Former Team Melli and Esteghlal Tehran defender says that there is not much value or benefit in agreeing contract extension with a class coach like Carlos Queiroz for the national team if we insist on neglecting the basics and grassroots football. Pashazadh also says that if we have to collect & deliver Quieroz wages with hardship and adversity, this deal is like buying a high-class expensive car but we do not have enough money for petrol.
Mehdi Pashazadh told Mehr News, “the FFIRI has agreed to extend contract with Carlos Queiroz and that contract extension cannot be bad. He is a well-known coach, but the problem is whether we have money and can afford his wages or go on begging here and there passing the hat to collect from donors ? “
He then described the situation like a guy buying an expensive high-end car , but struggles to provide a meal for his family because he spent all his earnings on paying for the car. “If we cannot develop our grassroots football, cannot provide proper facilities for the kids and youth to progress and improve in a proper environment, what is the use to have a class coach for one team only?” declared Pashazadeh questioning the policy of the federation..
The Former football player who was in the 1998 World Cup squad, currently an assistant coach, continues “ Queiroz adapted himself very well and seems to know the market and internal Iranian politics. Like many of local coaches and players who realize how lucrative the domestic football market is, he naturally raised his wages demands. In the previous World Cup in Germany in 2006 , Team Melli achieved the same result , expect then we scored 2 goals. In Brazil , we did some good work in terms of the defense in the first 2 matches which was highly organized, but result wise , we have done nothing significant at all. There was no progress from 2006.”
Pashazadh in response to the question “Do you agree with this interpretation that the contract extension with Queiroz is not good for Iran’s football?” Queiroz contract extension is not bad but only if you have money for his wages and other development programs It is useless if the bulk of the federation budget goes towards paying Queiroz , which amounts to something like 10 years’ worth of grassroots football development cost in Iran.”
Mehdi Pashazadeh is reflecting the views of several critics of the FFIRI who are, on the surface at least , struggling to finance the contract extension of the highly paid coach. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, on the other hand, refutes Kaffashian’s claims of scarcity of resources and believe that the FFIRI can finance the deal without outside help