The Portuguese coach , Nelo Vingada , finally put pen on paper and signed a two year contract to coach Iran’s Olympic team /U-23, according to Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA)

It is believed that the prolong negotiations between FFIRI and Vingada and failure to reach an agreement , was mainly due to the selection of an assistant coach. While FFIRI insisted that a local Iranian coach must accompany Vingada as his right hand man, the Portuguese wanted a hand picked coach of his own, most probably a Portuguese coach, while he did not mind any number of additional Iranian coaches. It is not clear what was the final agreement

Vingada will be leading Iran until the conclusion of the Rio Olympics in 2016.

ISNA claims that the value of the contract for Vingada will be US$ 360,000 per annum.  A Physical trainer , who will also be a foreigner , will be recruited as part of Vingada’s coaching team.

Nelo Vingada , who was recommended to FFIRI by Team Melli’s coach Carlos Queiroz , has a decent record in the coaching of Olympic teams.  Vingada lead his own country Portugal in the  1996 Atalanta Olympics games to fourth place. He also coached the Egyptian Olympic Team in Beijing 2008 and reached the quarter finals before being eliminated by Côte d’Ivoire. Vingada also coached the Jordanian Olympic team.

Iran has a dismal record in the Olympics games football particularly post revolution.  The last time Iran qualified for the Olympic Games was 1980 Moscow where Iran withdrew from the games due to politics. All attempts after 1980 resulted in failure to qualify. If Vingada manages to reach the Olympics, he will break a 36 years of absence from what is considered to be the most important youth football event on international calendar.