Team Melli central defender , Seyed Jalal Hosseini has joined Al Ahli of Qatar on a one year deal and expected to be in Doha for his medical soon.

After the breakdown of negotiation with his current club , Persepolis , Hosseini , who was out of contract , decided to seek his fortune abroad and join another Iranian player , Mojtaba Jabbari in al Ahli.It seems that the current Persepolis CEO was not willing to honor the promises given to Hosseini by the ex CEO Mohammad Rouyanian in terms of financial settlements and  arrears in wages payments. The current CEO , Rahimi also refused to accept Hosseini’s latest wage demands which he deemed to be unreasonable.

Al Ahli of Qatar had Fereydoon Zandi on its roster , before the German Born Iranian suffered a horrendous career threatening injury.  Al Ahli  just announced recently that their ex-Iranian midfielder has retired from football after will be leaving the club. There are talks that Zandi might rejoin the club as a coach.

Last season , was one of the best in a decade of this once top Qatari club. After suffering relegation and languishing in the lower leagues for years, Al Ahli gained promotion the season before last under the shrewd coaching of Milan Macala. Al Ahli reached the semi-finals of the cup last season and finished the league  in a comfortable 6th position in the 14 teams professional league.

Several other Qatari clubs are seeking to recruit Iranian players. Most of the Team Melli players who are available for transfer have been contacted by Qatari clubs agents. So, far , Hosseini is the only deal that has been announced