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FFIRI board and Minster of Sports summoned to the Majlis.

Finally, Mehdi Taj and his entourage board members of the Football Federation are to be challenged about the circumstances of the suspicious and highly controversial deal by the parliament.

Mehdi Taj, along with several members of FFIRI board of directors and several current and former directors, attended a questioning session in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

According to ISNA, the purpose of FFIRI board of directors’ appearance in Majlis is to determine if there was wrongdoing, negligence or corruption behind the signing of the deal with Wilmots, especially since the federation has been claiming for many years under both Ali Kaffashian and Mehdi Taj that it is critically short of funds even to pay its basic obligation, like the employee’s salaries, National teams training camps and inability to arrange meaningful friendly games for Team Melli to prepare for the World Cup citing fund shortage. Yet, the same federation that has been constantly seeking handouts from the government in effect using blackmail tactics, signs a multi-million dollar contract with a coach who has lasted only six months with Ivory Coast before he was sacked!

The FFIRI had steadfastly refused to disclose the terms of the deal and the justifications until public pressure and the threat of law suite finally exposed this horrendous commitment by the bankrupt federation.

 

Mehdi Taj and Ebrahim Shakoori, along with the current board of directors are under investigation for signing the worst sporting contract in the history of Iran at all levels. A contract with Marc Wilmots which resulted in Iran’s Team Melli not only risking eliminations from the qualifiers with two consecutive defeats under the Belgian but also resulted in the coach of Team Melli leaving the country accusing his employer of several breaches of the contract, which was supported by FIFA’s committee with Iranian side ordered to pay some € 6.2 million in fines to the person who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the World Cup !.

The Minister of Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar and his deputies are also summoned for the hearing. It is strongly believed that the influence of the Minister was telling in the conclusion of the contract. With FFIRI board constantly seeking handouts, it is believed that none dared to challenge the Ministry’s choice while Soltanmifar denies any wrongdoing and only introducing the coach by recommendation of Iran-Belgium Chambers of commerce.

The executives are expected to answer questions from members of the Parliament about the background and the termination of the contract with Wilmots. FFIRI has borrowed over € 2.2 million from the social security organization to pay Wilmot’s salary.

Many observers are skeptical about any progress of the proceeding as it is feared that the issue will be kept under wrap and no one will be prosecuted especially since the Ministry of Sports and Youth is involved in the case as defendants.

Wilmots contract verdict and the depth of tragedy in Iran’s football.

The contract of Marc Wilmots with the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI has caused a further 8,142,000 Euros in damages (about 216 billion Tomans), which is about 50 billion more than the entire budget of the Iranian National Olympic and Paralympic Committees!!

The astronomical and tragic waste of public money epitomizes the sheer mismanagement, corruption, and lack of oversight in Iran’s football.

Recently, however, FIFA announced its verdict in the dispute between Iran and Marc Wilmots and ordered the Iranian Football Federation to pay Euros 6,137,000 in compensation to this Belgian coach; In addition, the Iranians must pay an amount of about five thousand euros as a court fee to the ruling committee. A grand total of Euros 8,142,000 so far goes to Wilmots. FFIRI, had previously borrowed 2 million Euros from the Social Security Investment Company (Shasta) to pay Marc Wilmots’ wages of which compensation of 6,137, euros, and five thousand euros related to the proceedings for a total 8,142,000 euros. That is the total cost of the contract with the coach who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Considering that the FFIRI has to pay its 2 million euro loan to Shasta in foreign currency and this figure has not been paid in full so far and it is not clear what the price of the euro will be when settling the debt, calculation of all the expenses that is due and libel by the Football Federation of Iran so far in today’s exchange rate, (including 26,500 Tomans to the Euro) it will be about 216 billion Tomans, which is equivalent to 13% of the total budget of Iran’s sports expenditure of this current year!!!

Of course, the price that Iranian sports must pay for the four national team games with Wilmots is about 50 billion tomans more than the total budget of the National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which must prepare Iranian sports for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is the depth of the contract tragedy with a failure coach Wilmots.

Iran’s football and as we realize now the entire sports especially those who bring glory to the nation like wrestling, weightlifting, volleyball, basketball, and Martial Arts are held ransom by a group of incompetent and corrupt individuals marshaled by the government.

There is no end in sight either.

Skocic fined $80,000 for breach of contract with Sanat Naft.

The problems associated with Dragan Skocic’s presence in Team Melli are not over yet, and the Abadani Club, Sanat Naft are still insisting on their rights and accusing the Croat coach of deception and breach of contract.

Skocic, canceled his contract with Sanat Naft Club under the pretext of returning to his home country for personal reasons, but shortly afterward he agreed with the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI to lead the national team as head coach. Such move resulted in strong reactions and objection by Sanat Naft Abadan who accused the Croat of disguising them and being dishonest and hence complained about the coach to the federation.

After some time from Sanat Naft lodging the complaint with the FFIRI disciplinary committee, it seems that a verdict has been reached and it is ready to be notified to the concerned parties. The ruling forces the head coach of the Iranian national team to pay about $ 80,000 in compensation to Sanat Naft Abadan Club.

It remains to be seen how the football federation will react to this ruling.

Hashemi-Taba “AFC does not trust us”

The debate on Iran’s intention to apply to host the Asian Cup for the third time after the previously hosting the 1968 and 1976 tournaments, is heating up in Iran with many finding the idea as futile.

The former head of the Physical Education Organization was interviewed in “Iran Today” radio program on the subject of the country’s bid for AFC Asian Cup 2027 and said, “the AFC’s much prefers to award the hosting of the AFC Asian Cup to other countries rather than Iran, and that is why Iran will not host the event in 2027.”

Seyyed Mostafa Hashemi Taba, former head of the Physical Education Organization, commented “We can implement and manage such project, however, from what we have all witnessed in the last few years in the country, management of the clubs has caused disappointment and despair, as it seems that we do not have a competent cadre of managers who can proficiently run their clubs and succeed in their jobs that is what is happening now. Finally, we have not and cannot respond positively to AFC requests. We have been maneuvering and using all sorts of tricks to circumvent the AFC bylaws. Maybe we can finally modernize and complete the stadiums, some of which have taken 10 years to complete, and prepare them according to the standards of the AFC, however, that is not all”.

* The cat and mouse game would not work in Hosting.

“In the first place, they give a commitment to AFC & FIFA that women will be allowed to enter the stadium, but it is not possible to play cat and mouse game with this subject. It is not very clever to usher a selected group of women to the stadium in Tehran for a show, but not allow them to enter in another city. I don’t think we can meet the demands of AFC by such ploy.”

 * AFC does not trust us.

Hashemi Taba in the interview with “Iran Today” program of Radio Iran, emphasized the fact that FFIRI is a repeat offender, with so many cases of non-compliance, provision of false information, player’s registration inaccuracies and false data on Iranian clubs legibility, AFC has lost its trust”

“Even now The AFC does not trust us. When we are about to complete the documents, the AFC is not sure if we have provided accurate and correct information and even worst, they know that we cannot meet the demands and standards set by the international ruling bodies. AFC is looking for countries that have provided the necessary guarantees and have a clean sheet in their history. They go to a place where there is no problem and they are comfortable thinking that the country is doing the right thing. Just submitting the request in a bid to host the Asian Cup is not a big deal, any member country has the right to do so with for the Asian Football Confederation. All the countries around the Persian Gulf have the necessary facilities and can easily host such an event. Even East Asian countries are ready to compete. I think the motive behind the bid by FFIRI, as it seems we are on the verge of registration, is just to announce that we exist.

* The regime does not consider count the Asian Cup amongst the priorities

“One of the missions of the Islamic Revolution is to present ourselves in the world and not to isolate ourselves. Due to the various predicaments in the country and the region, and with the world’s great powers, I don’t think the authorities prioritize this, namely hosting the Asian Cup, as an essential part of the sports project. This is a kind of involvement with the international community and we just cannot act in the global arena the way we want and by the ideologies that we think are right. Some time ago, I heard that one of the gentlemen suggested we establish an Islamic FIFA (…), and 20 countries announced their willingness to join. When they mentioned the names of the 20 countries, it was immediately apparent that these countries already face problems in FIFA and had been subject to sanctions and suspensions! I think that these 20 countries want to become members of this Islamic FIFA to take money from us. We can go through the registration process, then organize and host a few small events that nobody cares for, but what then?”

 

Meanwhile, Qatar has officially announced its bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2027

Andrea Stramaccioni turns down Team Melli post.

The former head coach of Esteghlal Club has turned down an offer from FFIRI to coach  Team Melli while wishing the current coaching staff of  Iran national football team all the success.

 According to ISNA, in recent days, reports in the social media about Andrea Stramaccioni occupying the bench of Team Melli was so strong amongst the fans, which prompted FFIRI to issue a denial. However, Andrea Stramaccioni’s agent has confirmed such talks between the two sides by posting in social media, stressing that Stramaccioni had rejected the offer to coach the Iranian national team.

The Italian Andrea Stramaccioni started coaching Esteghlal Tehran from 13th June 2019  on a two-year contract up to June 2021

However, six months into his contract on 8th December, Stramaccioni resigned his post in  Esteghlal as the club failed to pay the wages of the coaching staff, a practice that is quite common in Iranian clubs and the football federation FFIRI.

The usual excuse is the sanctions and restrictions on money transfer !!

On the other hand, FFIRI has already employed the Croat coach Dragan Skocic as the head coach of Team Melli. Due to the COVID-19 endemic, however, he was unable to lead the team in any match so far

The signing of Dragan Skocic has raised a lot of issues and suspicions amongst players and experts with many contending that the Ministry of Sports has forced the Croat on the federation!

 While the bets were on Ali Daei, Amir Ghalenoei or Yahya Golmohammadi to take the job, Dragan Skocic popped out of nowhere to get the post without having coached any National Teams in his career.

Team Melli is still without a sponsor!

The Iranian national team is without a sponsorship deal since the FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia, as all efforts by the Football Federation to find a jersey sponsor and a commercial partner has failed to attract any interest.

The FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup are two of the most important official events in football in which the federation has been able to make a huge profit by accepting sponsors for Team Melli and covering the cost of preparation for the team. The last official contract was signed before the start of the World Cup and lasted up to the end of the tournament, although that deal was much criticized due to lack of transparency.

The Federation or the Marketing Department has repeatedly posted ads on the federation’s website and official newspapers inviting various companies and institutions, but no entity was willing to close a sponsorship with the FFIRI. As a result, Iran’s Team Melli had no sponsor for the World Cup 2022 and World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

Continuation of this problem, given the ambiguity on the resumption of World Cup qualifying matches after Corona’s eradication, could damage the national team’s preparation process as the FFIRI cannot financially meet the demands of the technical staff and the preparations required.

Much of this concern by sponsors revolves around the poor reputation of the administrators and managers of the federation. Corruption is endemic in Iran’s football and lack of transparency on the previous sponsorship deals raised many unanswered questions. Organizations prefer to stay away from this unwelcome PR.

Another stumbling block is the unreliability of the FFIRI in terms of respect for the contract. By the unilateral termination of contracts citing violations without proper evidence or legal backing, the FFIRI has set a bad precedent and created difficult situations on several occasions while it has spoiled its own reputation in the process

As such, none of these failures by inept FFIRI leadership is much of the surprise to the observers in Iran’s football. The FFIRI has a terminal lack of competent leadership as long as the extended hand of the government insists on installing puppets rather than competent administrators and inspiring leadership.

“Corruption is deep rooted ” Ex Foolad Khuzestan CEO.

2019/20 season has been a bad year for Iran’s football so far. Two consecutive defeats against Bahrain and Iraq for Team Melli which is unprecedented for decades, the flight of the Belgian coach, postponing of the World Cup qualifiers and the suspension of the league due to Coronavirus have been the highlight of the season. But the possibility of FFIRI being suspended by FIFA or even kicked out of the World Football remains the most serious threat to Iran’s football.

The issue is simply about government control and influence or as the rest call it, interference, in football affairs against all international rules and statutes. Iran is a repeat offender in this sense. It has already been suspended in 2006 for exactly the same reasons but what remains pretty clear is that the regime in Iran staunchly believes that football is their property and as a sovereign state, the government directly or through their agencies or ministries may, control,  direct or govern football while the federation operates as administrators. The oversight authority including the authority to appoint directors and issues such as the appointment of the Team Melli coach remains the right of the government!

Masoud Rezaian

  Unlike 2006 however, Iranians this time are more aware of this indiscretion by their government and are not ready to victimize their beloved sport, hence quite a few are outspoken and call for reform and compliance with international laws.

“Corruption in our football has deep-rooted. we have to adhere to FIFA rules” The former Foolad Khuzestan CEO says.

Massoud Rezaian,  in an interview with semi-official ISNA, says that changing the FFIRI statute is not very difficult at all and that we should not procrastinate. A few clauses of the statute needs to be changed to conform with FIFA’s. What is certain is that rules of football are ultimately not governed and regulated by us, and if we want to be a part of this system (global community) then we need to apply international laws in full detail. We must incorporate the changes and the federation must comply with FIFA regulations. We have to comply and accept issues such as the Statute, gender segregation, and other issues. Otherwise, if we don’t our football activities will be limited to the domestic league and play with countries who are not FIFA members, and that is disastrous for us”

“We shouldn’t waste time,” he continued. “It is not difficult to change the statute. Right now, not only we do not obey FIFA laws but also we do not even adhere to our own laws. Part of this is our own fault. Failure to comply with FIFA rules is a threat to our football. Everyone is hiding behind coronavirus disease today. We need reform, we need to think about improvements.”

Former Foolad Khuzestan CEO continued called for a competent committee to be appointed to solve this problem, saying “ Let them sit to produce a proposal for the current deficiency in a short period of time. It will not take long to solve this problem, as governance clauses are the only ones that are problematic. FIFA has only demanded those that need to be changed, not the entire statute.”

Regarding the postponement of the Football Federation elections “I do not consider the issue of the election to be related to the statute,” he said . “the newly elected president has quite a task ahead as he must solve the problems of the age-level teams, competitions hosting and the corruption that is within our football. However, corruption is deeply rooted in our football and cannot be easily resolved. But they have to try and hopefully work so well and systematically that everything goes well and orderly.”

Azmoun perfect performance in scoring a hat trick.

Sardar Azmoun scored a hat-trick as Zenit thrashed Ural 7-1 in the Russian Premier League to move nine points clear at the top.

While the coronavirus pandemic has caused a host of postponements across Europe’s major leagues, top-flight action is continuing in Russia.

Iran international Azmoun made the most of the opportunity to play in a game that was likely to have attracted an enhanced audience by netting a sparkling treble.

Zenit led by four after 27 minutes, by which point Azmoun had scored twice along with strikes from Artem Dzyuba and Malcom, who netted his first goal since a big-money move from Barcelona in August.

Azmoun completed his hat-trick just after the hour mark, and a penalty from Ural’s Andrey Panyukov was responded to by the hosts when Sebastian Driussi struck to cap a fine counter-attack and Dzyuba netted a spot-kick.

Azmoun’s hat trick is a breath of fresh air for Iran’s football. A series of bad news including the suspension of all football activities, cancelation of Team Melli matches and the turmoil between FIFA and FFIRI with the possibility of suspending the federation if the Statutes are not amended to conform with FIFA’s, have left the Iranian fans despondent and dejected.

It was not just the goals that were making the headlines, but Azmoun’s overall performance in this match was nothing short of brilliant. Azmoun has scored 10 goals this season and ranked third in the goal scorers table.

FIFA’s ultimate warning to FFIRI on government interference!

The former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club says that all the people who have led the Iranian football for the past four years should be held accountable for their infractions and the damage to Iran’s reputation.

Ali Khatir, former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club and former deputy secretary-general of the FFIRI, in an interview with ISNA, commented on FIFA’s refusal to recognize FFIRI’s statutes and the election results. In 2019 FIFA’s letter referring to paragraphs 14 and 15 of the FFIRI Statute, the world football ruling body warned the Iranian Football Federation that its statute is not in line with the FIFA statute, and referred to paragraph 15. FIFA demanded that all deficiencies and findings which were mentioned by FIFA in the year 2017 after the review of Iranian federations are still not corrected and hence are still not valid and in violation of FIFA regulations and bylaws. Khatir was the Deputy Secretary-General of FFIRI at the time when the FIFA letter was sent.

He added: “FIFA has even given the federation the opportunity to commission a few experts to come and assist FFIRI and amend the statute to be in line with international laws. FIFA meticulously examined our Statute word by word, and even sent its own proposed amendments in 2018, FFIRI management did not respond and there was no follow-up.  Article 15 of the FIFA Statute contains a number of principles such as the independence of the federation, the separation of authorities,  responsibilities n the structure of the federation, financial transparency, and a number of other items that the Iranian Football Federation Statute must include in its statute.

The last letter submitted by FIFA warns FFIRI that if those rules were not followed and applied, FIFA may suspend FFIRI and even withdraw its recognition. The letter even mentions paragraph 19 of the FIFA Statute, which states that a third party (the government or the Ministry of Sport and Youth) should not be influential in the affairs of the federation. The federation must be independent and run directly or indirectly without anyone’s intervention from the state, government or officials of the government. However, in Statute of the FFIRI, there is a clause that allows governments to vote and be members of the Assembly or board of directors. That is a clear and flagrant violation of international laws. The hint had already been given to the Football Federation but they did not respond to FIFA’s directives for reasons they knew best or feared the Ministry of Sports will almost certainly cut all financial support, but now FIFA stands firm and says that if elections are held under such statutes, it will not be recognized by FIFA and possible sanction will follow”.

He continued: “The federation had sent a letter to FIFA on February 9th asking them to hold the election, but FIFA reminded FFIRI of what had transpired before, saying that FFIRI had wasted two years and not replied to our correspondences under the pretext of amending the statute. You didn’t. We even sent a representative to you on August 9 and emailed you five times. Now that you want to hold these elections, we are against it. We must first amend the statute and pass it in an urgent assembly. In this regard, FIFA says that the federation should submit a regular plan and roadmap to the international ruling body”

About the government’s involvement in the sport for the sake of funding the football, Khatir said: “Article 19 of the FIFA Statute explicitly states that the government has no right to interfere in any shape or form in football, even if it wants to provide financial support or sponsor it. We have accepted this, and the government must accept that the Football Federation is an independent public body a non-government organization, subject to the laws of the country but not controlled, influenced or interfered in by the Ministry of Sport. The head of the Football Federation is not an employee of the Ministry of Sports.”

 

“We have reached a dead-end in football that we need to be able to get out of,” Khatir recalled. “The only way out is compliance and cooperation. I believe that all the people who have led this football for the past four years and who have stumbled into this game should be held accountable for their appalling performance. They need to explain and justify their non-actions.

The former deputy chairman of the Esteghlal Club stated at the end: “Gentlemen of the Federation, you have been at the helm for eight years and you have not been able to make a positive difference to our football. Open the way for the elite and motivated youth to take over. The statute needs to be amended to open the way for the elite in football to benefit football.”

FFIRI files a countersuit against Marc Wilmots.

Mehr news agency reports that the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI, has filed a countersuit against the lawsuit by Marc Wilmots claiming over a million dollars.  The lawyer assigned by the FFIRI is the same Swiss lawyer who failed in his most recent case while representing the TractorSazi Tabriz football club.

In that case, an infamous Irish player by the name of Anthony Stokes has won a libel case worth US$ 400,000 that Tractorsazi has to pay the Irishman plus 5% interest.

The Former Republic of Ireland international Anthony Stokes has reportedly been arrested by armed police at London’s Gatwick Airport due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest last week.

Stokes arrived at the airport on a plane from Dubai, where he had been on a short break, after refusing to return back to his current employer Persepolis!

In Wilmots vs FFIRI, the Belgian coach is claiming several million euros in back payment plus interest. It is quite likely that Wilmots will win the case and Iranian football will have to pay yet another hefty sum to outsiders due to their own utter incompetence and mismanagement of the federation.

The next in line to pay similar fines are Persepolis and Esteghlal who have several open cases against them in Zurich all for breach of contract and non-payment of dues.

The irony is that all such funds have to come from the public coffers as these clubs are practically bankrupt and wholly dependent on the ministry of Sports budget.