In a letter to the football federation , Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has dismissed the football federation demands on the TV rights and offered its own figure.

After demanding a fee equivalent to US$ 68 million from IRIB and the threat by Ali Kaffashian that unless the broadcaster pays up , TV cameras and crews will not be allowed in the stadiums, IRIB where unperturbed and ignored Kaffashian’s threat (then again , nobody takes him seriously , it seems)

The head of IRIB responded to the incumbent football boss reminding him of the lawful state and legal obligations.

“IRIB is the sole service provider of the Radio and Television services and stations in Iran. This right is mandated by the country’s constitution. The football federation in no position to disobey such law. We like to remind you that the IRIB through decades of excellent coverage, has played a major role in popularizing the sport of football in the country , without which the sport would have not reached such a stature” IRIB responded.

“However , as to help the football federation , IRIB is willing to pay the equivalent of US$ 8 million as a token of support.”

In reality , IRIB is saying that it needs not to pay anything to broadcast the football matches, as it is the sole provider. There is no other option for TV coverage unless there is a change of law. Understanding this point and making it quite clear to Kaffashian , the IRIB absolute and unequivocal Monopoly means that it can legally refuse to pay the federation and stop broadcasting football matches.

Everyone knows that suspending TV broadcast of football events will be disastrous for football in Iran, which at the moment is not very popular with the Iranians due to multiple negative events news , strong suspicions of wide spread corruption, under the counter payments, discovery of fake “Military release certificates, and other violation of many other laws by clubs and players.

The FFIRI demands and claims and the refusal of IRIB to budge is becoming an annual ritual. FFIRI never acted on its threats to ban the camera crew, and IRIB know that fact pretty well. Being the monopoly , IRIB is pretty confident that it , rather than FFIRI will dictate the conditions, the payments and write the rules.

MBC has signed a 10 years agreement to cover the Saudi Arabian football league. The contract is worth US$ 1 Billion for 10 years. According to AFC analysis, the Saudi league has the second best in Asia while Iran is the fifth. However , in attendance figure , Saudi Arabia is way behind Iran.