According to Sporte360 website, Mohammed Reza Khalatbary, the much travelled Iranian player, has signed with Ajman Club of the UAE.

The website reporting from Dubai, said that “Ajman have completed the signing of former Al Wasl forward Mohammad Reza Khalatbary while coach Abdulwahab Abdulkadir and striker Boris Kabi have both signed contract extensions.

Khalatbary – who spent six months on loan at the Zabeel Stadium under Diego Maradona – has joined the Orange Brigade on a one-year deal from Sepahan.”

There was strong rumors that the Iranian sport authorities have vetoed all transfers of Iranian players to the UAE after this country, notorious for its political intimidation and taking every opportunity to enroll political issues into football affairs, has called their league “Arab  Gulf” in defiance to Iran and international conventions. This unconfirmed move by the Iranians apparently stopped several Iranian players’ transfers. Players such as Javad Nekounam , Pejman Montazeri and Arash Borhani amongst others, were in active negotiation with different UAE Pro League clubs.

FIFA rules clearly stipulate that political interferences and influences are not permitted in football and have strongly applied such rules globally.

The problem is that FIFA statutes and those of Third World and totalitarian countries, where government and sporting officials are often one and the same, can be in direct conflict. Article 13.1 (g) of FIFA’s official rule book states that national federations are obliged “to manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties.”

In all of the Middle East countries and without any exception, the football associations are all extensions of the government authorities and strictly follow the government party line without prejudice.

UAE foreign policy has a marked anti-Iranian flavor to it, partially due to the UAE claims to the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. Such policies and the UAE government rhetoric have influence several un-sportsmanship and illicit acts by the UAE football federation such as canceling a friendly match against Iran (read official announcement below), cancellation of a match between Iraq and Iran in Dubai and banning of Iranian players transfer to UAE league. To circumnavigate a possible reaction by FIFA the UAE government quietly told the clubs that it will not issue visas and resident permits for Iranian players, which effectively meant the clubs were unable to recruit Iranians.

 The announcement of Khalatbary’s transfer to Ajman is hence quite a surprise taking into the consideration the prevailing circumstances and the volatile

Yousef Al Serkal, Chairman of the Interim Committee of the UAE Football Association has announced the cancellation of a friendly match of the UAE’s first national football team against Iran, which was scheduled for next Tuesday, April 17, at the Fujairah Club Stadium in preparation for future ties.

The cancellation of the game has appeared on the website of the UAE Football Association, in solidarity with the official position of the state on denouncing the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UAE Island of Abu Musa, which has been occupied by Iran since 1971. – Emirates News Agency, WAM