Hossein Hedayati , the Iranian Entrepreneur and the man that has several positions in Iran’s football, promised a car for each Team Melli player and the staff, in case the team defeats the South Koreans in the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifier match that will be played in Azadi on October 16th. Hedayati, the current owner and the chairman of Malavan Bandar Anzali , in a statement to Mehr News said “To prove our good intentions, like we awarded and appreciated our Olympic and Para-Olympic heroes and medals winners , in case Team Melli defeats Korea Republic , we will award each player and each technical staff , an automobile in a token of appreciation.”
Hossein Hedayati , who is also the owner of Steel Azin club , and was a board member of Perspolis club several years back , was commenting on questions about the truth behind the demands by league clubs for an emergency general assembly meeting to discuss the suitability of the current Iran football federation (IRIFF) administration. Hedayati has confirmed that a request was sent to all members of the league in which the letter contain a request for signing a petition by the members if they agree on the demands. So far, 17 members have responded positively according to Hedayati. The rules stipulate that 75 votes or one third of the total number of general assembly members are required in order for a emergency special session to convene.
Hedayati’s action is part of what seems to be a general discontent with the current IRIFF administration and its head, Ali Kaffashian. Despite winning a second term while running unopposed, Kaffashian has failed to achieve much success for Iran and his administration was center of several embarrassing events that resulted in public outcry. The most glaring and humiliating of such was the elimination of Iran’s Olympic football team as the result of fielding an ineligible player against Iraq.
Hedayati stressed that he has no intention to run for the presidency of the football federation. He simply wants to put the house in order and ensure that competent personnel run this federation. He emphasized the fact that Iran has a lot of potential in football, but there must be a competent cadre of management at the top of the sport structure in order to realize these excellent potentials and capabilities.
He refuted any claims that such move to oust the current IRIFF management will be harming the chances of Iran in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Hedayati said “ we made sure that any meetings of the general assembly of the football federation will be held after the Korea match. One of the catalysts for our move is precisely the poor results of Team Melli and especially after the last defeat against Lebanon, so we will ensure that the Team is not affected at all by any move from our side.”
Hedayati also encourages Adel Ferdowsipour, the NAVAD TV program presenter , which is one of the most popular TV shows carried by the state run IRIB and has millions of viewers each week, to run a SMS poll for the viewer to find out if there is a public support for their demand for the leagues general assemble to convene and discuss the current IRIFF shortcomings. On each Navad program , a poll is conducted in which the participants easily exceed 3 to 4 million. Participants send SMS messages to answer the multiple choice questions