Queiroz is stopped from leaving Iran!
On the eve of the departure of Team Melli squad to Europe for the two friendly games against Chile and Sweden, the authorities have prevented the Portuguese coach of Team Melli from leaving Iran based on official complaints received from the tax authorities in regards of non-payment of income taxes.
It is customary for people who have issues with the tax authorities and without requiring a court order, to be stopped at the exit ports of Iran based upon a notice of complaint from the Finance Ministry. Since Carlos Queiroz has announced his resignation, the tax authorities, fearing that Queiroz will not return back, went into overdrive to recover his unpaid taxes before he leaves.
The irony of the issue is that his employer, The football federation, is responsible to settle the income tax, this fact was even confirmed by the federations secretary-general, Asadi recently. However, the FFIRI failed to pay the taxes due and failed to coordinate with the authorities to prevent such action being taken against the Portuguese coach.
For the record, this is not the first time a foreign Team Melli coach has been held or prevented from leaving the country because of Tax Issues.
After assurances and guarantees from FFIRI, Queiroz would be allowed to fly to Austria to accompany the squad on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Ali Kaffashian has revealed that Queiroz had a reversal of mind after a few months of the agreement to extend his contract after the FIFA World Cup 2014 was signed “We did a lot of work to convince Queiroz to extend his contract up to the next World Cup and it was finally signed after some prolong negotiations. However, A month before the start of the AFC Asian Cup 2015, he started coming up with excuses and raising issues. This coincided with several reports in the foreign media naming Queiroz as a candidate for various coaching jobs in some clubs.” Kaffashian said.
“We cannot force anyone to work with us. It is clear that he (Queiroz) has made up his mind and seeking to work elsewhere. We were satisfied with his work and do not have any issues. So , he cannot claim that we at the federation did not want him around. About the critics, we neither have the tools nor do we have the abilities stop people criticizing him.”