A member of the executive committee of Iran’s football federation has said that in the meeting that was recently held, he requested from Ali Kaffashian to publically apologize to the Iranian fans for the series of defeats and poor results of Iranian teams in recent competetions.
Shehab-Uldeen Aziz Khadem , has said that that Iranian fans have endured hardship and have been greatly disappointed by one defeat after another in the international arena and it is a high time that someone takes responsibility and prudently apologize for these defeats. He added that the public and fans are quite obviously dejected, disconsolate and losing hope and it is the duty of the federation to change and positively react to this situation. The absence of the fans in the league matches of the last round was an obvious indication of the public feelings and sentiments towards football.
Commenting on the meeting , Khadem said that there was a suggestion of a meeting between Queiroz , Kaffashian and the executive committee. The proposal was put forward to limit some of the authorities and powers given to Queiroz “We believe that Queieroz should serve the interest of Iranian football not vice versa.” “ We need people to come out of their cocoons and air their criticism , as shying away from criticizing the team and the coach and instead praising a team whose performance is lackluster and devoid of success on the pretext of national interest, will never serve our progress in football.”
“Admittedly, looking back at the results of Iranian football in the recent years , we have to say that the federation has failed in meeting the high aspiration and expectations of the Iranian fans. I am not talking about individual failures here , but addressing a group in the shape of Iran’s football federation.” Khadem said. The outspoken Khadem also mentioned that the absloute majority of the committee memebers agreed with Torabian’s resignation as the head of Iran’s futsal team , but Kaffashian was dragging his feet on the issue. Torabian has been a close ally and a confidante of Kaffashian during his tenure as the head of IFF.
Khadem demanded immediate reforms within the federation as the failures in football and futsal have been far too frequent. This administration must act and properly interact with the public and media.