Tag: Vingada

Kranjcar appointed as the head coach of Omid Team.

FFIRI has approved the appointment of the Croat Zlatko Kranjčar as the head coach of Omid Team (U23/Olympics) with immediate effect.

Mehr News Agency reported  at the meeting of the board of the FFIRI , the President Ali Kaffashian cleared the way for the coach Zlatko Kranjčar’s work to start immediately.

Fereydoun Esfahanian acting as a spokesman for the federation, confirmed the news to the media.

The selection of  Zlatko Kranjčar was expected as the terms were agreed with Kashani , who is the Manager of the Omid Team and the formality of board and President approval was obtained today.

As reported earlier , it seems that Carlos Queiroz has washed his hands completely from the Omid Team after his compatriot and close friend Vingada was fired from his job following the dreadful performance and result in the Asian Games. Although the federation officials have denied any rift between the two coaches, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. The fact is that when Kranjčar was the coach of Sepahan , he was very critical of Queiroz ways and his total focus on Team Melli plans without considering the interest of the clubs during the World Cup preparation program. Some accusations have been exchanged between the two , at least in the media. With the way that Queiroz have been operating , it is doubtful that he will forget such criticism so soon. He is not known to be kind to people who do not agree with him and does hold it against them. It will be interesting to see if the two can forget the past and work together.

Kranjčar has not publicly commented on the subject.

Kranjčar main goal is to qualify Iran’s U23 to the Rio Olympic Games 2016.

Zlatko Kranjcar on the brink of signing for Omid Team

Jafar Kashani , the Manager of Iran’s Omid team (Olympics) has announced that his federation and Zlatko Kranjcar are on the brink of signing a contract for the appointment of the Croat , formerly Persepolis and Sepahan coach , as the head coach of Iran’s Olympic team.

“I am very confident that it is a matter of days for the final contract to be signed. From my side, I am fully satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation and quite pleased by the way that Kranjcar has negotiated the contract with us. He is a professional man, with high degree of integrity and values. He is not the opportunist type who negotiates even the minutest of detail regarding money or payments. Kranjcar has declared that if he fails to take Iran to the Olympics, he will resign his job with expecting any compensation or severance pay.”

Kranjcar watch Omid Team in Qatar alongside Kashani

Kashani and Kranjcar met in Doha where the Omid team is setting camp. Kashani concluded that “as far as I am concerned it is a done deal; however, I am not the only person in the federation. The process needs to go through the right channels before it is finalized, sealed and delivered.”

Kashani refused to disclose the financial deal but said it is not very far from what Vingada was getting. The proposed contract will be for 21 months until the Rio Olympics.

 

“Omid Team “, translated into English  means “Hope Team”. It refers to the Olympic or the U23 team.

 

Kaffashian ” I will be honored to be ousted from my position!”

Ali Kaffashian has stated that it is an honor to be ousted from his position as the President of the FFIRI by the General Assembly!

The comment by Kaffashian was in response to Amir Abedini who has started a move to dislodge Kaffashian from his position citing amongst various issues, the poor management and administration of the federation, poor planning and lack of strategic outlook  , bad results by National football Teams representing the country.

“I welcome such a move, in fact , I will even show them how to do it (…) It needs 15 representatives to declare the no-confidence vote and if that quota is reached , then it will be my honor to be removed”.

Commenting on the results of youth teams, Kaffashian claimed that “Iran teams have not played so badly in the recent tournaments. We are not after results, in any case. Admittedly, the other Asian Teams have worked quite hard.”

Kaffashian reiterated the admission of committing a mistake in the arrangement of Iran’s U23 squad to Asian Games. “Originally we planned to send the U21 team to Incheon, but due to a last minute decision change, we added a few older players. This has disrupted the team rhythm”

“We are supposed to upkeep this U21 team and prepare it for the Olympics qualifiers. If we wanted to send this team to Incheon, where most of the opponents are sending their full strength teams, it would  have been an unfair competition (…) !”

“Our aim is to keep Vingada until the Olympics. God willing, we will arrange a few friendly games to assess his work with the squad. After the analysis and review of those games, we will decide on our future relationship with Vingada.”

Kaffashian confirmed that Team Melli players, who have been suspended by the authorities for holding fake Military Service Release Certificates, will not be invited to Team Melli. The Head of FFIRI also confirmed that he will not interfere with Queiroz selection or lack of in regards to Aghili and Rahmati.

Ali Kaffashian is known for his contentious and controversial statements. Some amount of tongue-in-cheek is usually attached to his statements to add fun , according to his justification. However, he is going beyond the border of professionalism and authenticity by these latest statements. Not only is he covering the trues facts of the events, he is making a mockery of his position by sheer lack of knowledge or deceitful whatever the case might be.

 No team is allowed to field more than 3 over-aged players in the Asian Games that has an age restriction of U23. Kaffashian’s statement that the other teams are fielding their full strength team is quite misleading. The last minute change of mind of the federation which led to replacing 7 players, was enforced by the Iranian Olympic Committees (IOC) policy that mandates teams/athletes representing  Iran in Asian and Olympic Games must stand a chance of winning a medal. The Asian and the Olympic Games have never been a trial fields for athletes as Kaffashian is suggesting.

The Irony of all this is that Kaffashian , being an ex-executive of IOC , should have known this fact!

Kaffashian’s statement that he will be honored to be dislodged from his position is as zany as they come!  Who, in his right mind, will be honored to be kicked out of his job?

 In hindsight, it will be an honor for all Iranian fans if he is actually removed or replaced but given a decent farewell party and a thank you for a job that was not very well done. Someone else, less talkative more industrious, a strong leader, knowledgeable decision-making, a veteran in sports administration should be given the opportunity to turn the fortunes of football in Iran.

Iran Olympics football team news.

Iran’s Olympic team , coached by Nelo Vengada , drew 1-1 with Zob Ahan today. The match , played in the grounds of National Teams Training center in Azadi sport complex, is a part of the long preparation for the upcoming Asian Games 2014 and in the long-term for the Rio Olympics Games in 2016.

First half ended goal less, but Iran’s U-23 player Arsalan Mottahari scored on the 55th to put his team ahead 1-0/ Zob Ahan managed to score the equalizer through Hadi Mohammadi 10 minutes later to make it 1-1. The match was winding down when a rough tackle by Zob Ahan player Amin Nassiri resulted in a straight red card for the rough Zob Ahan player.

The Olympics team or the U-23 will have a busy training schedule in the forthcoming weeks. on Saturday 19th July , the team will be flying to Amman Jordan to play 2 friendly matches against the Jordanian u-23 team.  The next assignment will be in Armenian where there is a scheduled two matches against that country;s u-21 team.

The last phase of the training will be in China with a one match schedule in the Far east country.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh will not be accompanying the team in the tours as he is required to join his Dutch club NEC who are starting the pre-season training. While the other prominent player , Sardar Azmoun is awaiting the response from his club Rubin Kazan on his request to join Team Melli U-23 tour.