Tag: Persepolis

29/07/2015

Persian Gulf League in action again.

The 15th season of Iran's premiere league (Persian Gulf Professional League) will start in earnest from tomorrow Thursday 30^th July 2015. 16 teams will be battling it out for the ultimate prize of lifting the Championship title and challenging the holder Sepahan Esfahan, the team with the most honors in the history of the league. The Esfahani team has been consistently challenging for the title since the start of the new league system, and has managed to win a record breaking 5 titles with 1 runner up and one third place positions. As such Foolad Mobarekeh Sepahan is the most decorated team of the league.

The Defending Champions

No doubt that Sepahan will continue on the same trail this season with nearly same squad that won the title in the previous season under the leadership of Coach Hossein Faraki. The ex-Team Melli striker is building a deservedly good reputation for himself in Iran's football by winning his second title in a row with two different clubs. The soft spoken coach has kept faith in the title winning squad and refrained from indulging in any business in the transfer market. No doubt that a fit again Navidkia will assist Sepahan further in this edition. The frail and injury prone Captain of the team was absent for many matches last season.

Branko Ivankovic ^ Ali Daei 2006 — Branko Ivankovic Persepolis Coach

Persepolis

Persepolis, the most popular team in Iran along with Esteghlal, have been having torrid few seasons with changes in personnel occurring on regular basis. This club has so disappointed it millions of fans that the usual crowd of red army that used to paint Azadi in red has virtually disappeared. The Club numerous problems off the field, was further complicated the issue by some on the field transgressions of some players acting unruly and suffering from ill- disciplined. Poor appointments in coaching and administrative staff has furthered deteriorated the team to the extent that it was fighting for survival near the end of the last league season. Branko Ivankovic was recruited to replace the struggling Hamid Derakhshan. The Croat has maintained the league status of Persepolis and avoided the relegation, however, this season, there is little indication that the team will be decidedly better than last season.

The Blues of Esteghlal

Esteghlal, forever a title contender, had a disappointing last season under Amir Ghalenoei who was eventually replaced by Parviz Mazloomi. The club has a tendency to stick to its own and picks coaches from the plethora of ex and retired players rather than seek professional and experienced coaches elsewhere. Mazloomi last stint as Esteghlal coach ended bitterly when bad results and losses against much weaker teams started a semi revolt in the stands by the blues fan who demanded his removal. The squad for this season has not seen major changes however the loss of two Team Melli players in Sadeghi and Beigzadeh to Saba and lack of real fire power in the offensive line could limit the chance of Esteghlal in challenging for the title. Like Persepolis, Esteghlal is another organization in real administrative, financial and ,management difficulties. [box title="

Leauge Stats

" style="soft" box_color="#c8c8ba" title_color="#0d0c0c" radius="5"]You can follow the Persian Gulf Pro League results and tables in www. teammelli.com all the time. Simply check the "Supplements" menu and select Persian Gulf League , or go to http://www.teammelli.com/the-persian-gulf-league[/box]

The League Committee

Despite gradual improvements in the organization of the league each new season, football in Iran is still behind the overall standard of rival Asian countries and the neighboring Persian Gulf states. Most of the facilities and the stadiums lack the international standards. Mercifully, AFC pressure has forced the Iranian authorities into action. The Asian ruling body plays a major role in forcing the Iranians to improve standards and facilities like the recent ruling by the AFC and insistence to install seats in the stadiums rather than the fans endure the hardship od sitting on scorching cement slabs. One of the weaknesses of last season was the periodical stoppage of the season for Team Melli training camps which resulted in unanimous outcry by the coaches and teams. Those league stoppages were demanded by Carlos Queiroz as conditional for Team Melli survival in the World Cup. With no World Cup in 2016 , it is hoped that the season will continue without much interruption that hurts team’ momentum.

Attendances

Last season suffered from lack of interest by the fans. Factors that has affected the poor attendances varied amongst the major ones were; shortages of quality games, dearth of exciting players or games to attract the crowds, failure of the two most popular teams to shine which dampened the enthusiasm of their huge number of followers, match organizers lack of respect and appreciation of fans comfort and finally the broadcast of major European leagues matches on TV. Sepahan traditional never matched the fans base of the big two and their remote stadium has played a major role in the paltry attendance figures. The only team that made a difference and kept the league stands alive was Tractorsazi with its phenomenal and passionate crowds. No team has away travelling support either as the team from Tabriz. This season, despite the disappointing finish of last, should see the Azerbaijani fans flocking back once again to the Yadegar Imam stadium. The rest of the stadiums in Iran are a matter of hit and miss.

Broadcast rights.

Amongst the peculiarities of football in Iran is the TV and non-payment of broadcast fees.

In Iran, there is one government owned and run organization that has unjustifiably and unfairly taken full advantage of football enjoying a free ride for decades without paying anything in return. IRIB, the TV and Radio monopoly, has flatly refused to entertain any demands for payment to the league clubs or the FFIRI for broadcasting league or Team Melli matches a system that is globally implemented. IRIB, argues that it is providing a free service for fans and clubs alike and not charging the viewers, so it does not find any justification for paying while it is not charging subscription fees. In the in the contrary, IRIB thinks that it has to be paid because it is doing a favor for the clubs!.

IRIB conveniently, opportunistically and deviously ignored the millions of dollars that it has received from TV advertisers when broadcasting football matches.

This stand of arrogance and egotism by IRIB resulted in tension in the league and spilled out in the parliament and the media with various heated debates. IRIB is an organization which is strongly supported and protected by the by the highest of the hierarchy in the regime. It has dodged all attempts by all sides including the Iranian parliament to pay for broadcasting rights that is believed to have earned it coffers millions of dollars in return. Even an attempt to a TV black out and ban of cameras in stadiums, which only lasted for one round, did not dislodge the IRIB from its position. The IRIB simply brushed such a move as a minor inconvenience!

Good news of this season, however, is that IRIB finally agreed to pay for the broadcast of matches. The figures are closely kept secret and many insiders believe that it is nowhere near the true value of the league. In any case, it is a step forward and this might be a beginning of a new era for many clubs with huge financial difficulties (read the majority of the clubs) to get some return from TV broadcast rights.

Team Melli Players

10 out of the 32 players that donned Iran's Team Melli jersey have changed club so far. There are expected to be a few more changes as several players have not agreed terms with their present clubs while many other countries have not started the season yet.. The full list of Team Melli player is as follows:

#	Players Name	Previous Team	Current Team
1	AMIRI, Vahid	Naft Tehran	Naft Tehran
2	ANSARIFARD, Karim	Osasuna	Rah Ahan
3	AZMOUN, Sardar	FC Rostov	FC Rostov
4	BEIGZADEH, Hashim	Esteghlal	Saba Qom
5	BIRANVAND, Alireza	Naft Tehran	Naft Tehran
6	DEJAGAH, Ashkan	Al Arabi	Al Arabi
7	EBRAHIMI, Omid	Esteghlal	Esteghlal
8	EZZATOLLAHI, Saeid	Athletico Madrid	FC Rostov
9	FOROUZAN, Mohsen	Esteghlal	Esteghlal
10	GHAFOORI, Vourya	Sepahan Esfahan	Sepahan Esfahan
11	GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza	Al Wakra	Al Wakra
12	HAGHIGHI, Alireza	FC Penafiel	FC Penafiel
13	HAJSAFY, Ehsan	Sepahan Esfahan	Sepahan Esfahan
14	HASSANZADEH, Masoud	Zob Ahan	Zob Ahan
15	HEYDARI, Khosrow	Esteghlal	Esteghlal
16	HOSSEINI, Jalal	Al Ahli	Naft Tehran
17	JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza	NEC	NEC
18	KANANI, Mohammad Hossein	Malavan	Malavan
19	KHANZADEH, Mohammadreza	Persepolis	Foolad Kuzestan
20	MOHAMMADI, Milad	Rah Ahan	Rah Ahan
21	MONTAZERI, Pejman	Umm Salal	Al Ahli
22	NEKOUNAM, Javad	Osasuna	Saipa
23	POOLADI, Mehrdad	Al Shahaniya	Al Shahaniya
24	POURALIGANJI, Morteza	Tianjin Teda	Tianjin Teda
25	RAFIEI, Sourosh	Foolad Khuzestan	Foolad Khuzestan
26	REZAEIAN, Ramin	Rah Ahan	Persepolis
27	SADEGHI, AmirHossein	Esteghlal	Saba Qom
28	SHARIFI, Mehdi	Sepahan Esfahan	Sepahan Esfahan
29	SHOJAEI, Masoud	Al Shahaniya	Al Shahaniya
30	TAREMI, Mehdi	Persepolis	Persepolis
31	TEYMOURIAN, Andranik	Tractorsazi Tabriz	Umm Salal
32	TORABI, Mehdi	Saipa	Saipa

18/07/2015

Nuclear deal and Iran’s football.

It is not far from accurate to claim that the lifting of sanction against Iran in the aftermath of the nuclear deal especially when it comes to the banking sector, will have an immediate impact on Iran’s football like every other sector of society.

Banking Restrictions

One major problem that hindered the progress of football was the restrictions of money transfer which made it difficult to engage foreign coaches and teams. The football federation has still not been paid its share of participation in the World Cup 2014 by FIFA estimated to be around US$8 million, because of the restriction on banking transaction with Iran. Similar difficulties have faced the clubs and the federation when arranging for friendlies, payments to foreign coaches and establishment of training camps outside the country. With the lifting of these sanctions, a huge burden will be lifted and business would be conducted unrestricted.

Bright economic outlook

By all accounts, the economic and financial outlook of Iran is truly bright. A country with hardly any foreign debts and huge uncapped resources, is gradually recovering billions of dollars in unlawfully held frozen assets plus interests. On top of that, the economic growth as result of lifting of the sanction could hit record highs. Both the Bourse in Tehran and the Iranian currency has seen rates going up north within hours of the deal announcement.

However, it is hardly improbable that the football will be on the receiving end of much of that wealth. No flood gate opening of foreign coaches and players expected soon in Iran, although marginal increase of foreign imports is expected.

Clubs difficulties

With the financial difficulties faced by almost all of the league clubs, it will take some time for them to recover and perhaps benefit from government handouts, a government that has many priorities ahead of football. President Rouhani has much work to do trying to mend much of the fiascoes of the previous government. Football clubs are becoming a heavy burden for the economy not to mention a source of corruption and embezzlement. Despite what looks like a genuine interest in privatizing major clubs in Iran, the government has failed to deliver through bad management of the deal.

The government, through the ministry of Sports is also guilty of some poor appointments of managers and CEO’s for these clubs, much nepotism and little regards to the person’s competency or professionalism.

Management failures

The major problem of Iran’s football is not just the lack of financial resources however. It is the acute failure of its management at all levels from the Ministry , federations all the way to clubs and local football consuls. While Iran has a person such as Javad Zarif negotiating and managing to strike a deal with the world power, Iran’s football managers cannot arrange a simple task without failures, embarrassments and disappointments. Be it arranging a training camp or appointing coaches or negotiating for friendly matches, time after time we have seen these people running the show, fail to deliver and cause embarrassments to Iran’s reputation one after another.

Failures galore!

The list of such humiliation can handsomely produce volumes of pages worthy of reading. It is not bad to run quickly through some major blunders and pitfalls of the last few years . FIFA sanction against Iran for political meddling, AFC suspension of Iran youth level teams for several years for falsifying document to lower players ages, Iran’s disqualification from the London Olympics football qualifying rounds for fielding an ineligible player, numerous cancelation of friendly games and training camps, failure of the government (Ministry of youth and Sports) to privatize Persepolis and Esteghlal after 4 attempts, appointing of an ineligible coach for Iran U23 team who does not hold proper qualification according to AFC and FIFA requirements.

When a country has a man in the caliber of Mohammd Javad Zarif, as a foreign minister supported by a team of professional who are all graduates of the most famous and highly regarded educational institutes of the world, when the country advances in so many fields including sport itself as evident from the meteoric rise of Iran’s Volleyball team to the top of the World League , when he country despite the huge brain migration to the west , still manages to run a respectable financial , political and military establishments, one wonders why these skills are not seen or reflected in Iran’s football management!

Football’s bad apples.

It seems that football in Iran attracts incompetent and dodgy characters. The sport pages of Iranian media is full of claims , trash talk , rhetoric , false promises and pure lies by these football administrators especially those associated with Persepolis and Esteghlal. When it comes to achievement, accomplishment and delivery, these people fail miserably at that. No matter how much money is flooded into football in Iran and most of it is public funds , if it is not managed properly , it will definitely be wasted.

From the Minister of Sports, to the FFIRI presidency, the clubs and all the way down, Iran has experienced far too many managerial failures that cannot be simply improved by pumping more money.

The Future & the options.

Somewhere along the line, there has to be a drive to introduce skillful management starting at the highest level into this football. Visionary Managers who understand the sport but more important than their understanding of the game plans, they should be adept corporate managers who can run clubs and federation like corporate entities. Iran does not need old retired players who have not achieved anything in life beyond their playing football to run its football. For some odd reasons so of these veterans keep demanding their rights to manage and own clubs!

Lack of skilled managers with modern mentality, flexibility, adaptability and global experience will hurt Iran’s football in the long run. And right there, is precisely where things are going wrong in Iran. Short term mentalities, has been the Achilles heel of this football. Lack of interest by managers of anything beyond the years that they are in office or in control. This disinterest in future is one reason that for decades now, Esteghlal and Persepolis have failed to produce quality young players.

Conclusion

In general, when the dust settles down, it is hoped that football reaps the benefit of Iran’s new chapter in its relation with the west. It is no shame to invest in foreign expertise even in football. The world has seen plenty of examples of countries utilizing foreign expertise and the best that their money can buy to develop its infrastructure.

10/07/2015

Team Melli players transfer market 2015/16.

The transfer window has opened in most of the leagues round the world and our focus , as usual has been the Team Melli players past and present.

It is safe to say that the movement of the Team Melli players was not exactly an earth shattering activity. Domestically, there has been very few transfers to talk about with most of the Team Melli players renewing their contracts with their current clubs.

In essence, Team Melli players fall in three categories, The Young promising including rising stars, the established players, the twilight zone players.

Young prospects: Most clubs hunt for bargains while pursuing young players. Iran is a big country and find the right talent in the right place is not something that can be considered a routine or easy task. Competition amongst the clubs can be become rough and messy at times each side pulling all the tricks up their sleeves. Players also take full advantage when faced with situation where there are multiple suitors. It is not uncommon to hear that a player has signed for two clubs or more in Iran!

The favorite destination of most of the young players is Esteghlal or Persepolis. The popularity of these two teams and the bi-partisan nature of football in Iran, puts these two teams at an unfair advantage. The two most popular clubs in Iran contribute very little if any in developing or producing young players themselves. However, they are at a vantage point when players, particularly young ones, come to them and consider it an honor to don the jerseys of the big two clubs.

However , now that Persepolis and Esteghlal have been facing dire cash shortage and are technically bankrupt , the attraction of these two teams is dwindling. Young aspiring players are more careful and vigilant although the appeal of these two names is still there.

Unfortunately, this season the number of players in this category is not too pleasing. Most would be staying put in their club like Mehdi Sharifi and Ali Karimi of Sepahan and Mehdi Torabi of Saipa. Ramin Rezaeian is the only one who has joined Persepolis from Rah Ahan , otherwise the lack of promising players is becoming of some concern amongst the coaches and experts.

Established players: most of the Team Melli players in this category have opted to stay with their clubs despite some of the clubs not honoring timely wage payments. The odd ones who made the change include the Captain Ando Teymourian (Tractosazi to Umm Salal (QAT)) , Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal (QAT) to Al Ahli (QAT)) , Daniel Davari (Grasshoppers to Arminia Bielefeld) , Mohammad Nouri (Persepolis to Al Mesaimer (QAT).

This category is also lacks exciting transfers or prospects of major changes.

The Twilight zone : Unfortunately , a number of current Team Melli squad fall in this category including Teymourian (32 years) whom we gave the benefit of the doubt as he is the Captain of the team. Jalal Hosseini (33 years), the Solid and always present central defender , did not renew his contract with Al Ahali of Qatar but surprisingly he was rejected by his first choice and favorite destination , Persepolis. Eventually he was recruited by Naft Tehran, but there were not many suitors chasing him either.

Masoud Shojaei (31 years), the perennial ever-present midfielder who has been struggling for many seasons with clubs of lower divisions, once again flopped but this time in Qatar not Spain. His team Al Shahaniya was relegated last season and as expected the Qatari’s found him to be a surplus to their requirement this coming season. Shojaei is currently negotiating with Persepolis. It is rumored that he will accept a huge pay cut in order to join the reds with no sign on fees demanded by the player.

So, it looks like 2015/2016 season will start with relative calm in the Team Melli squad, which could be a hidden advantage for Carlos Queiroz if not for the fans or the transfer market.

There are tough roads ahead. Guam , Oman and India will be ready to challenge Iran in the qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2018. As Team Melli players found out against Turkmenistan , it is not a forgone conclusion to win against such oppositions. Guam , in particular has made a tremendous progress and will be testing Iran, while Oman will always remain a tough nut to crack for Team Melli.

Minimum disturbance of the players may be just what the doctored ordered for Team Melli squad.

27/06/2015

Payam Sadeghian “I will return to Team Melli”

The controversial midfielder, who was sacked by Persepolis, says he is determined to return to the top and back to Team Melli.

Payam Sadeghian , who is arguably one of the most talented Iranian young Players of the last few years but unfortunately notoriously indiscipline as well, said that he is looking forward to playing in Europe and then coming back to claim his rightful place in Team Melli.

Branko Ivankovic , Persepolis Croat coach has categorically refused to have Sadeghian in his team and informed the management that under no circumstances he will give this player a place in his team even if Persepolis extended Sadeghian’s contract. Sadeghian was a bench warmer in Persepolis during the time Hamid Derakhshan was the coach and continued the same after Ivankovic took over, mainly due to disciplinary reasons.

Disreputably famous for his transgressing and aggressive behavior, Payam Sadeghian looks liked he ruined a golden opportunity to enhance his career after joining Persepolis. His on and off filed antics, lack of commitment and misconduct overshadowed his talent sometimes so sublime that many critics regretted the failure of those at the helm to properly address, guide and console this talented player. Sadeghian had a lot of potential and was a promising player who represented Iran at several age level teams. Now without a club and with very few in Iran wishing to recruit him due to his troublesome record, he has to pick up the pieces to revive a tattered career outside the country.

Sadeghian refused to name the European club that he claims is interested in him. “They have watched me and they contacted me to express their interest. I also have several offers from China, Japan, Qatar and Slovakia but I am not interested to play in those leagues. If it all fails, I am hopeful that I can join Naft Tehran to play for my old boss Alireza Mansourian.” The 23 years old player said in an interview with Iran Varzeshi newspaper.

Naft Tehran has not publically expressed any interest in Sadeghian who has been consistently making the headlines for the wrong reasons. If Sadeghian is to succeed in his career, there is no doubt that he has to attend anger management classes and be counselled by experts; else he will be biting the dust.

Sadeghian has played 5 times for Team Melli in 2012 & 2014.

24/05/2015

Solutions for the goalkeeping calamity in Iran.

It is no shame to admit that the recently concluded league season, was one of the worst for the goalkeepers in Iranian teams. Some, like Dariush Esfandiari, even call it a tragedy.

Every single team in the Persian Gulf League suffered goalkeeping headaches, some worse than others. Persepolis lowly rank in the table which is one of its worst in the history is attributed to several factors but it was on the field that the team performed poorly especially at the defense and goalkeepers’ end. Sousha Makani has proven that he is inconsistent, unreliable and a keeper who cannot be trusted when called upon to deliver. On top of those erratic performances Makani is also quite poor in discipline, a player who has created numbers of incidents at the club. He was sacked from the team only to return back after a few kisses. His last match in the league, the Tehran Derby , resulted in 3 match suspension for his role in skirmishes at the end of the game.

Whether it is fair or otherwise, many experts in Iran attribute Tractorsazi’s failure to win the league and poor performance in the AFC Asian Champions league to their goalkeeper Hamed Lak. Frankly, the keeper was dreadful in many crucial games and definitely cost his team some precious points. Putting all the blame on him is open to debate.

Alireza Biranvand, young, so promising and so confident when he came through the ranks, was as another huge disappointment for his side, Naft Tehran. Rahman Ahmadi was the no.1 Keeper for Team Melli after the dismissal of Seyed Mehdi Rahmati , but he soon flopped and lost his place in Team Melli while his repeated mistakes with his club Sepahan relegated him to reserve and the bench. Mohsen Frouzan had a torrid time in Esteghlal goal. Many hailed his arrival with the blues but he has shown little to raise the fans’ trust and confidence.

Dariush Esfandiari , the goalkeeping coach of Gostarish concurs to the fact that it was a “disastrous “ season for Iranian goalkeepers. His own team suffered quite badly like the rest. Esfandiari has some interesting thoughts on the reasons behind such failures by Iranian keepers.

“Much of the problem with goalkeepers stems from their demeanor, their personality and what is their mindset. Goalkeeper need to act professionally and be trained by dedicated experts because they are the last wall of defense. If Keepers concede easy goals, the chances of the team winning would be minimized. No team can challenge for honors without a competent keeper.” Dariush Esfandiari commented.

“There is obvious weakness at foundations level. Professional trainers need to be available for these keepers. Goalkeeper coaches must not be marginalized and not considered as peripherals in the team. I urge the federation to establish a program for the clubs to increase the level of competency and standards of Goalkeepers coaches in Iran. It is as important to do that at foundations levels, all the way to the seniors. I dare to say that it is even more important at foundations. This program has to be run with the aid of qualified professionals”

“We must utilize this opportunity to correct the situation else Iran will be facing a real disaster in this important post in the near future. This season was the alarm bell, it was loud and clear. The federation and clubs have to act to establish a competence program for goalkeepers. We can send Iranian coaches for specialized Goalkeepers coaching workshops. Turkey is a good place to start as they have some advance set ups there.”

01/05/2015

Another Iranian young star bites the dust.

In the last few years of Iranian football, a few promising talents emerged from the land that has abundant talented young kids. Amongst this group, a unique skilled player who seemed to possess a multiple of skills made the headlines and the media was quick to declare the emergence of the next Ali Karimi and even the Iranian Maradona.

A star is born

His name is Payam Sadeghian, and to be plainly truthful, the kid had talent, plenty of it, in fact.

From the youth teams in Zob Ahan until he ended up in Persepolis, Sadeghian consistently showed his skills, his courage, passion and zest. He can dribble all right but also has a venomous shoot. His dead ball skills are second to none. There isn’t much that Sadeghian cannot excel in while on the pitch. For such talent, Sadeghian was selected for every national team age group that existed, from the U14 in 2005 all the way to the senior Team Melli in 2012.

But the kid had one major shortfall. With the praises bestowed upon him, left , right and center, he developed an unwelcome ego and lack of discipline bordering delinquency. Time and again, on and off the field, Sadeghian was involved in unruly, disruptive and troublemaking scenes. He had several disputes with coaches and managers.

NAVAD V show interview

In an interview with TV Show Navad, Ferdowsipour asked him about this side of his “ugly” football and why does he seem to be in the news for the wrong reasons? Payam Sadeghian’s answer was evident of a young man is living in denial and has no real clue how his misbehavior is slowly destroying what looks like a promising career , regardless to his inherit and undeniable talents . Sadeghian accused some people of exaggeration and said that he is not the evil person that some of his enemies portray him! Obviously, Payam Sadeghian believed that he is doing fine and there is no sense in addressing his character or behavior.

However, the biggest failure in Sadeghian case is the fact that his club managers and coaches have failed to truly address his trouble case and deal with it by providing the proper solution. His poor disciplinary record was even defended by some of his peers. Even Ali Daei, who always portrays himself as a strict disciplinarian and law abiding person, miserably failed in tackling Sadeghian while he was the head coach of Persepolis. Daei is famous for being very quick in finding faults in others!

Daei was sacked , then Derakhshan came and gone and now one Branko Ivankovic , a household name in Iranian football, has taken the helm at the most popular club in Asia. Ivankovic, a disciplinarian but one of the most approachable and likable characters, has had enough of Payam Sadeghian only few weeks of working with him. The Croat head coach of Persepolis announced that he will not allow Sadeghian in his team. Asked if Sadeghian will be in Persepolis team next year, he simply said “NO.”

Bleak future

Payam Sadeghian is a regretful case of a young footballer failure. Of course, there is a long road to recovery if he wishes, but the signs are there to assume that he has not repented. It is a personal failure and the responsibility is upon his own shoulder. He went astray and off-course somewhere along the line regardless to the reasons. It is also another failure for Iranian football management which consistently fails to handle indiscipline players. This Persepolis team alone has half a dozen players or more in the same category, but Sadeghian is the most regrettable because the kid has talents that might never materialize and blossom the way it deserves to.

One think is taken for granted. Carlos Queiroz has no time for such delinquency. The chances of Sadeghian ever making one of Queiroz squads is quite remote knowing the Portuguese coach strict requirement by his player for disciplinary compliance.

28/04/201528/04/2015

Khanzadeh suspended for 9 months!

FFIRI Disciplinary Committee (DC) has slapped Persepolis and Team Melli defender with a nine month suspension from all official football activities as a result of his altercation with a Persepolis fan in Doha after the clubs game against Lekhawiya in the AFC Champions League. Khanzadeh used extremely foul language, heavily swearing at the fan(s) who were protesting Persepolis weak performance and defeat. All efforts to calm the player by his embarrassed teammates were fruitless. Earlier and before the issue of this ruling, Persepolis have decided to suspend the player temporarily pending the full report from the incident in Doha. Branko Ivankovic is reported to be appalled by Khanzadeh's behavior. Khanzadeh was one of the Team Melli squad players in the FIFA 2014 World Cup but did not play in any matches. He was also a member of the Olympic team in the Asian Games 2014 and his ugly attack on the Vietnamese player in the last minutes of the match lead to his dismissal and further suspension by the AFC. Khanzadeh has a track record of insubordination with a pretty wicked disciplinary behavior. Meanwhile , Sousha Makani, another notoriously undisciplined player was given a 3 matches suspended sentence by the Disciplinary Committee and 5 million Toman fine for his part in the incident. Mahomoud Khordbin will also have to answer to the committee for his failure to assume his role and responsibilities as the Team Manager. Khordbin was absent from the scene and did not act on hearing about the incident. On a bright note, Karim Bagheri , the assistant coach was commended for his role in ending the profanities mayhem. This ruling by the FFIRI Disciplinary Committee (DC) is one of the strongest of its kind in such cases, however , it is a safe bet to assume that at some stage everything will be changed and all is forgotten due to someone’s intervention and advise.

23/04/201523/04/2015

Aziz Asli passes away.

Aziz ASLI , the legendary team Melli goalkeeper has passed away in Düsseldorf , Germany today after a long illness . Aziz Asli Manish , who was 78 years old was born on 4th April 1937 in Tabriz was a star of Persepolis team in the sixties. Asli started his senior football career with Daraei club from 1949 to 1955. From then on he played for Persepolis until his retirement in 1968. His career with Team Melli started in 1962 with a debut match against Iraq and lasted until his retirement in 1968 after he lifted the Asian Cup in the final match against Israel. Aziz Asli was the first goalkeeper that represented Iran in a major world tournament when he kept goal for Team Melli in the Olympic games Tokyo. Asli played 24 times for Team Melli.

Several generations of Iranian goalkeepers L2R: Movadat, Niknafas, Asli, Tavoosi and Hejazi

Asli was the goalkeeper of Team Melli that lifted the Asian Cup for the first time in Tehran., Aziz Asli had a short stint in training and was the assistant coach of Zob Ahan club for two seasons before being appointed in 1970 as head coach. He was out of Zob Ahan a year later. Asli also played various roles in several movies.

07/04/201507/04/2015

Branko Ivankovic appointed as Persepolis head coach

The former Team Melli coach Branko Ivankovic has been appointed as the Head Coach of Persepolis club following the resignation of Hamid Derakhshan.

The Croat who coached Team Melli in two different terms has been sought by the club for some times now however the worsening results of the team under Derekhshan and the appointment of a new CEO , albeit in acting capacity , expedited the negotiations until Derkhshan was forced out by default.

The beleaguered Persepolis coach has announced his resignation following the match in which his team drew 2-2 with bottom of the table club Rah Ahan , prompting the fans in Azadi to chant against him and demanded his ousted. Hamid Derekhshan was appointed as head coach of Persepolis on 10th September 2014 following the sacking of Ali Daei.

Ivankovic will be starting his job with immediate effect. The 61 years old Croat whose last match as coach of Team Melli was against Angola in the FIFA World Cup 2006 will have an immense task taking Persepolis out of the current turmoil. Despite the good showing in the AFC Champions League, Persepolis has been struggling in the league lying 10th in the table and dangerously getting close to the relegation zone.

Ivankovic has to deal with unstable management with ever changing personnel, club instability , undisciplined squad and acute funds shortage. His unenviable task will start with the AFC Champions League match in which Persepolis has a good chance in qualifying for the next round but a long shot to win the title.

01/03/2015

The future of Persepolis and Esteghlal clubs in the balance!

After the failure of the government to find buyers for the two major Iranian clubs, Persepolis and Esteghlal, Seyed Jafar Sobhani, the advisor to the head of the privatization committee of the government warned of the possibility of liquidating both clubs!.

The privatization of Persepolis and Esteghlal has been talked about for decades since Hashemi Rafsanjani’s era. Subsequent governments, due to political reasons, were reluctant to make any serious attempt to release and privatize the clubs. Despite public claims that privatization was to go ahead pending administration and financial issues, each government found some reason not to carry any meaningful work. Nearly 15 years later since the first talk of Persepolis and Esteghlal being handed to private investors or the public, the current government made the most genuine attempt so far to finally offload these two poorly run and financially bankrupt entities from the books of the government.

Forced by economic hardship after the remarkable drop of oil revenue, the government flouted the political reservations of the privatization issues and fast tracked attempts to attract potential investors.

The Ministry of Finance announced the price for the two clubs in a bid to attract investors, but no one came forward to the great disappointment of the government. A number of reasons were behind the lack of any interest by investors to acquire the clubs. The initial price were set quite high according to many potential investors, however , the most pressing issue remains the outstanding debts, especially by Persepolis whose CEO is in jail due to financial irregularities , and whether the government is willing to release both clubs debt free. The details are still sketchy on the issue although some officials have been quoted that the government will indeed work towards clearing most of the debts, believed to be in millions of US dollars.

Some Persepolis ex-footballers formed a group which demanded that the government should hand the clubs to them for free, to manage and run it just because a few decades ago, they used to play for the team and are fans for life!

To sweeten the deal further, Seyed Jafar Sobhani , the Adviser declared that the government is prepared to offer credit facilities to the buyer and extend the payment period of the deal from 2 years to 4 years from the date of the purchase while lowering the initial payment to 20% of the total price which remains unchanged.

“Legally, these two clubs have a license to operate until 21^st July 2015. The government is not willing to continue operating and running the clubs, so if buyers cannot be found beyond that date, both clubs will go into liquidation. This is nothing new and we have faced this situation before.” Sobhani added.

In private, most of the potential buyers of Persepolis and Esteghlal fear that the government will not truly wipe its hands off the two clubs even after privatization. It will continue meddling and interfering to ensure compliance with the party line. As such , the authorities can always make it difficult for the clubs to be survive and run independently of the government guidelines. Other financiers’ claims that neither of the clubs are commercially sound investments even after the clearing of the debts by the government. The running expenditure, especially the contract and wages of the playing staff and coaches, far exceed the actual and forecasted revenues. Unless there is a wholesale clearance and contract re-negotiations at much lower rates, it is impossible to balance the books at both clubs. Failure of marketing personnel of both clubs, which was limited to shirts sponsorship deals, have prevented a sizable revenue for the clubs and instead the two clubs administrations built a dependency on government handouts, which was much easier task. The TV revenue that many investors have been looking at as a potential attraction remains on the balance after the talk failures between FFIRI and the IRIB. The two sides continue to disagree on the terms with each accusing the other of hindering the closing of a deal.