Tag: UHLSport

Givova , the new Kit Supplier of Team Melli.

The Football Federation reveled the newest Team Melli kit by Givova in a low key ceremony in Tehran.

The FFIRI has already announced that the contract with the German sportswear manufacturer UHLSport will be extended by suddenly the hardly known brand of Givova has cropped up in the scene and signed with the Federation as the kit supplier. The Italian firm has only one other client amongst the 210 FIFA members and that is Malta national Team.

All other famous and not so famous Asian teams have world-renowned brands such as Adidas, Puma ,  Nike but Kaffashian administration managed to find the most obscure brand of sport wear to supply the national team !

The other interesting fact is that the politically sensitive Iranians have elected Givova brand despite it being the supplier and sponsor of Israel National handball team.

Givova is a sportswear and footwear trademark founded in 2008 in Scafati (Italy) by Giovanni Acanfora.

Queiroz vs. UHLSport is settled !

 A meeting held between Carlos Queiroz and his lawyer and on the other side , Jaffari of UHLSport was carried out yesterday in the presence of Ali Kaffashian , the head of FFIRI, in which all the differences between the two parties were amicably resolved, it was claimed in a communique.

According to FFIRI website the meeting held on Sunday at the Sports Academy building , the discussion was focused on Team Melli kit issue. The communique mentioned that all the differences between Querioz and Jaffary was cleared and the problems resolved by the end of the meeting.

Carlos Queiroz will be bound to wear the official Team Melli kit supplied by  UHLSport at the FIFA World Cup 2014 as part of contractual obligations between UHLSport and the Iranian football federation (FFIRI).

In a real turn of events, all the drama about the quality of the supplied kit by UHLSport and all the complaints made by Queiroz and number of his player about the poor quality of the kit have suddenly been resolved. There is no mention nor any reference to the report by UHLSport company committee that visited the camp in Austria and confirmed that some low quality replica kits that is NOT originated from UHLSport has been found in Iran’s kit supplies, confirming what Queiroz and his players were saying all along about the shrinking jersey.

In the FFIRI communique , there is no mention of any investigation into how did some fake or low quality kits end up in Team Melli camp, who is the guilty party , who was accountable. There is no mention of any possible shoddy deals that might have led to this occurrence which tarnished the name of Iran globally. Finally no reference to the alleged demand by Carlos Queiroz that he had blackmailed UHLSport into paying him a commission or else he will not approve the kit or wear them !. Carlos Queiroz has taken an exception to that claim and has said that he ordered his lawyers to file a libel case against Romario sport and uhlssport as a result of their slander.

Perhaps keeping a cap on the issue for the time being is not such a bad idea, but dismissing it completely without any investigation into the matter and without producing a report underlining the failures and the shortcomings, is very suspicious indeed and raises many questions of some sort of conspiracy.

Carlos Queiroz has been tight lipped about the case after initially raising a storm with his accusation about the quality of the supplied kit by UHLSport. Perhaps he is forced to remain silent on the issue, but since it made the world headline, it is imperative that some action has to be carried out rather than sweep the issue under the carpet.

uhlsport official statement on Team Melli Kit.

A Pity

Our statement on IRAN.

(Over the past few days it has come to our attention that rumours and misinformation have been circulating on the internet and via social media. this statement is a response to those comments)

We had been looking forward to our joint appearance together with the Iranian Football Federation at the World Cup in Brazil. We have been supporting the Iranian Association since 2012
and have maintained a strong relationship, especially via our distributor in the region. The news in the last few days have left us shocked and shaken and we therefore feel required to make our position clear.
uhlsport has been delivering the products to the Iranian Association as requested. The claim that players have not received sufficient soccer jerseys for the tournament is wrong and absurd. None of the soccer jerseys made for the World Cup can be worn for another match, as the national flags of both teams as well as the date of the match are imprinted on the chest. Iran will certainly receive the necessary number of jerseys and apparel for all games. This has been planned since the beginning and we have seen this as to being taken for granted.

We have used the same standards for Iran as we use for every other association or club that we work with. Based on the designs of our collections, we create individual adaptations using the
partner’s colors and emblems. This process always takes place in cooperation with the association and this has also been the case with the Iranian Football Federation.

The claim that our polyester goods shrink is just as wrong and absurd and is, considering our extensive testing, incomprehensible. We have experienced no shrinking issues with any of our professional football clubs. Involvement in a partnership can lead to outfitters being faced with various interests. We continue to maintain a partnership-like and constructive relationship with the Iranian Football Federation. Other forces hoped to gain direct personal advantages from our partnership with the Federation. We have clearly stated our clear refusal. We will not allow ourselves to be pressured
into accepting the personal demands of individuals. Subsequently there has been an increase in alleged problems with our collection, which have now escalated.

Players unfortunately often allow themselves, imprudently, to be misused for this purpose.

Press release
(translation of the original German version)

PDF Version

uhlsport Pressemitteilung Schade_IRAN_INT_210x297_RZ

 

The above is the official statement issued by the German company uhlsport a copy of which was sent to teammelli.com. We are publishing the statement in its entirety in the spirit of fairness to all parties as we have reflected the viewpoints of the other side as well. We firmly believe that uhlsport has the right to defend itself and its product quality  against allegation that seems to be questionable at best and possibly orchestrated, but then again, judge for yourself.

Editor

www.teammelli.com

“Team Melli players have to buy their own shirts for exchanges.” claims Kaffashian !

Ali Kaffashian , once again defended the brand of the Team Melli kit and the sponsorship deal with the German sport clothing manufacturer UHLSport.

The never ending ominous topic of Team Melli’s jersey is becoming repeatedly asked on every interview sdid not escape Kaffashin on Thursday while attending a practice session of Team Melli.

Kaffashian spoke highly of the German company and insisted that the quality they are dealing with is at the highest “This is a European company with the highest quality German standards. I understand that some players have been complaining about the jersey and we have investigated the matter with the company. It turned out that those who complained did not follow the washing instruction and how to maintain the jersey. Apparels have such instruction that needs to be applied. We have expensive products here, not the disposable shirts and short that you dispense with after one wash! “

“The quality of our kit is high and can be compared to the industry’s best. We are proud of it and can do well in the World Cup using them. We also need to be reasonable on expenses. It not wise or clever to use a kit for a week then throw it out demanding a new set. Common sense must prevail”

Asked about the traditional end of the match shirts exchanges with other players, Kaffashian declared that players have to buy their own kits if they want to exchange with other players! That sounds shocking, but Kaffashian’s excuse was that his federation must also consider other expenses with many other Team Melli teams that need budgets and overheads.

On the question of Queiroz declaration of concern with all the rumors that has been surrounding him for the last 10 months, Kaffashian dismissed the issue and said that he is not aware or all this while his concern is focused towards important issues like the sourcing of the funds to pay the coach wages.

“We have to balance our expenditure. We like to continue with Queiroz , we are satisfied with his work. Queiroz qualified us to the World Cup and in Asia , we are the top ranking team while we were the fifth. However, we also need to pay him appropriately. If we cannot afford to do that, and don’t have the money then we have to lower the ceiling of our expectations. It is the same with arranging friendly matches. A top team demands something like US$ 2 million for a match. Mostly, we would not be afford to do that, so , we have to accept less than perfect friendly matches arrangement ”

Kaffashian reminder to Queiroz about comments on the Team kits.

Ali Kaffashian has warned Queiroz against speaking out publicly against Team Melli Kit supplier and reminded the Portuguese coach about the legalities and professionalism while dealing with third party suppliers.

According to ISNA Sport reporter who spoke to the head of the FFIRI, Kaffashian was quite concerned by the public outcry of Queiroz, and said that such matters, if it existed, should have been discussed internally and resolved amicably without resorting to the media and making a scene out of it.”

“We have tried our utmost best to get the best quality kit that is up to international standards for Team Melli as that was one of our priorities. We recognize the importance of this item and we carefully and diligently came up with the best solution. I have reminded Querioz and he accepted it.” Kaffashain said.

The issue of the kit supplied by the German sport good manufacturer UHLSport has been popping up every now and then with Carlos Queiroz being chief adversary of the German Kit supplier and the company services. Team Melli coach refused to attend the Kit introduction ceremony while, signifying a problem from the onset of the deal, while UHLSport claim that Queiroz has a personal vendetta as a result of some issues prior to signing the deal which UHLSport did not agree with.

Peculiarly, after South African camp conclusion, many of Team Melli players in unison talked against the Kit reflecting their coach opinion.

Queiroz could sue UHLSport!

Carlos Queiroz’s fire fighting extended to the supplier of Team Melli kit , the German sporting goods manufacturer UHLSport.

In an interview with ISNA , Houshang Moghaddas, the international affairs officer of the football federation said that a problem has arisen between  the Portuguese coach of Team Melli and the Iranian representative of UHLSport on various issues including payments and number of matches that Team Melli has used the supplied kits.

Carlos Queiroz conspicuous absence from the presentation of the new Team Melli kit in a ceremony a couple of days back, raised a few eyebrows but after today’s statement from Moghaddas ,  it is apparent now that Queiroz is not too fond of UHLSport and have differences with the company.

uhlsport-iran-home-replica-t-shirt-2013

in an extremely strange event , the FFIRI offical revealed some disturbing story. Moghaddas said that Team Melli coach was not satisfied with the quantity of kits being supplied by UHLSport and gave an example of the match in Bangkok where an unnamed Team Melli player gave away his shirt to a fan after the end of the match against Thailand.  That acts , which is quite normal in international football across the world , did not please the team officials as they planned to wash/recycle  that shirt and use it again!. “The fact that the player gave away his shirt , resulted in that player to remain on the bench for next match against Lebanon , because we did not have a spare shirt for him.” Moghaddas claimed. Naturally , Queiroz was disgusted by the whole affair.

Moghaddas said that Queiroz has not received any cash payment from UHLSport and the same company refused to pay his hotel expenses in Dubai as promised, so he (Queiroz) has all the rights to file a case against the company!

In a separate report , the German Manager of UHLSport said “We are the official kit supplier for Iran’s national team and the contract involves all players and coaches using our brand. If Carlos Queiroz does not want to wear our branded which he is bound to , then he is not allowed to wear another brand. He must wear unbranded kit.”

Mr. martin denied that there is any intention by his company to take Queiroz to court for breach of contract . He also refuted claims that his company supplies inferior quality kits and said “all the top sporting goods manufacturers in the world including Addias and Nike use the same process as we do. We supply the raw martial from Europe and send it to China for final tailoring. All the suppliers do the same.”