- German said fouls and confronting officials was ‘in their culture’
Carlos Queiroz has demanded Jürgen Klinsmann resign from his role on Fifa’s technical study group after calling his comments about the Iran team “a disgrace to football”.
After Friday’s 2-0 win over Wales, the BBC presenter Gabby Logan talked about Iran’s “gamesmanship” and said they just stayed on the right side of the law before handing over to Klinsmann. “Yes, that’s their culture,” he said. “Their way of doing it, and that is why Carlos Queiroz fits really well [with] the Iranian national team.”
Queiroz demands that former striker resigns from Fifa role
The former Germany international added: “[Queiroz] struggled in South America, he failed to qualify with Colombia, and then he failed with Egypt to qualify, and then he went back and guided Iran, who he worked already with for a long, long time. So this is not by coincidence, this is done on purpose.
“This is just part of their culture and how they play, then they work the referee, you saw the bench always jumping up, working the fourth official and the linesman, constantly in their ears, constantly in your face. Kieffer Moore will probably tell you more after the game about little incidents that we didn’t see.”
On Saturday evening Queiroz was moved to respond to Klinsmann in a series of tweets in which it was clear the Iran manager was furious. “No matter how much I can respect what you did inside the pitch, those remarks about Iran Culture, Iran National Team, and my Players are a disgrace to football,” he said.
“Nobody can hurt our integrity if it is not at our level, of course. Even saying so, we would like to invite you as our guest, to come to our national team camp, socialize with Iran players and learn from them about the country, the people of Iran, the poets and art, the algebra, and all the millennial Persian culture. And also listen from our players how much they love and respect football.”
“Because, obviously, we expect you to resign before you visit our camp.”
The Technical Study Group is led by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is FIFA’s chief of global football development, and provides analysis on the World Cup action to identify styles and trends which develop.
It is not Queiroz’s first outburst at the tournament.
He criticized Iran fans for not supporting the team in their opening defeat to England, and then confronted a journalist at a press conference on the eve of the Wales match, wanting to know why England manager Gareth Southgate does not face the same level of questioning on political matters as him.