Tag: Saudi Arabia

Iran hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027!

Recently there have been some reports, possibly leaked to the media by FFIRI, about Iran requesting the hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027.  This suggestion has been carried by many media and sports publications.  The is article discusses whether this possibility is realistic or just another gag to entertain the Iranian fans under the lockdown of COVID-19.

For a starter, news, or rumors of  FFIRI application for Iran to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 has been met by a wave of criticism from football fans and critics mainly targeting the Iranian federation's action. This comes at a time when the Asian Football's most prestigious event  (AFC Asian Cup) requires major resources and infrastructure while Iran’s football, in general, is in the midst of a major crisis that is unparalleled in the country and will probably take years to recover.

* Hosting under current infrastructure?

At first glance, attention needs to be drawn to stadiums with FIFA standards, which are not available in Iran, as Sheikh Salman, the AFC president, recently announced that to host the event, which will be 24 teams tournament, eight to ten stadiums will be required. Despite the construction of stadiums such as Imam Reza, Shohadaye Foolad and Naghshe Jehan, etc., Iran is still miles away from such a standard required for hosting.

* Logistics and accommodation

 The important issues are those related to the transportation, logistics, accommodation, and marketing in such competitions, which require high fortitude and cooperation of government agencies and cannot be done by an organization such as the Football Federation or the Ministry of Sports. A look at the list of requirements for each country to hold this event shows that Iran has not had a history of holding major events since 1976, that is 44 years ago when the competition had 8 teams and most matches were played in the state-of-the-art newly built Arayamehr Stadium.

The current sporting infrastructure has not developed efficiently since the revolution. War, Political environment, priorities, sanctions, and most importantly financial resources were poorly allocated for sports venues.  Unless one believes in a miracle, it is really difficult to envisage all the factors merging towards achieving the target of 10 stadia by 2027

* Poor facilities of host cities.

Of course, there will be other Iranian cities that will host the group matches. Not all efforts and resources would be channeled towards hosting in Tehran only. In the current state, there are many problems in terms of transportation, logistics, and sports infrastructure, across the main cities in Iran. Although some cities have good facilities such as Mashhad which has an international airport and modern subway system, it lacks a proper FIFA Standard stadium while other options such as Esfahan has a good stadium that can easily host matches, but their transportation facilities and accommodations lag behind.

The most vital of the facilities, accommodation is a problem in other cities as well. The lack of  5-star hotels in some cities, as well as the difficulties of obtaining customs and visa permits, and finally the ban on women's presence in the stadiums culminate in a poor chance of hosting.

Naghshe Jehan Stadium, Esfahan.

* Advertising revenues and copyright laws.

In a strange system, in Iran, the broadcaster never pays the football federation. In fact, IRIB the government-owned broadcaster and the only authorized TV and Radio broadcaster had the audacity to claim that it should be the other way round as IRIB is doing football a favor by broadcasting matches!

In Iran, there is no Copyright laws either, at least not the way it is recognized and practiced internationally.  Clubs or the federation cannot claim nor count on revenues from companies who commercially use logos or other materials to sell their products. Therefore there are no official kits or jerseys by the clubs because cheaper products can be sold alongside genuine products without the protection or respect of copyrights.

While, the case of advertising revenues can be easily sorted out for the Asian Cup tournament, as the AFC has a solid and well laid down contractual clause that is legally binding, the copyright laws is well outside the football federation’s jurisdiction and AFC has no role to play in it. Copyright protection requires the government to initiate and produce legislation. It has to be passed as a law.  Then the suggested copyright law clauses need to be approved by the Majlis (parliament) and that in itself is not an easy task. The judiciary also needs to be on board and prosecute the offenders. Different government within governments like Pasdaran, Sepah, and the religious establishment will always have their own rules and understanding of any law. In brief, it is not an easy task to create copyright laws in Iran,  where chaotic political-religious system rules supreme.

Several attempts of the establishment of this law have failed, and it is unlikely that such laws will be established by 2027 or before.

* Financial and executive crisis in the Football Federation.

 Iran's request for hosting the Asian Cup will be looked upon in association with the integrity, strength, legitimacy, and competency of the persons running the football federation. At the moment, FFIRI is in crisis and facing sanctions by FIFA for many issues but mainly due to government interference. With such shady administration, it is unlikely that many will vote for Iran while the administrators are busy saving their own skins.

Former FFIRI President, who has been outside Iran for many months, is under scrutiny for financial irregularities
     

in 2014, UAE won the hosting of the 2019 Asian Cup instead of Iran. The UAE, met the conditions and the requirements to host the event and was able to prepare for the competition in four years. It has a well-established copyright law that is strictly implemented. There are plenty of international airports that are served by hundreds of airlines, it had the ideal infrastructure, hotels, stadia, perfect road system, Trams(Dubai), and resources, so it was a no brainer for it to be chosen as hosts.

How is Iran compared now? will it have the chance this time with competition from Saudi Arabia and India?

Given the country's economic situation and existing sanctions, the efforts required to establish or amend laws like copyright, intellectual property protection, women in the stadium, and the resources required to massively upgrade the stadiums in Tehran and other Iranian cities, the answer is a categorical NO.

There are far too many problems and issues for Iran’s hosting of major sporting events in the magnitude of the Asian Cup. Any such attempt by FFIRI to send the hosting file to AFC as a candidate for AFC Asian Cup 2027 will only be an embarrassment for Iran while it may serve as a propaganda tool for the current FFIRI administrators.

ALi Daei lost his job because he would not allow the President into the dressing room.

Hossein Kazemi recalled what happened during the match between Team Melli and Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers at Azadi Stadium.

 

Ali Daei was the head coach of the team. Iran was leading by a Masoud Shojaei goal in the first half. At half-time, he was informed that the then President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) wanted to enter the dressing room for an inspirational chat with the players and coaching staff, which is a highly unusual request under the circumstances.

Due to the sensitivity of the game and its importance for Iran's qualification to the next round, Ali Daei, who saw this interruption as negative and might lead the players to lose focus, rejected Ahmadinejad's request and preferred if it was done after the final whistle.

Hossein Kazemi, who was playing in the midfield in that match said: "We lost the game after the Saudi's came from behind and scored two goals. It was our only loss under Daei, yet Ali Daei was dismissed from his post that same evening."

Iran failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2010 held in South Africa.

Dragan Skočić appointed as Head Coach of Team Melli

The Croat coach Dragan Skočić has been appointed as the new head coach of Team Melli on Thursday.

The 51 years old Croatian has just resigned from his post as head coach of Persian Gulf League club Sanat Naft after a long dispute with the Abadani club for their failure to respect the contract and failure to provide proper support for the team.

A day after Dragan Skočić announced his departure from Sanat Naft Abadan, he was appointed as Team Melli head coach.

Skočić first arrived in Iran in 2013 where he coached Malavan Anzali where he could not have much success with the team. Next season he was recruited by Foolad Khuzestan where he remained for two seasons and managed to improve the results of the team but still could not win them any trophies. He left Iran in 2016.

In 2018 Skočić turned up again in Iran where he took over the coached of Azadegan league side Khooneh be Khooneh. A season later 2019 he was coaching  Sanat Naft Abadan in July before he resigned his post on 4th February 2020.

Zlatko Kranjcar with Dragan Skocic in a league match encounter
Zlatko Kranjcar (left) with Dragan Skocic (Right) in a league match encounter

During his long managerial career, in Croatia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, Skočić managed only a single achievement with his home club Rijeka, winning the Croatian Cup for the 2005–06 season.

Team Melli is the first National Team coaching experience of Dragan Skočić

Iran football body slams AFC ban on hosting international matches

The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) has said it would stand up to the "illegal" decision by the Asian Football Confederation AFC to prevent the country from hosting any international matches on Iranian soil.

Federation Acting Chief Heidar Baharvand said the federation and managers of the four teams playing in the AFC Champions League held an extraordinary meeting on Saturday and decided unanimously to reject the decision.

"The Iranian Football Federation, clubs and officials unitedly oppose it and will definitely stand up to this decision," said Bahrvand.

Baharvand told state television that if the ban was not reversed, all teams would withdraw from the AFC Champions League. Iran has four teams - Persepolis, Esteghlal, Sepahan and Shahr Khodro - in the AFC Champions League.

The federation on Friday said it had received a letter from the AFC saying all matches involving Iranian clubs would be held at a neutral venue.

The Iranians did not say if any reason was given or if the decision was related to the accidental downing of a Ukrainian jetliner last week and the tension between the United States and Iran in the wake of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.

Iran is reeling under a "maximum pressure" campaign by the US after President Donald Trump pulled his country out of a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

AFC to meet on Sunday

A federation official on Friday said Iran's sports ministry had provided the required security guarantees to the AFC and pointed out that the country hosted the final of the 2018 edition at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.

The AFC's position is still reversible as the body's executive committee is scheduled to hold a session on Sunday to make a final decision.

"We must host matches because this is our people's right. We should not deprive our spectators in hosting games. This is our absolute right and we insist on it," Bahrvand said.

FFIRI spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying Iran is "fully ready to host various teams as it has repeatedly proven during the past several years".

Meanwhile, Persepolis club's chief executive director Mohammad Hassan Ansarifard said there is "no safer space in the Middle East and West Asia than Iran".

"It is the right of Iranian teams to benefit from the presence of their spectators," he said, according to the club's website.

Iran's men's football team has participated in 14 editions of the AFC Asian Cup, winning three titles since the country's first appearance in 1968.

The AFC ban has angered fans in Iran, where football is the most popular sport. Social media posts with the hashtag #ACLneedIranFans trended on Twitter.

The  AFC has not published the justifications behind this ban and if the proper mechanism has been activated to reach such a decision. Insiders claim that there has been pressure applied by the Arab countries to apply this ban lead by Kuwait, despite the fact that the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) chairman Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah intervened to side with Iran on this issue..

There is no UN Security Council declaration that Iran is indeed a war zone., while Saudi Arabia which is at war in Yemen and has been subjected to missiles and drone airstrikes one of which nearly destroyed the Abqiq Oil processing facility. (see below)

A photograph taken by the commercial satellite company Planet shows the Abqaiq facility shortly after an attack on Sept. 14.

Branko Ivankovic : " No intention to coach Team Melli"

Former  Team Melli and Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic says he has no intention of coaching Iran national football team.

Ivankovic led Persepolis to the Iranian domestic treble last season but left after they failed to pay him his salary, a common practice in Iran in the last few years.

The 65-year-old coach, considered as one of the best foreign coaches of Team Melli, won the gold medal in 2002 Asian Games and led Team Melli to third place in 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

The Croat coached Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the Team Melli failed to qualify for the next stage after losing to Mexico and Portugal. while drawing with Angola.

“At the moment, I have a lot of offers from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan and China but have not accepted them so far. In Al Ahli, I was fired after three matches, something I never experienced such a thing before. I believe I worked well for the team as it needed some changes in dressing room but this is football and I accept it,” Ivankovic said.

Asked why he left Persepolis at the end of the last season, Ivankovic said, “I had four fascinating years in Iran and I so much miss the country. However, I was forced to leave Persepolis because they didn’t pay our salaries for about one year. At that time, Al Ahli gave me a good offer and I accepted it,” he added.

Persepolis have lost three times in the last 10 matches but Ivankovic says they are favourites to win the title for the fourth time in a row.

“I think Gabriel Calderon needs time in Persepolis because he is a great coach. Persepolis fans love their team and support their players and coaches. In my opinion, Persepolis and Sepahan are vying for the title in the current season,” Ivankovic stated.

Ivankovic believes that Team Melli had a chance to qualify for the next round at the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

“I think (Carlos) Queiroz preferred to defend in Russia. Iran could have played attacking football against Portugal and Span. After beating Morocco, Team Melli should have taken risks,” said Ivankovic .

"Is there any chance to return to Team Melli if he receives an offer?"

“I would prefer to work at club level. I am not going work as a national team head coach,” Ivankovic concluded.

Mehdi Taj's masterstroke!

Mehdi Taj and the FFIRI have to be credited for the appointment of Marc Wilmots as head coach of Team Melli replacing Queiroz.

The Iranian federation FFIRI faced many obstacles in their quest to replace Queiroz beginning from the Finances, or lack of it , to political objections, to social issues and the strong local lobbies.

The lack of funds is by now a common knowledge. Despite the lack of transparency by FFIRI including no audited balance sheet that is publically available to answer discrepancies such as the alleged disappearance of large amount of payments awarded to FFIRI during the reign Ali Kaffashian, the federation has been suffering from lack of resources for years.  Transfer of salary through normal banking channels to a foreign coach is also a great challenge thanks to one Donald Trump and his American sanctions.

It is that sanction that prompted many politicians and hardliners to question the appointment of a foreign coach and thus the wasting of rare hard currency on football while large sectors of industry and other services were in dire need of that cash and hard currency. It was certainly a legitimate question particularly that this football has yielded nothing for the country since the revolution particularly the trophy that really matters for the Iranians, the AFC Asian Cup.

Compared to other sports, football has one of the lowest returns of investment  and yields in the country yet the people associated with it are the highest paid of them all, some of whom make astronomical figures comparatively.

Socially speaking, the question foreign coach appointment has always been divisive debate in Iran. A large number of fans question such appointments based on issues such as communication, language, culture, logistics and most importantly, cost.

The other factor in this endless debate is the strong lobbying by influential people in Iran’s football. Ex-players, coaches, administrators and managers who strongly support the appointment of one of their own.

That reservation on foreign coach is responded to by the other camp who believe that Iranian coaches are not suitable or favorable at this time. Ali Daei, a legendary figure in his own right, lost his job in an un-ceremonial fashion after losing to Saudi Arabia at Azadi in a World Cup qualifier match.

Before him, Amir Ghalenoei, who is by far the most successful Iranian league club coach, tried but failed to achieve success in the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

Mansour Ebrahimzadeh was an interim coach but he was a disaster losing all the 3 matches Team Melli played under him. Finally Afshin Ghotbi, who is technically an American citizen, who failed to deliver in AFC Asian Cup 2011

In reality, in this period, there is no good Iranian candidate for Team Melli. From experience to knowledge to discipline to modern football tactics awareness and many more aspects, it is clear that Iranian coaches have a lot to learn.

Taj and his men had to navigate all those hurdles and skillfully managed to come up with the correct decision.

So, without bias, the appointment of Marc Wilmots is a masterstroke carried out under immense pressure. Mehdi Taj deserves much credit for such a move, notwithstanding the shortfalls in his administration and  lack of transparency.  Certainly there remains a lot to be corrected at FFIRI, but credit must be given were credit is due

The AFC broadcast award special for Saudi Arabia !

If there was the slightest doubt that the Asian Football Federation is a highly politicized body with members supporting the wealthy such as Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries in general, all those doubts have been eliminated with the recent move by AFC in the award of broadcasting right. 

The TV broadcast right of the Asian Competitions for Middle East and North Africa has been awarded to Bein Sports for the last few years. The Qatari owned broadcasters had a virtual monopoly on all the competitions including the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and the AFC Champions League.

After the Saudi-Led boycott of Qatar and the break of diplomatic and economical relationship between the two countries leading to severe animosity, the Saudi’s were not pleased to have a Qatari organization control the broadcasting of football matches and major sporting events in their country. By hook and crook and in defiance to all International laws and regulations, they established their own station, albeit a pirate station and stole the FIFA and AFC matches that were exclusively awarded to Bein Sports without any consent or rights award.

Despite the outcries , condemnations, threats of legal actions and loads of other statement against piracy and intellectual property by the Americans and Europeans, the Saudi continued defying the international copyright laws with no fear of reprisal. The pirate stations that is broadcast on Arabsat which is based in Riyadh , continues its piracy unabated till the writing of this article. The AFC has condemned this piracy but practically has done nothing to stop it because it is Saudi based. There were always suspicions that the Saudi would not have carried out such piracy without support or consent within the governing body of Asian football, AFC and perhaps FIFA too.

Yesterday, the AFC issued an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for its package of football media rights for the 2021-2024 cycle in Saudi Arabia only!! Currently the rights are not country specific but regional. The Saudi case is an exception to the rules.

There are a lot of legality involved in such a move but the main question that begs itself is on what basis the AFC awards a broadcasting right for one country only? what if the Saudi government is displeased with the winning tender and decides it wants to change it to broadcaster of a much more friendly obedient state government?

There has been many critics of the AFC preferential treatment afforded to Saudi Arabia. The Iranians are one big victims of the flagrant Saudi bias. All matches involving Iranian and Saudi teams have to be played on neutral ground simply because of the Saudi refusal to travel to Iran. AFC simply obeys the demands of Saudi Arabia which is supposed to have 1 vote only. With moves such as that, every football fan is entitles to question the infiltration of politics in Asian football while AFC always claims that politics should not interfere in football.

Questions have been asked about AFC decision making process and whether the executive committee has any authority or it is acting as a rubber stamp for the Saudi-backed President of the AFC Salman bin Ebrahim ? The Bahrain President has been re-elected unopposed for another term with all candidates withdrawing before the election.

Iran's first Asian Cup opponent are blocked by Saudis.

Saudi Arabia has put up several barriers for the Yemeni national team on the eve of the Asian Cup, ISNA reported. The Yemeni national team, the first opponent of Team Melli in the Asian Cup, was scheduled to set a training camp in Doha as part of their preparation for AFC Asian Cup. That was canceled due to Saudi authorities preventing the squad from leaving  war-torn Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and UAE are leading a war against Yemen rebel Houthis who control the capital Sanaa. During the camp in Doha, Yemen arranged was supposed to play a friendly match against Tajikistan's as reported by ISNA. However, the uncertainty and  delay  of the Yemeni squad in leaving their war-torn homeland resulted in cancelling the match in Doha .

A coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia imposed a historic land, maritime, and air blockade on Qatar. The measures were designed to strong-arm Doha to comply with a list of demands. Saudi Arabia has blocked Yemen's national football team leaving to Qatar, preventing the Yemenis from setting a one-month camp in Doha including scheduled three friendly games, and  insisted that the camp to be set up and continues in the Saudi Capital Riyadh.

Yemen is Group D of the AFC Asian Cup  UAE 2019 which also includes  Iran, Iraq and Vietnam.

Scandalous Saudi 

Fahad al-Mirdasi, a Saudi referee lined up to take part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, has been removed from duty for Saturday's Saudi King's Cup. He has been referred to investigating authorities - after it was alleged he contacted the president of one finalist requesting payments. British referee Mark Clattenburg, also the head of the Saudi officials' association, will be calling the King's Cup Final instead of Al-Miradsi, whose career is in tatters over with reports of recorded phone calls indicating cash payments, team numbers and games in which he was involved in illegal activity. The story continues to develop, and analysts say more murky details of the management of Saudi football are likely to emerge in the coming weeks.

The case of this Saudi referee uncovers a long line of corrupt politics in football in the Arabian Middle East countries. High stakes and the ruling families immense influence in football, has dragged the beautiful game in disrepute and there is nowhere that this is more evident than the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

No one exactly knows how many games and referees have been bought for certain, but only the naive or those who benefit from such corrupt act will deny the existing of referees for sale in Saudi Arabia. It goes beyond offering money to buy games, threats have been used against those who dare to refuse or speak up. Many Saudi critics talk about the Englishman Mark Clattenburg , who himself was not immune from controversy in England, as the first step towards fighting favoritism, nepotism and corruption in Saudi football. The re-building will take years but the mere fact that the story about Fahad al-Mirdasi has made the media , is in itself a progress in this despot regime and police state.

Daei "Iran will win the AFC Asian Cup"

The legendary Ali Daei has explained his confidence over Iran winning the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 title. “Iran has been Asia’s top team for the last few years for a reason: the consistency of the technical team,” Daei said in an interview with AFC. “There have been very few changes in the technical team’s setup and the stability has allowed coach Carlos Queiroz to focus on building a formidable squad. Queiroz has also looked far and wide for the best players and this has had a positive effect on the national team,” the former Iran captain added. Iran is Asia’s top side in the FIFA World Ranking and was also the first team from the continent to seal a place in the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, confirming its place last June. The team finished the World Cup qualifiers unbeaten and Daei, 49, is expecting the form to be carried into the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, with Iran lifting the trophy. The last of Iran’s three triumphs in the AFC Asian Cup was in 1976, meaning that it will be 43 years since Team Melli last won the title by the time the action in UAE 2019 kicks off next January. “I am confident that Iran will win this time around. We have always been a force to be reckoned with in the AFC Asian Cup but the recent results give me confidence that we will win the title for the fourth time,” said Daei.   The AFC Asian Cup may have eluded Daei as a player but it is a tournament which is dear to his heart, as it paved the way for his big move to Germany in 1996. In emerging top scorer in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, also hosted by the UAE, Daei hit four of his tournament haul of eight goals in the 6-2 win over South Korea in the quarterfinals. “There was a Korean player who was playing in Germany at that time and he convinced several coaches to scout for players during the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. The four goals I scored in that match played a pivotal role for me signing with Arminia Bielefeld.” His stay in Germany also saw stints with Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC. Plying his trade in Europe brought much success to one of Iran’s footballing sons and Daei is hoping that come the AFC Asian Cup 2019, not only will more of his compatriots secure moves to the big European leagues but Iran lift a long overdue title. “I missed a penalty in the semifinal against Saudi Arabia and we lost, but I know that it can be different this time around,” he added. Daei holds the record for the most goals in international football with a total of 109 goals he scored in 149 games for Team Melli (from 1993-2006).