Tehran.

Amir Ghalenoei, the ex-Team Melli coach and the current coach of league leader Esteghlal club, has severely criticized “Navad” TV show and its anchor, Adel Ferdowsipour, for exposing wrongdoings of Iran’s football players and officials.

In the aftermath of “Navad” uncovering of the Shisha smoking by several players and officials of Team Melli U-22 in a Kish Island hotel, where the team was camping for the friendly match against South Korea,  the results of which lead to the suspension of the persons involved , Ghalenoei accused Navad and Ferdowsipour of attempting to discredit footballers and tarnish their name by publicizing their wrongdoings while ignoring their charity works.

Ghalenoei pointed at the recent function when his team’s players visited a hospital specializing in artificial; limbs operations, which did not receive any publicity, according to Ghalenoei.

“When my players do any type of charity work , similar to what Sepahan , Fajr Sepasi  and Tractorsazi players do , it is not reflected in the media , but a few young players smoking Shisha gets much attention” Ghalenoei moaned “Why do they have to highlight such wrongdoing? If only a few people knew about such misdemeanor , and I say that as a person who is totally against smoking , now 20 million knows about it, thanks to Navad ”  referring to the number of audiences that regularly watch “Navad” every week.

“Navad” is a weekly sport show hosted by Adel Ferdowsipour. It is the most popular TV show on IRIB TV network by a large margin and the show that creates substantial advertising revenue for the network due to this immense popularity in Iran. Ferdowsipour, through his bold and skilful investigative journalism has created a large fan base making him arguably, the most influential person in Iran’s complex football politics. But his influence and popularity is not shared by many people in Iranian football circles. Navad and Ferdowsipour is loathed by officials, coaches and players who are exposed or investigated for their misconducts., High profile club bosses and coaches such as Daei and Ghalenoei are regular critics of Ferdowsipour, but the same people who criticize Navad , do not hesitate to use the program as a tribune to advertise their own causes.