Mehdi Mohammad Nabi is in Sydney on an urgent mission to prove that an Iraqi player has been found doping and should have been ineligible from playing against Iran in the quarter final match on Friday.
Al’a Abdul Zahra , was a Tractrorsazi player in the Iranian league when a routine doping test was found to be positive by the Iranian doping commission. By the time samples were sent to Cologne Germany for further confirmation, the Iraqi player mysteriously disappeared and was released by his club to join Police Club (AlShorta) in Baghdad. The Iranians did not pursue the matter any further.
Now, FFIRI is asking the AFC to act on this matter and investigate the charges against the player. Apparently, Mehdi Mohammad Nabi has all the documented evidence to raise the case against the Iraqi player including test results from the laboratory in Cologne Germany.
Abdul-Zahra joined Tractorsazi on 20 July 2014 signing a two-year contract with the club. He played his first match for Tractorsazi on 8th of August 2014 against Zob Ahan. Just after a month with the Tabrizi club, he decided to leave. He was officially released on September 10th, 2014 under dubious circumstances.
Abdul-Zahra played for 65 minutes in the match against Iran before being substituted in the second half.
If the case against Abdul-Zahra is proven, Iran will be declared the winner of the match, however, chances of this happening is quite remote especially since the semifinals will be on Monday. Iran Squad was supposed to leave Sydney en route to Tehran this morning, Saturday.
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The complaint stems from an alleged doping violating during the time Abdul Zahra spent last year playing with Iranian club side Tractor Sazi.
An AFC spokesperson confirmed to TWG that it is aware of the case and is awaiting further information from FIFA.
Iraq beat Iran on penalties after a 3-3 draw in Canberra on Friday to earn the right to face Korea Republic in the semi-finals in Sydney on Monday.
It’s understood that the Iranian side has delayed its exit from Australia awaiting a response from the world governing body, which is expected on Saturday evening.
Iran’s National Anti-Doping Agency deputy Ramin Tabatabaei told news agency Tasnim that Abdul Zahra failed a drug test when he was playing in the country.
“I informed Mr Sajjadi (vice-president of Professional and Athletic Sports Development) when we understood Team Melli would play Iraq in the quarter-final,” Tabatabaei said.