Category: Sports & Games

FIFA’s ultimate warning to FFIRI on government interference!

The former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club says that all the people who have led the Iranian football for the past four years should be held accountable for their infractions and the damage to Iran’s reputation.

Ali Khatir, former vice-president of the Esteghlal Club and former deputy secretary-general of the FFIRI, in an interview with ISNA, commented on FIFA’s refusal to recognize FFIRI’s statutes and the election results. In 2019 FIFA’s letter referring to paragraphs 14 and 15 of the FFIRI Statute, the world football ruling body warned the Iranian Football Federation that its statute is not in line with the FIFA statute, and referred to paragraph 15. FIFA demanded that all deficiencies and findings which were mentioned by FIFA in the year 2017 after the review of Iranian federations are still not corrected and hence are still not valid and in violation of FIFA regulations and bylaws. Khatir was the Deputy Secretary-General of FFIRI at the time when the FIFA letter was sent.

He added: “FIFA has even given the federation the opportunity to commission a few experts to come and assist FFIRI and amend the statute to be in line with international laws. FIFA meticulously examined our Statute word by word, and even sent its own proposed amendments in 2018, FFIRI management did not respond and there was no follow-up.  Article 15 of the FIFA Statute contains a number of principles such as the independence of the federation, the separation of authorities,  responsibilities n the structure of the federation, financial transparency, and a number of other items that the Iranian Football Federation Statute must include in its statute.

The last letter submitted by FIFA warns FFIRI that if those rules were not followed and applied, FIFA may suspend FFIRI and even withdraw its recognition. The letter even mentions paragraph 19 of the FIFA Statute, which states that a third party (the government or the Ministry of Sport and Youth) should not be influential in the affairs of the federation. The federation must be independent and run directly or indirectly without anyone’s intervention from the state, government or officials of the government. However, in Statute of the FFIRI, there is a clause that allows governments to vote and be members of the Assembly or board of directors. That is a clear and flagrant violation of international laws. The hint had already been given to the Football Federation but they did not respond to FIFA’s directives for reasons they knew best or feared the Ministry of Sports will almost certainly cut all financial support, but now FIFA stands firm and says that if elections are held under such statutes, it will not be recognized by FIFA and possible sanction will follow”.

He continued: “The federation had sent a letter to FIFA on February 9th asking them to hold the election, but FIFA reminded FFIRI of what had transpired before, saying that FFIRI had wasted two years and not replied to our correspondences under the pretext of amending the statute. You didn’t. We even sent a representative to you on August 9 and emailed you five times. Now that you want to hold these elections, we are against it. We must first amend the statute and pass it in an urgent assembly. In this regard, FIFA says that the federation should submit a regular plan and roadmap to the international ruling body”

About the government’s involvement in the sport for the sake of funding the football, Khatir said: “Article 19 of the FIFA Statute explicitly states that the government has no right to interfere in any shape or form in football, even if it wants to provide financial support or sponsor it. We have accepted this, and the government must accept that the Football Federation is an independent public body a non-government organization, subject to the laws of the country but not controlled, influenced or interfered in by the Ministry of Sport. The head of the Football Federation is not an employee of the Ministry of Sports.”

 

“We have reached a dead-end in football that we need to be able to get out of,” Khatir recalled. “The only way out is compliance and cooperation. I believe that all the people who have led this football for the past four years and who have stumbled into this game should be held accountable for their appalling performance. They need to explain and justify their non-actions.

The former deputy chairman of the Esteghlal Club stated at the end: “Gentlemen of the Federation, you have been at the helm for eight years and you have not been able to make a positive difference to our football. Open the way for the elite and motivated youth to take over. The statute needs to be amended to open the way for the elite in football to benefit football.”

Bad news all over for Iran’s football.

If you are a die-hard fan of Iranian football, the bad news coming out of Iran is enough to send one into depression.

It seems that since Carlos Queiroz left the country to seek his fortunes in Latin America with the Colombian National team, hardly anything has gone right for Team Melli and Iran’s football in general. It all started with the recruitment of Marc Wilmots, a coach who has been sacked in his last two jobs with the latest appointment lasting only six months with the Ivory Coast. For the first time in decades, Team Melli suffered two consecutive defeats and that was in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

There have been a lot of secret talks and behind the scene negotiation to find a competent and true replacement for the legendary Queiroz. The odds on that were quite low for a lot of reasons. Not only the leading and the renowned coaches were already active coaching teams and thus not available, the second tiers looking for a job, did not put Iran’s Team Melli coaching on the top of their priority. Any potential foreign coach fancied the job but examined Queiroz’s experience in Iran or heard about the pandemonium in the football federation management with several layers of governance making decisions, would have thought twice before indulging in such an adventure.

Not surprisingly there were no quality takers for the job. Is this a Queiroz curse ?!

 Then came the real shock. While the masses were waiting for an Amir Ghalenoei or an Ali Daei to take over the helm, there comes an outsider and takes over the chair. To the utter shock of many, Dragan Skocic, a Croat who was coaching Sanat Naft was announced as Head Coach of Team Melli and assumed responsibility without much fanfare.

While the Croat enthusiastically started his mission by building rapport in preparing for the two upcoming matches, the coronavirus struck and chances of the fans seeing Skocic in action is delayed for at least 3 or 4 months.

Team Melli at least has a leader in Skocis, the football federations do not. The leadership struggles, political interference, influences, and the circus, continues in the head-less FFIRI. Mehdi Taj was forced to resign citing ill-health while the government is looking for an obedient regime stooge to install him as President of the Federation in the upcoming election!

FIFA got hold of these games and finally put its foot down hard on the authorities and the FFIRI itself declaring any elections under the current conditions and rules will not be recognized by FIFA unless the FFIRI amends its statute and rules in compliance with the international football law governance.

Away from Team Melli, Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions league displayed their worst performances and results ever with one solitary win in 8 matches. It was not only the results that were disappointing but the manner of defeats and the amateurish attitudes of the Iranian players with a lack of character and professionalism that hurt the most.

The so-called professional football league devoid of proper competition is full of drama, however, yet nothing like what Sepahan club did when they refused to turn up for the match against Persepolis in their home ground Naghsh Jehan stadium in Esfahan for. These things belong to the fifties and in Europe, such acts may result in relegation to lower divisions, but the FFIRI disciplinary committee like the rest of the federation is as incompetent as the rest of the federation. When it comes to applying strict discipline and punitive measures.

And then there are players who receive a cheque from one club to turn up playing for another club in a league match!

The initial enthusiasm of Iranian legionnaires in Europe all but evaporated with one player after another struggling to make the starting line-up. Even Sardar Azmoun was benched in Zenit last match with Jahanbakhsh remaining a solid benchwarmer in Brighton, Ezattolahi making a rare cameo appearance in a lowly Belgian league club and Taremi losing that initial goalscoring brilliant run of his in the Portuguese league.

Very little good news to report from Iran’s football. Perhaps it needs a real shake-up and severe jolt for it to recover again.

FFIRI Requests postponement of Team Melli matches from FIFA

The Iranian Football Federation FFIRI, along with eight other Asian countries, has called for the postponement of international matches held in the FIFA World Cup qualifying stages due to the outbreak of Corona.

The UAE’s Al-Etihad newspaper said in a special statement today that nine Asian countries have requested a postponement of the World Cup qualifier in a letter to FIFA. Malaysia, Iran, Japan, China, Thailand, South Korea, Guam, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia have all called for their national team matches to be postponed due to the spread of the Coronavirus.

FIFA will decide on these requests on Thursday this week, after an emergency committee meeting. Iran’s national football team are scheduled to meet Hong Kong in Azadi and away to Cambodia in the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar qualifiers. While Hong Kong has announced that it will not travel to Iran, the Cambodian media also have found it difficult for Iran to visit them. As conditions are becoming critical, FIFA is increasingly coming under pressure to delay the World Cup qualifying matches until the conditions stabilize and the public confidence is restored.

FFIRI offenses triggers AFC and FIFA actions.

Iran’s Football Federation has been given serious warnings from the two governing bodies.

The disciplinary committee of the AFC has found FFIRI guilty of serious violations and slapped it with a heavy fine of US$130,000. The breach of the Law which amount to cheating in issuing the Professional License to Iranian clubs despite the fact that those clubs did not meet the standards and the bylaws of professional football clubs as specified by AFC and FIFA.

FFIRI has renewed the licenses of Esteghlal, Persepolis, Shahr Khodro and Sepahan Esfahan to enable them to compete in this season’s AFC Champions League, however, those clubs have not met all the requirements. FFIRI failed to apply the law and issued Professional Licences knowingly that there were many areas of shortfall and violations of the international charter of professional clubs.

The fine is suspended for two years by the AFC, however, a repeat of such breach of the law will mean that FFIRI has to pay the full amount in addition to another punitive measure which normally means expulsion of the club from Asian Competitions.

While AFC has been firm against FFIRI, FIFA was in no mood either with its warning to the Iranians that the bylaws of its football federation are in violation of the international standards set by FIFA and no election will be recognized until an amendment to the laws is incorporated.

In a letter to FFIRI, the International Football Federation, while expressing objections to the FFIRI’s statute, called for the postponement of the election of its President.  The election of FFIRI president, vice-Presidents, and executive board members, was supposed to be held on March 5,  The International Football Federation, which has long been examining the status of the Iranian Federation, has emphasized in its letter that the Statute of the Iranian Football Federation has not been approved and should be amended. By sending this letter to the Iranian Football Federation, the March 6 election will be canceled and postponed to another time.

Despite the so-called independence of the FFIRI in Iran, the fact remains that the Government through the ministry of Youth and Sports is the de-facto controlling authority of all sports in Iran particularly football. From appointing of Chairmen to CEO’s and selecting the Coaches of Team Melli, The government has ensured a tight and full control of the sports.

Meanwhile, many observers believe that FFIRI election hardly qualifies to be called that as it is all selection and appointment cleverly disguised as free elections.

Mehdi Taj has resigned his post as President of FFIRI due to ill health.

Haidar Baharvand elected as Interim President of FFIRI

Haidar Baharvand has been appointed as Acting President of the Iranian Football Federation and Chairman of the League committee at the same time, according to Hedayat Mombini a member of FFIRI’s Executive Committee following the emergency meeting of the federation’s Board of Directors.

“After the resignation of Mr. Mehdi Taj as a result of ill-health, we had a meeting to discuss this subject and according to the Statute of the Football Federation, one of the Vice-Presidents or a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation had to be selected as a replacement. Since Ali Kaffashian, who previously held this post has resigned, Mr. Baharvand was elected in an acting capacity. This was the whole subject of the meeting and following this decision another meeting was held with the Minister of Youth and Sports who gave his approval to this appointment” Hedayat Mombini said to ISNA reporter.

It seems that FFIRI Executive Committee and Board Member have no concerns or apprehensions about publically stating that the appointment of the head of the football federation FFIRI or approval thereof, is sanctioned by the government of Iran in direct violation of FIFA charter.

 Mombini added: “We are in a critical period as Omid Team will soon compete in AFC U23 Championship hoping to qualify for the Olympic games and there are also concerns on the appointment of a Team Melli. God willing, with this process completed and the situation returning to normal, the leadership of the Football Federation will continue in the same way. “

Asked how is the arrangement for the league, Mombini said: “Anyway, this issue has come up and now Mr. Baharvand will be the head of both, the Football Federation and the League Organization. We have no changes in the organization of the league at this time. We will decide next week on the Federation and Electoral Assembly dates. As you know, the elections were supposed to take place on May 6, but we will make the final decision sooner than that”

“I have not seen or heard of a written letter of resignation” Mombini responded to a question of whether Taj’s letter of resignation has reached the board of directors. “I have no knowledge about that but Mehdi Taj has verbally resigned.” !!!

Asked about the urgency in selecting a Head Coach for Team Melli, Mombini said “there is a lot of work that needs to be done for the appointment of the coach; it would be a little late if we wait for May when the elections of a new President is scheduled. The coach and his assistants need to be selected soon. We are considering foreign and domestic options but are more inclined to choose foreign ones.”

Marc Wilmots files suit against FFIRI

The former head coach of Team Melli has the Iranian national football team has sued the Iranian Football Federation at FIFA following the termination of his contract while seeking compensation from FFIRI

The Football Federation FFIRI has also filed a  countersuit against the Belgian Marc Wilmots for breach of contract.

The poor showing of Team Melli resulting in two losses against Iraq and Bahrain in the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifier has raised tension and fan’s displeasure with the Belgian coach. The criticism of the on-vacation coach was even harsher in the Iranian media. Wilmots’ performance and refusal to carry out his duty prompted the federation to negotiate the termination of the coaching contract.

However, Wilmots unilaterally terminated the contract before the game against Iraq citing overdue payments and non-payment of wages by the Football Federation. After a meeting with federation officials in Turkey, the Belgian coach was paid his dues just a few days before meeting Iraq.

Wilmots refused to return to Tehran even after his loss to Bahrain and the doubts started to emerge on the qualification to the next stage. While the Federation has insisted in recent weeks that the process of terminating the contract with Wilmots is continuing and the parties are seeking an amicable way to reach an agreement, the Speaker of the Parliament’s Cultural Commission commented on the news of Wilmots’ complaint to FIFA and similar action.

It is not clear how much compensation is Wilmots demanding as the federation has kept the contract under strict secrecy raising doubts about the clauses and concerns about possible profiteering.

Mehdi Taj , President of FFIRI resigns.

The President of the Iranian Football Federation has submitted his resignation from the post due to ill health. Mehdi Taj, who took the helm of the FFIRI has recently suffered to stokes and was hospitalized until lately back.

Taj joined the federation in 2008 where he was appointed as First Vice President until 2012, then President of the Iran Football League Organization (2013–2016) before taking over from Ali Kaffashian in May 2016.

Taj started his sports administration functions with Sepahan Esfahan as Secretary of the Board on two terms (1992–1994, 2002–2006) and president of the club (1994–1999).[2] He was also editor-in-chief of Jahan Varzesh from 1991 until 2001. On 7 May 2016, he was elected as president of Iranian Football Federation with 51 votes, succeeding Ali Kaffashian

Minister of Sport’s reaction to Taj’s resignation

Massoud Soltanifar, was disheartened to hear the news of the resignation of Mehdi Taj from the Football Federation. He said: “The recent heart attacks created grave concern for Mr. Taj and the sports community, and it is sad for me to hear about his resignation.  Soltanifar, today, expressing regret over the resignation of Mehdi Taj, said: “He was a capable, hard-working, accurate manager and we brought with him the best result in the history of soccer in the World Cup. It was Mr. Taj’s success. The Minister of Sports and Youth added: “His health is more important to us and to his esteemed family and to the football community, and we certainly do not have a capable manager now in charge of the Football Bureau, but as a trusted adviser alongside sports management.”

According to FFIRI regulation, one of the deputies will take over the reign until the holding of an election convention in May 2020. Second Vice President Baharvand and  Women’s committee Vice President Sufi Zadeh are the candidates for the post. Most probably the former will take over the post.

The Football Federation is currently undergoing a crises situation with a numerous problems, including a vacant Team Melli head coach post,  Poor results of Team Melli in World Cup qualifiers, refusal of the IRIB to recognize TV Broadcast rights, FIFA scrutiny on allowing women into football stadiums for league matches and the severe financial difficulties facing the federation.

Bahrain Footballer banned by Fifa for ten games after racist gesture.

FIFA has banned a Bahrain international player for ten games after he aimed shocking racist abuse at Hong Kong fans.

Sayed Mehdi Baqer, 25, made a slanted-eye gesture towards supporters as he left the field after a World Cup qualifier on November 14.

Sayed Baqer has been banned for 10-matches - the minimum sanction for such an incident

Sayed Baqer has been banned for 10-matches – the minimum sanction for such an incident
After a tense week in, something to cheer for fans at Hong Kong Stadium. Hugely credible World Cup qualifying draw with Bahrain, marred slightly by an apparent racist gesture by Bahrain player at the end of the match.
The frustrated Bahrain team unable to beat the hosts, made several unsportmanship acts including their coach rant against Hong Kong coach while the latter extended his hand after the final whistle.

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However, the Bahraini defender’s appalling actions were captured on video and the player was also hit with a £23,000 fine.

Bahrain, who are in the same FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying group as Iran is notorious for its transgression and important behavior during international matches. During the home game against Team Melli, the fans booed the national anthem.

 In July the minimum ban for such offenses was doubled from five matches.

After a separate qualifying incident, Fifa ordered Indonesia to play a game behind closed doors following a fiery clash with rivals Malaysia.

Both teams were fined by FIFA in the wake of crowd disturbances.

Wilmots terminated his contract before the Iraq game!

In a series of bizarre justifications and rhetorics, the head of the Iranian Football Federation says Wilmots had terminated his contract before the game against Iraq!

Mehdi Taj spoke about the recent developments of Team Melli and Wilmots in a radio programme today noon (Friday).“after the World Cup and the Asian Cup, 2019 many believed that the next coach should be young and experienced and must be foreign nationals. The federation first spoke to Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui, who turned down the offer due to the ill health of his father suffering from cancer. After that, we shifted our attention to Hervé Renard  (Morocco’s World Cup coach), but he said he could only accept the offer to coach Iran from June however we needed a coach from the March at least. Finally, we negotiated with Marc Wilmots, who was young enough (50 years old) and had experienced four World Cup as player and coach. He was an asset to the Belgian national team and was a very good choice for Team Melli, and everyone had confirmed him!” Mehdi Taj continued.

“When Wilmots came to Iran, we signed a good deal with him, but we insisted that the amount of the contract should remain confidential and not be transparent (…). It was also stated in a clause that any party unilaterally terminates the contract, will pay damages to the other an amount equivalent to three months wages.”

“It is has been mentioned in various media outlets that the contract with Wilmots and his assistants is valued up to € 5 million, which is untrue and those who have claimes that are liars. In my opinion, the Majlis member who publicized this figure should not talk about these issues and he should think about solving people problem.”

“We signed a contract that included everything, and before we presented it to Wilmots, we consulted three international legal experts, one of whom is a member of the FIFA Appeals Committee,” said the head of the Iran Football Federation. “The figure of Wilmot’s contract is reasonable for anyone who knows Belgian football. It is not right when the lawmaker says this trainer isn’t worth $ 500,000. There are many foreign and domestic coaches in our league who earn more than  $ 500,000.”

“When we signed the contract on May 22, one of the clauses referred to the subject of outrageous US sanctions and that may affect the way we pay our salaries, which led Wilmots to request two days for consultation,” Taj added. “The contract stipulates that if the coach does not receive his entitlements for 2 to 3 months, he can terminate unilaterally. Mark Wilmots terminated his contract before the match against Iraq.

“In the meantime, we have sent several letters to FIFA to pay Wilmots’ money out of their budget, but due to the new sanctions, they have not been able to find a bank, and Wilmots has stated that the federation has no will to pay him. However, we paid 7 days later. Taj added: “At the last meeting, he wanted us to guarantee that payments would not be delayed, but I told him that we should discuss more urgent clauses in view of the termination of his contract before playing with Iraq.”

Ivankovic’s pre-condition to coach Team Melli.

Branko Ivankovic is claiming 960,000 Euro arrears from Persepolis Club.

While the Croat coach is negotiating the possibility of coaching Team Melli with FFIRI and has met with the Iranian Ambassador in Croatia regarding this matter, he insists on settling the accounts with the Iranian Champions. The former Persepolis and Team Melli coach has given two conditions to the Iranian authorities, one of which is the financial settlement, while the other is the settlement of the contract with current coach Wimots before he can officially negotiates terms & conditions to coach Team Melli. It is an unwritten law between coaches that negotiating a job will not be carried out unless the post is vacant, which is not the case with Team Melli as Wilmots is still in charge, although remotely.

Meanwhile, Perspolis has acknowledged the receipt of an official letter from FIFA legal department reference Ivankovic’s claim and ordered to pay the full amount to their former Croatian coach. Failure to pay would result in sanctions on Persepolis and interest accumulation on the amount until it is fully paid.

Meanwhile, in true tradition Persepolis club on the receipt of the warning from FIFA, is seeking a discount from Branko Ivankovic! Persepolis must have thought to pull a quick one by taking advantage of Black Friday!

FFIRI has remained tight-lipped on the negotiations with Ivankovic and the contract with Marc Wilmots, whose future with Team Melli seems to be doubtful after the poor results that threaten Iran’s qualification for the FIFA Wolrd Cup 2022.