Mehdi Taj, insisted that his federation was seeking the best choice to coach Team Melli. In an short statement on the occasion of the visit by Marc Welmots, to Tehran he said: “We want to maintain our top ranking in Asia. On the other hand, we were looking for a coach who could build a youthful national team. We were looking for a young coach in  50 to 55 years age bracket, as such , we ultimately selected Marc Welmots among several options. Welmots took Belgium from a Fifa Ranking of 51 all the way up to second place in the world and left a golden generation of players.”

The head of the Football Federation emphasized: “We have negotiated with Welmots. His appointment is definite. However, there are some minor details that we have to agree upon and we hopefully can resolve it by Monday. Taj, said that Welmots did not expect Iran to be like what he experienced in person. He said several times that although I am not Iranian, I am ecstaticalready. He saw the National Teams Training Center and said that in Belgium we have only a few centers with the same high standards”

The head of the Football Federation added: “I think he did not feel there was any inadequacy in our facilities and it was all acceptable to him. That’s what made keen to join and come to our country. Welmots contract will be up to the end of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar,”

Taj added “During the contract of  Queiroz, almost all his assistants were foreigners. Now Wilmtos will bring with him two assistants only while the rest of coaching staff will be selected from the cadre of Iranians. We are actively negotiating and have reached some conclusions for the job of assistant coaches”. Taj did not name the Iranian coaches they have agreed with.

“Most importantly, Wilmots is pivotal,” he said. “When Queiroz was in charge of the national team, some of his duties were not conducted properly due to gaps in the contract. Everything is now clearly described in Wilmots contract and even his media statements are regulated! Friendly games are administrative duty conducted by us, and if there is some suggestion for friendly matches by the coach, then it will be considered, negotiated and contract signed with the appropriate federation. Youth teams are well under the control of Wilmots. It is in one of the clauses of the contract.”