Category: Sports & Games

FFIRI board and Minster of Sports summoned to the Majlis.

Finally, Mehdi Taj and his entourage board members of the Football Federation are to be challenged about the circumstances of the suspicious and highly controversial deal by the parliament.

Mehdi Taj, along with several members of FFIRI board of directors and several current and former directors, attended a questioning session in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

According to ISNA, the purpose of FFIRI board of directors’ appearance in Majlis is to determine if there was wrongdoing, negligence or corruption behind the signing of the deal with Wilmots, especially since the federation has been claiming for many years under both Ali Kaffashian and Mehdi Taj that it is critically short of funds even to pay its basic obligation, like the employee’s salaries, National teams training camps and inability to arrange meaningful friendly games for Team Melli to prepare for the World Cup citing fund shortage. Yet, the same federation that has been constantly seeking handouts from the government in effect using blackmail tactics, signs a multi-million dollar contract with a coach who has lasted only six months with Ivory Coast before he was sacked!

The FFIRI had steadfastly refused to disclose the terms of the deal and the justifications until public pressure and the threat of law suite finally exposed this horrendous commitment by the bankrupt federation.

 

Mehdi Taj and Ebrahim Shakoori, along with the current board of directors are under investigation for signing the worst sporting contract in the history of Iran at all levels. A contract with Marc Wilmots which resulted in Iran’s Team Melli not only risking eliminations from the qualifiers with two consecutive defeats under the Belgian but also resulted in the coach of Team Melli leaving the country accusing his employer of several breaches of the contract, which was supported by FIFA’s committee with Iranian side ordered to pay some € 6.2 million in fines to the person who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the World Cup !.

The Minister of Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar and his deputies are also summoned for the hearing. It is strongly believed that the influence of the Minister was telling in the conclusion of the contract. With FFIRI board constantly seeking handouts, it is believed that none dared to challenge the Ministry’s choice while Soltanmifar denies any wrongdoing and only introducing the coach by recommendation of Iran-Belgium Chambers of commerce.

The executives are expected to answer questions from members of the Parliament about the background and the termination of the contract with Wilmots. FFIRI has borrowed over € 2.2 million from the social security organization to pay Wilmot’s salary.

Many observers are skeptical about any progress of the proceeding as it is feared that the issue will be kept under wrap and no one will be prosecuted especially since the Ministry of Sports and Youth is involved in the case as defendants.

Wilmots contract verdict and the depth of tragedy in Iran’s football.

The contract of Marc Wilmots with the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI has caused a further 8,142,000 Euros in damages (about 216 billion Tomans), which is about 50 billion more than the entire budget of the Iranian National Olympic and Paralympic Committees!!

The astronomical and tragic waste of public money epitomizes the sheer mismanagement, corruption, and lack of oversight in Iran’s football.

Recently, however, FIFA announced its verdict in the dispute between Iran and Marc Wilmots and ordered the Iranian Football Federation to pay Euros 6,137,000 in compensation to this Belgian coach; In addition, the Iranians must pay an amount of about five thousand euros as a court fee to the ruling committee. A grand total of Euros 8,142,000 so far goes to Wilmots. FFIRI, had previously borrowed 2 million Euros from the Social Security Investment Company (Shasta) to pay Marc Wilmots’ wages of which compensation of 6,137, euros, and five thousand euros related to the proceedings for a total 8,142,000 euros. That is the total cost of the contract with the coach who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Considering that the FFIRI has to pay its 2 million euro loan to Shasta in foreign currency and this figure has not been paid in full so far and it is not clear what the price of the euro will be when settling the debt, calculation of all the expenses that is due and libel by the Football Federation of Iran so far in today’s exchange rate, (including 26,500 Tomans to the Euro) it will be about 216 billion Tomans, which is equivalent to 13% of the total budget of Iran’s sports expenditure of this current year!!!

Of course, the price that Iranian sports must pay for the four national team games with Wilmots is about 50 billion tomans more than the total budget of the National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which must prepare Iranian sports for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is the depth of the contract tragedy with a failure coach Wilmots.

Iran’s football and as we realize now the entire sports especially those who bring glory to the nation like wrestling, weightlifting, volleyball, basketball, and Martial Arts are held ransom by a group of incompetent and corrupt individuals marshaled by the government.

There is no end in sight either.

Team melli training camp in doubt as soon as it is announced.

Team Melli will hold its first training camp under the leadership of the Croatian head coach in mid-September.

The team faces three important challenges for holding camp with the availability of players, which can overshadow the camp objectives and Team Melli preparation.

Skocic has yet to have a single training session with Team Melli since Covid19 has upset football activities worldwide. The first schedule camp for Dragan Skocic will be overshadowed by more events as FIFA has just announced the postponement of the Qualifiers from October 2020 to yet unannounced dates in 2021.

The Croatian coach will have the opportunity to face the squad for the first time. Circumstances allowing, it will help the head coach to identify the players he needs for 4 crucial and decisive matches in the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

In this camp, the national team will have arranged two friendly matches, the first match against Uzbekistan will be held on September 9th. The national team will play another match before that, which, according to speculation and information in the Arabic-language media, will be played against either Syria or Palestine, but nothing is certain at this time.

However, two important issues have overshadowed the camp with all the player’s availabilities, which could be a problem for Skocic’s as he may not be able to hold his camp with all the players.

Corona and visa restrictions

Most of the Team Melli squad consists of professional players working outside Iran, mainly in Belgium, Portugal, Qatar, etc., and a few who are playing in Russia, England and Croatia. The hardship that faced Alireza Biranvand in his trip from Iran to Belgium is a bitter reminder, and this issue has raised concerns for most legionnaires that they may have difficulty returning back to their country of work.

Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, etc., provide a two-week quarantine for travelers to countries such as Iran to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. For this reason, Iran, like the Iraqi national team, may restrict the participation of the legionnaires to prevent any problems and difficulties for those playing in foreign leagues. The availability of foreign-based players is of course overshadowed by their availability and release by their employers. With the Leagues scheduling in Europe in such a mess, it is highly unlikely if any player is released by their clubs unless they are of now value to their squad, like Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

The AFC Champions League commitment

The AFC Champions League league will start in Qatar with four Iranian representatives competing for the coveted prize. For this reason, these four clubs will keep their players and not release them for Team Melli. Iranian clubs have never won the AFC Champions League title since its new format and are not considered as title contenders this season either, but will be always trying to upset the rivals and be at full strength.

However, in recent days there have been reports that players’ passports have been submitted to the national team’s department for friendly matches with Uzbekistan in Tashkent. Given that the players will have to rest for a few days on their return from the camp in Uzbekistan, the possibility of the players’ absence from the four teams in the camp will be strengthened or at least they will remain with the national team for a shorter period.

Hazfi Cup.

The League Organization Committee announced that it is willing to postpone the final of the “Hazfi Cup” to a later date for the sake of  Team Melli Training Camp in Uzbekistan. However, the organizer’s condition is that there should be a firm decision on the dates and confirmation from Team Melli administrators before a conclusion is made. Hazfi Cup, which is becoming a real farce in Iran’s football with chaotic and ever-changing scheduling, was to be held mid-September.

With all these problems, Team Melli may not be able to hold the camp at all and with the recent postponement announcement by FIFA in regards to the qualifiers, the Team Melli camp might also be postponed, prolonging Skocic attempt to meet Team Melli players for another few months.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers may be held behind closed doors.

With COVID19 still prevalent, Team Melli is likely to play the rest of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers behind closed doors.

After months of uncertainty following of the postponement of the qualifiers, the schedule for the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the Asian Zone was announced, and Iran will play four crucial matches in October and November this year. However, the venues have not yet been announced yet by the World Football Governing body and AFC, and it is unclear whether the games will be hosted by the home team as standard, and whether spectators will be allowed entry into the venues. There is a possibility that the rest of the qualifiers will be played in a third country behind closed doors.

This possibility of action by FIFA and AFC is due to the continuing outbreak of coronavirus in different countries of the world. Corona is currently on the rise in some countries, and experts predict that the spread of the disease will worsen in the fall, and health protocols need to be implemented more vigorously. In this regard, the head of the UEFA Medical Committee announced that all national games will be held in the fall without spectators and that fans will not be able to return to the stadiums at the moment.

Such ruling by the Europeans could also be implemented in Asia which would practically deny the Iranian fans from attending matches in Azadi.

 * Effect of behind closed door games on Team Melli Chances.

Is this ban complicating Team Melli’s chances of qualifying? Although FIFA will announce its decisions after consulting with local confederations, it is clear that some Asian countries are less prepared than the Europeans and developed countries in terms of health protocols. As a result, due to the Iranian Premier League games being played behind closed doors, the AFC may not allow Iran to host spectators in the fall, and the national team will be forced to face its rivals without the support of the fans. Iranian fans have been a hallmark of Team Melli’s success throughout the years.

The players and managers have bee counting of home advantage in their remaining games specifically against Bahrain and Iraq, the two contenders of this group.

Due to the fact that Team Melli has played three away games, the matched in Tehran without the presence of spectators will be slightly in favor of the rivals. Currently, Iran is in third place in its group due to poor results of the previous round and the loss against Bahrain and Iraq under former coach Marc Wilmots. Iram has 4 points less than its two group leaders, namely Iraq and Bahrain.

Accordingly, the schedule of the Iranian national football team’s return matches was announced as follows:

Iran – Hong Kong (Thursday, October 8)

Cambodia – Iran (Tuesday, October 13)

Iran – Bahrain (Thursday, November 12)

Iran – Iraq (Tuesday, November 17)

Maryam Shojaei to be honored.

Maryam Shojaei, who mounted a campaign — first anonymously and later publicly — that led to Iran allowing women to attend men’s soccer matches, is being honored with the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award, ESPN announced Tuesday.

The award is part of the Sports Humanitarian Awards, which typically are handed out during the week of the ESPYS. This year, the awards will be given out on various ESPN programs.

 

Women had been banned from watching men’s games since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, with only a few exceptions made for small groups on rare occasions. Shojaei, whose brother Masoud Shojaei is the captain of the men’s national team, initially criticized the ban on social media anonymously. She then started a five-year battle to allow women to see matches live in her country.

Shojaei, attended the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015, displaying a banner but keeping her identity hidden. By 2018, she had helped create the #NoBan4Women petition, and she went to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Russia, where her banners were confiscated but she revealed her identity.

She kept pushing FIFA to uphold its policies against gender discrimination, and eventually, the soccer governing body sent a delegation to Iran, which resulted in women being allowed to attend men’s international matches.

In October 2019, women were allowed to watch the Iranian men’s national team beat Cambodia 14-0 in Tehran in a World Cup qualifier. The initial lot of 3,500 tickets for women sold out almost immediately, and an additional 1,100 were released — about 5% of the total tickets in the stadium.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has urged Iranian authorities to open up stadiums to women for domestic league games, not just World Cup qualifiers.

“This is a very positive step forward, and one which FIFA, and especially Iranian girls and women, have been eagerly waiting for,” FIFA said in a statement in October 2019. “The passion, joy and enthusiasm they showed today was remarkable to see and encourages us even more to continue the path we have started. History teaches us that progress comes in stages and this is just the beginning of a journey.

“Consequently, FIFA now looks more than ever towards a future when ALL girls and women wishing to attend football matches in Iran will be free to do so, and in a safe environment.

“There can be no stopping or turning back now.”

The ESPYS will be televised on ESPN on June 21 at 9 p.m. ET. The Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award is sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Single country hosting for FIFA qualifiers.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is thinking of a plan for one venue or one country to host the remaining  FIFA 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia have been postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.  The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is considering a single host country, given the continuing coronavirus and the restrictions of entries by many countries that have been placed on their borders. Qatar seems to be the obvious candidate for such hosting.

To create such a scenario, FIFA must first approve such a plan, so the AFC is consulting with FIFA to reach a final conclusion. The AFC website said that the AFC considers the continuation of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the 2023 Asian Cup as a cumulative system (hosted by one country) as the best solution for the current situation with Corona. Qatar’s Ustad al-Doha website reported by saying that creating such conditions will allow the member countries of the Asian Football Confederation to hold their local leagues as well.

Certainly, this decision will not be in favor of Iranian football, because Team Melli lost in the away matches against Iraq and Bahrain, and it is hoped that by hosting both teams in Azadi, it will make up for the defeats, and improve its standings in the table.

Although Corona has not yet been eliminated as countries like India and the USA are seeing a rising number of cases, the AFC, like other football governing bodies, seems to be determined to continue football even suggesting games without fans, just to ensure financial revenues. Some European leagues such as the English Premier League blackmail their governments citing huge losses. redundancies and bankruptcies of clubs, to force the authorities to award some kind of dispensation to start playing football. If that happens, AFC and FIFA will certainly have a solid backing to start the competitions again.

Iran hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027!

Recently there have been some reports, possibly leaked to the media by FFIRI, about Iran requesting the hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027.  This suggestion has been carried by many media and sports publications.  The is article discusses whether this possibility is realistic or just another gag to entertain the Iranian fans under the lockdown of COVID-19.

For a starter, news, or rumors of  FFIRI application for Iran to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 has been met by a wave of criticism from football fans and critics mainly targeting the Iranian federation’s action. This comes at a time when the Asian Football’s most prestigious event  (AFC Asian Cup) requires major resources and infrastructure while Iran’s football, in general, is in the midst of a major crisis that is unparalleled in the country and will probably take years to recover.

* Hosting under current infrastructure?

At first glance, attention needs to be drawn to stadiums with FIFA standards, which are not available in Iran, as Sheikh Salman, the AFC president, recently announced that to host the event, which will be 24 teams tournament, eight to ten stadiums will be required. Despite the construction of stadiums such as Imam Reza, Shohadaye Foolad and Naghshe Jehan, etc., Iran is still miles away from such a standard required for hosting.

* Logistics and accommodation

 The important issues are those related to the transportation, logistics, accommodation, and marketing in such competitions, which require high fortitude and cooperation of government agencies and cannot be done by an organization such as the Football Federation or the Ministry of Sports. A look at the list of requirements for each country to hold this event shows that Iran has not had a history of holding major events since 1976, that is 44 years ago when the competition had 8 teams and most matches were played in the state-of-the-art newly built Arayamehr Stadium.

The current sporting infrastructure has not developed efficiently since the revolution. War, Political environment, priorities, sanctions, and most importantly financial resources were poorly allocated for sports venues.  Unless one believes in a miracle, it is really difficult to envisage all the factors merging towards achieving the target of 10 stadia by 2027

* Poor facilities of host cities.

Of course, there will be other Iranian cities that will host the group matches. Not all efforts and resources would be channeled towards hosting in Tehran only. In the current state, there are many problems in terms of transportation, logistics, and sports infrastructure, across the main cities in Iran. Although some cities have good facilities such as Mashhad which has an international airport and modern subway system, it lacks a proper FIFA Standard stadium while other options such as Esfahan has a good stadium that can easily host matches, but their transportation facilities and accommodations lag behind.

The most vital of the facilities, accommodation is a problem in other cities as well. The lack of  5-star hotels in some cities, as well as the difficulties of obtaining customs and visa permits, and finally the ban on women’s presence in the stadiums culminate in a poor chance of hosting.

Naghshe Jehan Stadium, Esfahan.

* Advertising revenues and copyright laws.

In a strange system, in Iran, the broadcaster never pays the football federation. In fact, IRIB the government-owned broadcaster and the only authorized TV and Radio broadcaster had the audacity to claim that it should be the other way round as IRIB is doing football a favor by broadcasting matches!

In Iran, there is no Copyright laws either, at least not the way it is recognized and practiced internationally.  Clubs or the federation cannot claim nor count on revenues from companies who commercially use logos or other materials to sell their products. Therefore there are no official kits or jerseys by the clubs because cheaper products can be sold alongside genuine products without the protection or respect of copyrights.

While, the case of advertising revenues can be easily sorted out for the Asian Cup tournament, as the AFC has a solid and well laid down contractual clause that is legally binding, the copyright laws is well outside the football federation’s jurisdiction and AFC has no role to play in it. Copyright protection requires the government to initiate and produce legislation. It has to be passed as a law.  Then the suggested copyright law clauses need to be approved by the Majlis (parliament) and that in itself is not an easy task. The judiciary also needs to be on board and prosecute the offenders. Different government within governments like Pasdaran, Sepah, and the religious establishment will always have their own rules and understanding of any law. In brief, it is not an easy task to create copyright laws in Iran,  where chaotic political-religious system rules supreme.

Several attempts of the establishment of this law have failed, and it is unlikely that such laws will be established by 2027 or before.

* Financial and executive crisis in the Football Federation.

 Iran’s request for hosting the Asian Cup will be looked upon in association with the integrity, strength, legitimacy, and competency of the persons running the football federation. At the moment, FFIRI is in crisis and facing sanctions by FIFA for many issues but mainly due to government interference. With such shady administration, it is unlikely that many will vote for Iran while the administrators are busy saving their own skins.

Former FFIRI President, who has been outside Iran for many months, is under scrutiny for financial irregularities

 

 

 

in 2014, UAE won the hosting of the 2019 Asian Cup instead of Iran. The UAE, met the conditions and the requirements to host the event and was able to prepare for the competition in four years. It has a well-established copyright law that is strictly implemented. There are plenty of international airports that are served by hundreds of airlines, it had the ideal infrastructure, hotels, stadia, perfect road system, Trams(Dubai), and resources, so it was a no brainer for it to be chosen as hosts.

How is Iran compared now? will it have the chance this time with competition from Saudi Arabia and India?

Given the country’s economic situation and existing sanctions, the efforts required to establish or amend laws like copyright, intellectual property protection, women in the stadium, and the resources required to massively upgrade the stadiums in Tehran and other Iranian cities, the answer is a categorical NO.

There are far too many problems and issues for Iran’s hosting of major sporting events in the magnitude of the Asian Cup. Any such attempt by FFIRI to send the hosting file to AFC as a candidate for AFC Asian Cup 2027 will only be an embarrassment for Iran while it may serve as a propaganda tool for the current FFIRI administrators.

“We conned FIFA” Former FFIRI President admits.

Ali Kaffashian, the former president of the Football Federation says he has lied to FIFA in defining the nature of this federation in the 2007 constitution.

It is one of the most direct and vivid confessions that the Iranian Government controls the Football Federation, in spite of the common knowledge that such governance means the suspension of the federation and sanctions against FFIRI.

According to Kaffashian, the nature of the Football Federation and the government’s oversight of this organization has always been a topic of debate in the country’s football circles, because if the federation is considered an independent non-governmental organization (NGO), the Ministry of Sports and government departments cannot impose or force regulations such as prohibiting government retirees from occupying a post in NGOs.

“A retired person should be able to hold any post in independent organizations and that includes private companies, but if an organization is defined as a “Public non-governmental entity”, the government enforces its authority upon it.

Blatter & Kaffashian

In response to a question of whether the federation is an “Independent NGO” or a “Non-Governmental Public Body”  Ali Kaffashian said, “When I joined football federation, I was retired from government services.  At the time it was explained to me that the federation is an independent organization or NGO and as a non-governmental body, I have no problem with the law that prohibits government retirees from working while receiving a pension.”

“After the change of Cabinet, the new minister of sport did not want me in FFIRI and said I was retired and should not be occupying this post. I reminded him that the federation is a non-governmental organization and that my retirement is irrelevant, but the honorable minister said that the federation is a “non-governmental public institution” and that government employment rules and regulations apply to you, so your retirement is a problem.”

Kaffashian emphasized that the nature of the federation should be written correctly in the amendment of the federation’s charter, adding: “I think we should include everything that we are in the new charter. Officials should mention that the federation is an ‘independent non-governmental organization’ If FIFA accepts that, then there is no problem, but if it does not, do not falsely tell FIFA that it is an independent, non-governmental organization while in fact, it is a government entity.”

“We have conned FIFA in the past,” Kafashian said, referring to the federation’s 2007 constitutional amendment. When the constitution was adopted by a six-member group of government and FIFA representatives, Mr. Kiomars Hashemi, a former member of the federation’s presidium, wrote in a preface of the constitution that it was an independent, non-governmental organization. This is not true and never was. We tricked FIFA to remove the sanction imposed on us after the 2006 World Cup and lied.”

He continued “We should not have lied. Now we must clearly say that we are a non-governmental public organization. If they do not accept, we should take the law to the parliament to change it so that future managers do not face any problems. Whenever we were moved, they hit us on the head with a stick that we are a public and non-governmental organization and should abide by the ministry”.

“Corruption is deep rooted ” Ex Foolad Khuzestan CEO.

2019/20 season has been a bad year for Iran’s football so far. Two consecutive defeats against Bahrain and Iraq for Team Melli which is unprecedented for decades, the flight of the Belgian coach, postponing of the World Cup qualifiers and the suspension of the league due to Coronavirus have been the highlight of the season. But the possibility of FFIRI being suspended by FIFA or even kicked out of the World Football remains the most serious threat to Iran’s football.

The issue is simply about government control and influence or as the rest call it, interference, in football affairs against all international rules and statutes. Iran is a repeat offender in this sense. It has already been suspended in 2006 for exactly the same reasons but what remains pretty clear is that the regime in Iran staunchly believes that football is their property and as a sovereign state, the government directly or through their agencies or ministries may, control,  direct or govern football while the federation operates as administrators. The oversight authority including the authority to appoint directors and issues such as the appointment of the Team Melli coach remains the right of the government!

Masoud Rezaian

  Unlike 2006 however, Iranians this time are more aware of this indiscretion by their government and are not ready to victimize their beloved sport, hence quite a few are outspoken and call for reform and compliance with international laws.

“Corruption in our football has deep-rooted. we have to adhere to FIFA rules” The former Foolad Khuzestan CEO says.

Massoud Rezaian,  in an interview with semi-official ISNA, says that changing the FFIRI statute is not very difficult at all and that we should not procrastinate. A few clauses of the statute needs to be changed to conform with FIFA’s. What is certain is that rules of football are ultimately not governed and regulated by us, and if we want to be a part of this system (global community) then we need to apply international laws in full detail. We must incorporate the changes and the federation must comply with FIFA regulations. We have to comply and accept issues such as the Statute, gender segregation, and other issues. Otherwise, if we don’t our football activities will be limited to the domestic league and play with countries who are not FIFA members, and that is disastrous for us”

“We shouldn’t waste time,” he continued. “It is not difficult to change the statute. Right now, not only we do not obey FIFA laws but also we do not even adhere to our own laws. Part of this is our own fault. Failure to comply with FIFA rules is a threat to our football. Everyone is hiding behind coronavirus disease today. We need reform, we need to think about improvements.”

Former Foolad Khuzestan CEO continued called for a competent committee to be appointed to solve this problem, saying “ Let them sit to produce a proposal for the current deficiency in a short period of time. It will not take long to solve this problem, as governance clauses are the only ones that are problematic. FIFA has only demanded those that need to be changed, not the entire statute.”

Regarding the postponement of the Football Federation elections “I do not consider the issue of the election to be related to the statute,” he said . “the newly elected president has quite a task ahead as he must solve the problems of the age-level teams, competitions hosting and the corruption that is within our football. However, corruption is deeply rooted in our football and cannot be easily resolved. But they have to try and hopefully work so well and systematically that everything goes well and orderly.”

Azmoun perfect performance in scoring a hat trick.

Sardar Azmoun scored a hat-trick as Zenit thrashed Ural 7-1 in the Russian Premier League to move nine points clear at the top.

While the coronavirus pandemic has caused a host of postponements across Europe’s major leagues, top-flight action is continuing in Russia.

Iran international Azmoun made the most of the opportunity to play in a game that was likely to have attracted an enhanced audience by netting a sparkling treble.

Zenit led by four after 27 minutes, by which point Azmoun had scored twice along with strikes from Artem Dzyuba and Malcom, who netted his first goal since a big-money move from Barcelona in August.

Azmoun completed his hat-trick just after the hour mark, and a penalty from Ural’s Andrey Panyukov was responded to by the hosts when Sebastian Driussi struck to cap a fine counter-attack and Dzyuba netted a spot-kick.

Azmoun’s hat trick is a breath of fresh air for Iran’s football. A series of bad news including the suspension of all football activities, cancelation of Team Melli matches and the turmoil between FIFA and FFIRI with the possibility of suspending the federation if the Statutes are not amended to conform with FIFA’s, have left the Iranian fans despondent and dejected.

It was not just the goals that were making the headlines, but Azmoun’s overall performance in this match was nothing short of brilliant. Azmoun has scored 10 goals this season and ranked third in the goal scorers table.