The President of the Football Federation Ali Kaffashian said that he has no idea at all why the friendly match against Mozambique in Johannesburg was cancelled.

“We have been informed that the training camp is going well and the players are working hard, but the cancellation of that friendly match took us by surprise here. It was purely a decision by Queiroz. I have no idea what was the reason for this cancellation.”

This statement , once again highlights the breakdown of communication and lack of coordination between the FFIRI administrators and the Team Melli management.

Ali Kaffashian was talking to ISNA after his meeting with the AFC inspection committee that is visiting Iran as part of the formalities related to Iran’s candidacy for hosting the AFC 2019 Asian Cup.

Asked if Iran stands a chance against the rest of the applicants, UAE, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, Kaffashian said that, much depends on the power of a country’s lobbing power “I would say something like 80% to 90% of our chances of winning the hosting depends on how influential we are with the voters. We have been working very hard on that front. Right now we need to show the infrastructure and the state of readiness to the AFC committee.” Kaffashian commented.

“With the finalists increased to 24 , we stand a better chance for hosting because not many of the other competitors can provide 6 cities with the required facilities as we can.” remarked Kaffashian

Earlier in the week, Kaffashian announced that he will be running for a third term as the head of FFIRI. “I have been criticized a lot and my administration had to endure a lot of hardship during the two terms. Some of the words uttered against me were harsh an affected me, after all I am a human with a feeling. But.. I have performed well during these two terms and I can give more , that is why I have decided to run again.”

Asked to comment on the recently appointed management committee of Persepolis by the Ministry of Youth & Sports , Kaffashian said “I only know Hamid Estili and Dr. Zadmehr. The rest of them are alien to me , but we will work them and attempt to know them closely for the benefit of the club.”