Tag: Mehdi Taj

Less than 24 hours from his resignation, Shamsaei returns!

Nothing in Iran's football seems to work like the rest of the world. Nothing seems to be certain and the fans are becoming used to expecting the unexpected. In the series of comical acts, Vahid Shamsaei resigned from his post as the head coach of the national futsal team on Tuesday after Mehdi Taj was elected as the new president of the Football Federation. Shamsai openly and honestly announced that his vote in the election was Mirshad Majdi's rival Mehdi Taj, but he also said that he has no problem with Taj, Nabi, and Ghanbarzadeh and has great respect for them! His justification for resigning, Shamsaei said: "Because I saw the past events of futsal with my own eyes and I want that honor to be preserved, I am leaving. " The World leading futsal goalscorer had several disagreements with Taj during his presidency. After this decision, some board members of FFIRI made some calls to Shamsai and asked him to reconsider his resignation. Among those who called Mehdi Taj, the newly elected president and the reason behind the resignation. Somehow, Shamsaei withdrew his resignation in less than a day !! Shamsaei will be on Iran's bench in the AFC Futsal Cup 2022, which will be hosted by Kuwait in October. He will also travel to Thailand next week with the national team to participate in the country's preparatory tournament. Despite being a legendary figure in Iran's futsal, Shamsaei is also known for his fits of anger, sulky attitude, and bemoaning character. His personality and weakness in dealing with hardship could be the Achilles heel of this coach.

What does the election of Mehdi Taj means for Team Melli.

While the Iranian football circles are still stunned by the election of Mehdi Taj and many in the media believed he does not stand a chance of being approved due to legislation against him in courts and various other issues that deemed his candidacy as unlawful, Taj not only registered his name but also won. The ripples have already started.

As soon as he was announced as the new leader of FFIRI, Vahid Shamsaei resigned just a month before Iran's Futsal Team Melli starts its defense of the title. Soon after Shamsaei, Mostafa Nazari, the goalkeepers' coach also followed in resignation.

In Football's Team Melli, Vahid Hashemian has been rumored to contemplate the same action, while Dragan Skocic is once again on his toes on Team Melli's hot seat.

While Misrshad Majedi confirmed Skocic's position as head coach and he is still one of the biggest supporters, Mehdi Taj was rumored to be instrumental in the agitation moves and calls for the return of Carlos Queiroz. During the polarization of Team Melli in the last few weeks, Taj remained inconspicuous and tight-lipped about any issues related to the FFIRI, but it was no secret that he was active behind the scenes in driving the demands of Carlos Queiroz's to return to Team Melli.

Mehdi Taj has been active in Iran's football for decades and has a strong lobby too.  He is a man who went through many governmental posts in Esfahan province. His career progression is all through the regime's organizations. In football, he was the chairman of Sepahan for many years and was a strong leader who propelled the club from Esfahan to new heights including winning the league titles and reaching the AFC Champions League.

The election in FFIRI is nothing different than other elections in the rest of the country mainly the election of the President of the Republic. It is all well orchestrated and the results can be predictable. The formalities, the process, and the motions are all pre-determined and nicely engineered.

Taj's rap sheet and still pending issue with Marc Wilmots is perhaps his biggest shortfall. He has never been transparent about the contract, selection process, and the payments to the big failure Wilmots. As he did not play any role in the selection of Skocic, because he was out of action, he has no affinity for the Croat and much prefers to work with the devil he knows, namely Queiroz. However, time is the biggest factor that is against this union. Queiroz himself left Iran in distress and bitterness. He later accused and bad-mouth several people in Iran including the Ministry of Sports. He left very few friends in the country. One of those who was a victim of Queiroz onslaught was no one but Mehdi Taj himself.

The outspoken Portuguese is well aware of how politics works in Iran's football and he knows who has the keys. If Mehdi Taj comes calling and is seriously desperate, Queiroz contracts and other demands could be prohibitive or beyond the abilities of Taj.

There are players in Team Melli who supported Taj and will be happy to see him back at the helm of the federation, however, the man remains a polarizing and divisive figure. Undoubtedly, he has the strong backing of the regime and access to many government agencies and ministries. It remains to be seen whether he will use that support wisely to the benefit of football in general, or try to strengthen his grip on a shambolic federation that for decades has failed in achieving what football deserves.

A shock in Iran football. Mehdi Taj selected as head of FFIRI!

In the election of Iran's Football Federation which was held this morning, rank outsider Mehdi Taj managed to win the presidency of this federation with more than double the votes of the incumbent acting head  Mirshad Majedi.

The man that left the federation under a cloud of accusations, claims of corruption, and nepotism and was legally pursued by several entities managed to dodge all the legal obstacles to his nomination. Reservation on his candidacy by clubs, a horde of managers, coaches, and players were all to no avail as Taj registered his name as a candidate for the presidency and comfortably won the hot seat about three years after he left it in tatters.  Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem who replaced Taj was fired from the post after less than a year in FFIRI.

The elections of the Football Federation started on Tuesday morning. Mehdi Taj, Azizullah Mohammadi, and Mirshad Majdi were the candidates for the presidency of the Football Federation. On vote counting, Mehdi Taj won 50 votes. The current acting head of FFIRI  Mirshad Majedi received 25 votes while Azizullah Mohammadi got 4 votes only.

On May 7, 2016, the last occasion where Mehdi Taj contested the elections, he won with 50 votes out of a total of 73 votes received at the Football Federation Assembly. He resigned from his post on December 29th, 2019 claiming health issues and a mild heart attack.

The first reaction to Taj's return was the immediate resignation of the Head Coach of Team Melli's futsal team.

Vahid Shamsaei that is in the midst of preparing the Futsal team to defend its Asian title in Kuwait, submitted his resignation in protest. Close associates informed the press that Shamsaei refuses to work with Taj and be associated with anything that Taj is involved in.

Mehdi Taremi asks Vice President of Iran's son for a tax exemption for his luxury car.

Is there a problem with the involvement of politicians in the luxury car entry permit? The rebel group of players in the Team Melli camp led by Taremi has issued a public call on their social media pages demanding that the two most critical members of parliament cease interfering in football and Team Melli affairs!! It is believed that this group has the backing of former FFIRI head Mehdi Taj, who has allegedly promised his followers in Team Melli that he will rid Team Melli of Skocic if he is elected. While the statement lacks professional ethics and knowledge of how politics works, there is also a contradiction between the words and the deeds of those players, especially those supporting Mehdi Taj. Hassan Kamaranifar, hinted at this issue and demanded that players mind their own business and not interfere in what is not their job. In yesterday's statement by the players, parliamentarians and politicians have been asked to take care of people's livelihood and attend to economic problems and leave football in the hands of football players, but there is no problem if the same MPs authorize funds from the public coffer to the Team Melli Players! Some of these players had recently joined politicians to advance their personal gains. One of them is Mehdi Taremi himself who admitted in his last interview that he held a meeting with the Vice President's son to obtain a permit for the entry of his luxury cars without paying taxes and customs!! In the midst of all the economic and livelihood problems of the Iranians, with a large percentage of them earning in a year what Taremi and other European-based players earn in a week, they have the audacity to ask for tax exemption for their luxury cars. It seems that such intervention is fine.    

Shams calls for total detachment of FFIRI from government influence.

Hossein Shams, the former head coach of Iran's national futsal team defined the upcoming elections of the football federation as crucial and demanded full independence of the federation from political institutions.

"In my opinion, the head of the federation should be strong and independent and not a servant of the minister, pressure groups, or the parliamentarians. Don't let non-football personnel run the federation and do not allow decisions to be made by outsiders whose interests and objectives are not necessarily in tandem with the development and progress of football and futsal. Try to improve football and futsal yourself. He should not allow the interference of the minister, he should not let the parliamentarians and the Article 90 Commission make decisions for football, and he and his team alone should do all the work. "

"This football that we are witnessing now is the end result of continuous interference from outsiders that use all sorts of tactics to influence outcomes and systematically interfere in major decisions. The head of the football federation must be strong enough to withstand such pressure and be independent of the government and parliament. After all, this is the normal practice. This is the most important feature that a federation president should possess."

Regarding the possible competition between Azizullah Mohammadi, Mehdi Taj, and Mirshad Majdi for the presidency of the Football Federation, Shams said: "I have no idea if they have been vetted and approved yet. It has not yet been confirmed and none of these 3 have presented a plan that one could decide which one to choose. I believe that someone should be elected whose plans are practical and doable. Regrettably, as soon as they win the office, they have achieved their objective which is primarily to win recognition and hold the office of president. "

"History tells us that most of them do not fulfill any of their promises".

The football federation in Iran has historically suffered interference and pressure from the government with impunity. The fact that the federation is virtually bankrupt and depends a lot on government handouts, pressures the leadership of the FFIRI to abide by the government but that is all done under the table fearing FIFA Sanction. Despite the constant denials of the Ministry of Sports, it is no secret that the head of FFIRI has to visit the ministry whenever a major decision needs to be taken. The latest episode with Dragan Skocic is one typical example. The government owns two of the biggest and most popular clubs in Iran Esteghlal and Persepolis and refusing to let go despite decades of promises to do so.

CAS Ruling on Wilmotts case starts a war of words and finger pointing!

After the Supreme Sports Court CAS ruled against Iran's Football Federation and ordered that the former head coach of Team Melli , Marc Wilmots, be awarded euros 3,300,000 in compensation, Mehdi Taj, the former head of the FFIRI, defended his performance in the case and accused others of shortcomings that lead to this heavy fine.

Mehdi Taj's reasonings, however, were far from convincing and lacked factual data which prompted rections from the media, legal experts, and members of the parliament. Although Taj failed to clarify the ambiguities in his own defense while at the helm of the federation that recruited the failure Wilmots, it did, however, uncover some insight into how this federation was poorly managed.

Taj's main defense against the breach of contract is the US sanctions on Iran. The non-payment of Wilmott's wages was due to his federation's inability to honor the contract. However,  faced by many questions on the authenticity of his claim, he could only offer one answer to how was it that the previous coach, Carlos Queiroz was getting his wages regularly despite the same US sanction prevailing, by suggestiong that the US Sanctions got worst in the case of Wilmott's  !!

This issue drew criticism from MP Ehsan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, who claimed that the compensation for the Wilmots case should be paid by the members of the former Board of Directors of FFIRI including Taj as they were accountable and culpable for such public funds wastage and misappropration.

Meanwhile, Hamid Sajjadi, the Minister of Sports and Youth last night, called the case of the former head coach of Team Melli as "Wilmots Tsunami" and said: "What we saw in the report is like the tip of the iceberg that is sticking out of the water." In our meetings, I named it "Wilmots Tsunami ".

Despite the accountability of Mehdi taj and his responsibility for the failure of Wilmot both on and off the field, Taj managed to sneak in and register his name as a candidate for the new federation board and the Presidency of FFIRI!

The lack of accountability and due process has allowed many corrupt managers to get away with murder in Iran. The reality is that the country is infested with corrupt, inept, and/or incompetent managers who run public organizations to the ground with immunity. FFIRI seems to attractct all the shady elemnts.

FFIRI to pay Wilmots a further 3 Million Euros

The former head of the Legal Department of the Football Federation said: "The ruling of the Wilmots case has been issued and we have to pay an amount of around 3 million euros to this coach." According to Mehr reporter, Safiullah Faghanpour said " as a result of the former Team Melli coach filing a claim demanding payment of 6 million Euros in back pay and damages, FIFA Disciplinary Committee ruled for the Belgian coach and order FFIRI pay Wilmott an amount of 6 million euros after, however, after FFIRI appealed against the amount, the case was sent to arbitration at CAS, which issued its verdict and the amount was reduced to 3 million Euros. Faghanpour said: "There was a lot of concern here and everyone thought that we would be condemned in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but I consider what we achieved as a great success !!. The only case that we have won over the years in international tribunals is the Wilmots case, which was in CAS and the verdict was broken." Faghanpour mentioned that it (CAS) reduced the amount of Wilmots against Iran, but it could have reached about 12 million euros. Now the Supreme Sports Court has disregarded the claim and made the final payment due to the coach to less than 3 million euros. Faghanpour claimed that this was a great success for the Federation and in a bizarre statement, claimed: "Now we have to pay an amount that is not very significant! "  Faghanpour, who was talking to "Good Morning" TV show, was asked whether this decision on Wilmots' case is final and official? He emphasized: "Yes, the verdict was issued. Probably, it will be announced this week. What I said is certain." Faghanpour then went on to congratulate himself on the victory !!! "I must congratulate the success we achieved in the Supreme Court of Sports! The Belgian Marc Wilmott was appointed as the head coach of Team Melli in 2018 replacing Carlos Queiroz. He was in the job for less than 6 months and received 2 million euros from the Football Federation before losing to Bahrain and Iraq. Based on Faghanpour's words, Wilmots has earned around 1 million euros each month in his short and disastrous time in Iran, yet he has the audacity to congratulate himself and the FFIRI for not paying 12 million euros as he claimed! In contrast, The Croatian Dragan Skocic, whose contract is in local currency draws a salary of nearly US$100,000 a month, i.e. only 10% of what Wilmott's earned. It is a desperate time for Iran's Football management and leadership. It seems the FFIRI as an organization attracts lots of charlatans, incompetent and inept people who do nothing but harm football and the country's reputation, not to mention damage its finances. One person who is responsible for the Wilmotts debacle, Mehdi Taj is putting his name forward as a candidate for the Presidency of the FFIRI in the coming election next month!    

FFIRI board and Minster of Sports summoned to the Majlis.

Finally, Mehdi Taj and his entourage board members of the Football Federation are to be challenged about the circumstances of the suspicious and highly controversial deal by the parliament.

Mehdi Taj, along with several members of FFIRI board of directors and several current and former directors, attended a questioning session in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

According to ISNA, the purpose of FFIRI board of directors’ appearance in Majlis is to determine if there was wrongdoing, negligence or corruption behind the signing of the deal with Wilmots, especially since the federation has been claiming for many years under both Ali Kaffashian and Mehdi Taj that it is critically short of funds even to pay its basic obligation, like the employee’s salaries, National teams training camps and inability to arrange meaningful friendly games for Team Melli to prepare for the World Cup citing fund shortage. Yet, the same federation that has been constantly seeking handouts from the government in effect using blackmail tactics, signs a multi-million dollar contract with a coach who has lasted only six months with Ivory Coast before he was sacked!

The FFIRI had steadfastly refused to disclose the terms of the deal and the justifications until public pressure and the threat of law suite finally exposed this horrendous commitment by the bankrupt federation.

 

Mehdi Taj and Ebrahim Shakoori, along with the current board of directors are under investigation for signing the worst sporting contract in the history of Iran at all levels. A contract with Marc Wilmots which resulted in Iran’s Team Melli not only risking eliminations from the qualifiers with two consecutive defeats under the Belgian but also resulted in the coach of Team Melli leaving the country accusing his employer of several breaches of the contract, which was supported by FIFA’s committee with Iranian side ordered to pay some € 6.2 million in fines to the person who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the World Cup !.

The Minister of Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar and his deputies are also summoned for the hearing. It is strongly believed that the influence of the Minister was telling in the conclusion of the contract. With FFIRI board constantly seeking handouts, it is believed that none dared to challenge the Ministry’s choice while Soltanmifar denies any wrongdoing and only introducing the coach by recommendation of Iran-Belgium Chambers of commerce.

The executives are expected to answer questions from members of the Parliament about the background and the termination of the contract with Wilmots. FFIRI has borrowed over € 2.2 million from the social security organization to pay Wilmot’s salary.

Many observers are skeptical about any progress of the proceeding as it is feared that the issue will be kept under wrap and no one will be prosecuted especially since the Ministry of Sports and Youth is involved in the case as defendants.

FIFA's ultimate warning to FFIRI on government interference!

The former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club says that all the people who have led the Iranian football for the past four years should be held accountable for their infractions and the damage to Iran’s reputation.

Ali Khatir, former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club and former deputy secretary-general of the FFIRI, in an interview with ISNA, commented on FIFA’s refusal to recognize FFIRI’s statutes and the election results. In 2019 FIFA's letter referring to paragraphs 14 and 15 of the FFIRI Statute, the world football ruling body warned the Iranian Football Federation that its statute is not in line with the FIFA statute, and referred to paragraph 15. FIFA demanded that all deficiencies and findings which were mentioned by FIFA in the year 2017 after the review of Iranian federations are still not corrected and hence are still not valid and in violation of FIFA regulations and bylaws. Khatir was the Deputy Secretary-General of FFIRI at the time when the FIFA letter was sent.

He added: "FIFA has even given the federation the opportunity to commission a few experts to come and assist FFIRI and amend the statute to be in line with international laws. FIFA meticulously examined our Statute word by word, and even sent its own proposed amendments in 2018, FFIRI management did not respond and there was no follow-up.  Article 15 of the FIFA Statute contains a number of principles such as the independence of the federation, the separation of authorities,  responsibilities n the structure of the federation, financial transparency, and a number of other items that the Iranian Football Federation Statute must include in its statute.

The last letter submitted by FIFA warns FFIRI that if those rules were not followed and applied, FIFA may suspend FFIRI and even withdraw its recognition. The letter even mentions paragraph 19 of the FIFA Statute, which states that a third party (the government or the Ministry of Sport and Youth) should not be influential in the affairs of the federation. The federation must be independent and run directly or indirectly without anyone's intervention from the state, government or officials of the government. However, in Statute of the FFIRI, there is a clause that allows governments to vote and be members of the Assembly or board of directors. That is a clear and flagrant violation of international laws. The hint had already been given to the Football Federation but they did not respond to FIFA’s directives for reasons they knew best or feared the Ministry of Sports will almost certainly cut all financial support, but now FIFA stands firm and says that if elections are held under such statutes, it will not be recognized by FIFA and possible sanction will follow”.

He continued: “The federation had sent a letter to FIFA on February 9th asking them to hold the election, but FIFA reminded FFIRI of what had transpired before, saying that FFIRI had wasted two years and not replied to our correspondences under the pretext of amending the statute. You didn't. We even sent a representative to you on August 9 and emailed you five times. Now that you want to hold these elections, we are against it. We must first amend the statute and pass it in an urgent assembly. In this regard, FIFA says that the federation should submit a regular plan and roadmap to the international ruling body”

About the government's involvement in the sport for the sake of funding the football, Khatir said: “Article 19 of the FIFA Statute explicitly states that the government has no right to interfere in any shape or form in football, even if it wants to provide financial support or sponsor it. We have accepted this, and the government must accept that the Football Federation is an independent public body a non-government organization, subject to the laws of the country but not controlled, influenced or interfered in by the Ministry of Sport. The head of the Football Federation is not an employee of the Ministry of Sports.”

 

"We have reached a dead-end in football that we need to be able to get out of," Khatir recalled. “The only way out is compliance and cooperation. I believe that all the people who have led this football for the past four years and who have stumbled into this game should be held accountable for their appalling performance. They need to explain and justify their non-actions.

The former deputy chairman of the Esteghlal Club stated at the end: "Gentlemen of the Federation, you have been at the helm for eight years and you have not been able to make a positive difference to our football. Open the way for the elite and motivated youth to take over. The statute needs to be amended to open the way for the elite in football to benefit football.”

FFIRI offenses triggers AFC and FIFA actions.

Iran's Football Federation has been given serious warnings from the two governing bodies.

The disciplinary committee of the AFC has found FFIRI guilty of serious violations and slapped it with a heavy fine of US$130,000. The breach of the Law which amount to cheating in issuing the Professional License to Iranian clubs despite the fact that those clubs did not meet the standards and the bylaws of professional football clubs as specified by AFC and FIFA.

FFIRI has renewed the licenses of Esteghlal, Persepolis, Shahr Khodro and Sepahan Esfahan to enable them to compete in this season's AFC Champions League, however, those clubs have not met all the requirements. FFIRI failed to apply the law and issued Professional Licences knowingly that there were many areas of shortfall and violations of the international charter of professional clubs.

The fine is suspended for two years by the AFC, however, a repeat of such breach of the law will mean that FFIRI has to pay the full amount in addition to another punitive measure which normally means expulsion of the club from Asian Competitions.

While AFC has been firm against FFIRI, FIFA was in no mood either with its warning to the Iranians that the bylaws of its football federation are in violation of the international standards set by FIFA and no election will be recognized until an amendment to the laws is incorporated.

In a letter to FFIRI, the International Football Federation, while expressing objections to the FFIRI's statute, called for the postponement of the election of its President.  The election of FFIRI president, vice-Presidents, and executive board members, was supposed to be held on March 5,  The International Football Federation, which has long been examining the status of the Iranian Federation, has emphasized in its letter that the Statute of the Iranian Football Federation has not been approved and should be amended. By sending this letter to the Iranian Football Federation, the March 6 election will be canceled and postponed to another time.

Despite the so-called independence of the FFIRI in Iran, the fact remains that the Government through the ministry of Youth and Sports is the de-facto controlling authority of all sports in Iran particularly football. From appointing of Chairmen to CEO's and selecting the Coaches of Team Melli, The government has ensured a tight and full control of the sports.

Meanwhile, many observers believe that FFIRI election hardly qualifies to be called that as it is all selection and appointment cleverly disguised as free elections.

Mehdi Taj has resigned his post as President of FFIRI due to ill health.