants to ask.”

Taj went on to say: “These people have not talked about broadcasting rights, not even once. I believe that IRIB cannot afford to pay for football broadcasting rights. Secondly, some of our teams receive money from the government. I have prepared a plan which is FIFA and AFC models. We hope that one day we will have a team in Khorramabad and Kermanshah, not only in cities that only have factories. We hope that deprived provinces including Sistan and Baluchistan will have teams.”

“Instead of being hostile, the IRIB can work with the football federation and have a codified plan and work with this plan for years. The football development model is not very difficult. We can borrow, learn and respect all the laws of the country.”

Referring to Team Melli, he said: “Mr. Skocic is a very respectable and honorable coach. It was very difficult for me. I swear to God that it was difficult for me to remove Skocic. The coach was very calm and gentle. In the most difficult conditions, he took charge of our national team and managed to qualify to the World Cup in the most difficult of circumstances. Please raise your hats in his honor. I saw that the conditions of the national team and players were not good. I don’t want these issues to be opened. We came to the conclusion that if we change the head coach now, it will be in the country’s interest. Now they say that no one can guarantee that if we bring in Queiroz, we will get better results, but the history of Mr. Queiroz in our national team, the results obtained in the past, and the games that he has led the national team as he has been with the team for eight years make us believe this is the right appointment. We are heading to the right direction and have started a good path. It was easy for me to let Skocic stay and not accept responsibility. I could say that I did not leave him, but I removed Skocic for the sake of the country.

The appointment of Queiroz is for the benefit of the country,

Taj claimed ” I know that some seniors and veterans are totally against the selection of Queiroz and also against my own appointment for whatever reasons. I really kiss everyone’s hand out of respect for the national team and the country and out of respect for our beloved flag, and I ask for the country to support the national team in the current situation.”

“I believe that this choice is in the interest of the country. We qualified for the World Cup with Queiroz two times in a row. Those who claim that I have abused my power, let them come forward with proof. During the presidency of Mr. Ahmadinejad, they use to give the president a car, which I did not get. In these 13 years in the federation, I did not receive a single rial in salary. Publish the facts if there is anything. It is not a fact when a parliamentarian claims there is corruption in football.

Taj added: “Who does not have a case in the courts? It was easy for me to do nothing and let the national team go to the World Cup. Mr. President announced several times that he supports the national team financially. We signed a provisional contract with Queiroz, he receives 50,000 euros per month. He has 5 assistants, each of whom receives 30,000 euros. This contract is until the end of the World Cup, and of course, there is a possibility of extending it until the AFC Asian Cup. I thank Queiroz. Mehdi Taj said, “When the government supports the national team, why should we ask for health?” He said: In any case, I think the choice of Skocic was right. If according to many loved ones, it is wrong, they should support the growth of the country’s national team.

“I thank Hamid Estili.” when he was asked about the Team Melli manager’s resignation from his post: “I have not seen Estili’s resignation. I would like to thank him for his efforts during the supervision of the national team. Regarding Foulad Club’s opposition to Nekonam’s activity in the national team, Taj said: I hope that the problem of Nekonam will be solved, and I myself will consult to have Nekonam as a good coach and an investment for the future in the national team. This is the German model, where they leave some people with the national team to become the head coach. God willing, this will happen

The manager of Team Melli resigns.

Hamid Estili has submitted his resignation as the Manager of Iran’s National Team.

Estili’s resignation comes in the aftermath of the sacking of Dragan Skocic which he considered immoral and unethical while the Croat was under contract and busy preparing Team Melli for training camp in Austria. In a post on his social Media Page, Estili announced that he resigned from his post.

lPrEarlier on, Karim Bagheri, another member of Skocic’s technical staff and advisor to the coach, announced his departure from Team Melli coaching team. . Yesterday (Wednesday), Dragan Skocic was officially removed from his post by Mehdi Taj.

Mehdi Taj’s list of accusations are made public.

A list of accusations against Mehdi Taj, the president of the Football Federation, was announced.

 The Minister of Sports was quizzed about the reasons why the regulatory authorities including the judiciary, and the public prosecutor’s office have not publicly announced any affidavit or accusations against the 3 candidates for the FFIRI presidency before the elections.

According to the minister, there was in fact an immediate response from  Tehran Prosecutor’s Office when asked about the alleged accusations against all three candidates as the Public Prosecutor responded on the same day that the inquiry was sent.
According to the documents obtained, the Tehran prosecutor announced in an official letter on 24th August 2022, six days before the election of the FFIRI, that legal cases has been filed against all the 3 football candidates in the Tehran prosecutor’s office.

According to this report, Mehdi Taj was accused of abusing his job position, use of fake documents, creating a false report with the intention to mislead and falsify facts, illegally occupying state property, employing a person on the payroll of the federation (Haider Baharvand) against the law (barring the employment of retirees), illegal seizure of public funds, unauthorized seizure of financial resources (claims) of the Federation from the contracting companies and service providers,

Also, he was accused of negligence in dealing with public funds and misappropriation leading to the wastage in the amount of around 10 million Euro, destruction of state property, defrauding the country’s monetary and currency system, general fraud, false reporting, collusion in government contracts, forgery of official documents. These are all related to the contract of the former head coach of Iran’s football team (Wilmots).

Based on those accusations, a court case has been filed in the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office. A restraining order was issued by the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office for Mehdi Taj on the charges aforementioned.

The case related to Marc Wilmots is under further investigation as an additional report by the General Inspection Organization, an auditing authority, on the charge of embezzlement of public funds is still being finalized.

In this regard, some organizations, including the student mobilization of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences of Tehran University, have filed a case with the Head of the Judiciary, demanding that the Judiciary investigate Mehdi Taj.

At this stage, these are all accusations that the courts need to convene to issue verdicts. The Sports Minister did not comment on the clause that mandates that a candidate for the Presidency of the Football Federation must be free of all legal cases and not been accused or involved in any investigation including misappropriation of funds, a clause that has excluded various candidates from elections in various organizations and NGO’s.

Prior to the elections of the FFIRI, many media reports were confident that Mehdi Taj will not be cleared to run this election because of the list of accusations against him by various institutions and his violations of the rules while at the helm of the FFIRI. His premature exit from the federation when he was the head of FFIRI was a clever escape route to kill the investigations which would have found him guilty of several violations. His departure, however, only managed to delay the inevitable.

The allegation list is interesting as many of the items concern public funds that the government controls, confirming the generally held view that the FFIRI is just an extension of the government.