Tag: AFC Asian Cup

Iran’s failure in winning titles continues.

  • It has been 48 since Team Melli won the Asian Cup
  • Omid Team has failed to qualify for the Olympic games since 1980
  • The last time Iran won an Asian Title at the Youth level was in 2008

Iranian football’s struggle to clinch championship titles has stretched across 164 years, a lamentable trend that, if left unaddressed, could endure for two centuries. The phrase “Championship in Asia” evokes both sweetness and bitterness for Iranian football enthusiasts, as decades have passed without Iran ascending to the pinnacle of Asian football. Instead, tournaments have been marked by heartbreak and disappointment for fans, with memories of past glory fading into the recesses of their minds. The inability to secure championships across various age categories – from teenagers to seniors – underscores the systemic weaknesses within Iranian football.

The last taste of championship glory for Iran came in 2008 when the junior national team emerged victorious in Asia in Uzbekistan with a thrilling 2-1 triumph over South Korea. Goals from Mohsen Zabat and Kaveh Rezaei etched their names in history, with Rezaei earning the accolade of the tournament’s top goal scorer. However, since that momentous victory, Iranian football has languished without further triumphs at both the national and club levels. Nearly 16 years have elapsed since that memorable achievement, leaving the youth championship in Asia as a distant dream for Iranian football fans.

The Omid team, representing Iran on the Olympic stage, stands as a poignant symbol of unfulfilled potential. Despite changes in coaching staff and even the inclusion of foreign expertise, Iran’s quest for Olympic qualification remains elusive. The team’s participation in the 1964, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympics underscores a long-standing aspiration within Iranian football to compete on the global stage. However, since 1976, Iran’s football faithful have yearned for a return to Olympic glory, with the Omid team’s failure to progress beyond the quarter-finals in the 2016 Asian Championship serving as a stark reminder of the challenges ahead. The team’s lone championship triumph at the 2002 Asian Games remains a distant memory, further accentuating the uphill battle faced by Iranian football.

Iran fields several age-group teams in Asian and international competitions, yet success has remained elusive since the glory days of the 1970s. The U20 team, in particular, has failed to replicate its past triumphs, with the last championship title dating back to 1976. Despite promising showings, such as advancing as the top team from Group B in the recent 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, heartbreaking defeats like the one against Iraq in the quarter-finals continue to haunt Iranian football.

At the heart of Iranian football’s woes lies a complex web of political interference and institutional inertia. Government control over the sport, coupled with the prioritization of regime interests over sporting excellence, has stifled progress and perpetuated corruption. Despite widespread recognition of these issues, meaningful reform remains elusive, with entrenched power structures resistant to change. Until football governance is untangled from political agendas and genuine efforts are made to prioritize the sport’s development, Iranian football will continue to languish in the shadows of its former glory.

False claims by Beiranvand

The current Team Melli player’s dream of perpetuating their name with the right of being “the best generation in Iran’s football history”, lacks credibility and proof for perpetuation!

“I firmly state that this generation is the best generation in our (football) history.” After apologizing several times for failing in Qatar, Alireza Biranvand quite seriously uttered these words to a group of journalists
who had gone to welcome the defeated Team Melli in the Asian Nations Cup.

The goalkeeper, who conceded 7 goals in 6 games in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and failed to keep a clean sheet except against Hong Kong, considers himself and his teammates to be the best generation in the history of Iran’s football, for

The current Team Melli player’s dream of perpetuating their name with the right of being “the best generation in Iran’s football history”, lacks logic and proof for perpetuation!

“I firmly state that this generation is the best generation in our (football) history.” After apologizing several times for failing in Qatar, Alireza Biranvand quite seriously uttered these words to a group of journalists who had gone to welcome the defeated Team Melli in the Asian Nations Cup.

The goalkeeper, who conceded 7 goals in 6 games in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and failed to keep a clean sheet except against Hong Kong, considers himself and his teammates to be the best generation in the history of Iran’s football, for no good reason. As soon as you hear this sentence of Beiranvand, the question begs, what have the current Team Melli players achieved to lay such a claim, and how does he (Beiranvand) consider this squad as special and unrepeatable? The answer is very short: nothing!


no good reason. As soon as you hear this sentence of Beiranvand, the question begs, what have the current Team Melli players achieved to lay such a claim, and how does he (Beiranvand) consider this squad as special and unrepeatable?
The answer is very short: nothing!

T

The best generation that this 31-year-old goalkeeper is talking about did not make it to the next round from the group stage of the World Cup in two attempts (2018 and 2022) and in two tournaments of
the Asian Cup (2019 and 2023) disappointed the fans by not even reaching the final let alone lifting the trophy. In terms of achievements, the current Iranian team is clearly nowhere near being labeled the best generation in the history of |Iran’s football. Perhaps Beiranvand means the presence of some
players abroad, which is also a misleading claim. Apart from Mehdi Taremi in Porto, Sardar Azmoun in Rome, and Saman Ghoddos in Brentford, no other players are active in the top 5 prestigious European leagues. Yes, that’s right, none!

Could it be that Beiranvand is referring to his performance in the team? Even that is incorrect in every sense.

To remind Beiranvand and other players of Team Melli as well as some fans who have not experienced the true meaning of the success and joy of Team Melli, so far, the best generation in the history of Iranian football were the players who won the AFC Asian Cup for 3 consecutive terms, 1968, 1972 and 1976. With such a unique achievement, yet to be repeated in the history of the AFC Asian Cup, no player of that generation made such a claim. 12 years of success and unbeaten in Asia until the semi-finals of the 1980 edition, under very difficult circumstances while the country was attacked and invaded by the Iraqis with players’ morals at their lowest, Iran lost to |Kuwait, the eventual title winner, in the semifinals.

Team Melli, under the leadership of Mahmoud Bayati, Mohammad Ranjbar, and Heshmat Mohajerani, won the Asian Cup three times but none of the players of that team ever called themselves invincible even after this hat-trick of championships. even though in in the last Asian Championship, Iran was so brilliant with Mansour Rashidi in goal that they had a clean sheet in all matches winning the championship without conceding a single goal. Maybe if Beiranvand had achieved such records, he would have considered himself the best goalkeeper in the world.

Iran has had no shortage of failures during the Asian Cup tournaments, but the point is that if, for example, the team of 2004, in which Mehdi Rahmati, Javad Nekounam, Yahya Golmohammadi, Ali Daei, Ali Karimi, Arash Burhani and… were playing. They could have claimed to be the best generation, some would have accepted it because it was only a penalty kick that deprived them of the finals. A similar can be claimed from the 1996 squad with the likes of Daei, Khodadad Azizi, Minavand, Karim Bagheri, and Mahdavikia.

The generation that became the champion of Asia for three consecutive seasons with unrepeatable honor is not much remembered these days, but do Beiranvand and his teammates expect to be remembered as the golden generation? A nickname that they believe in even though they have not won a single medal?

The game against Qatar is history now, as is the defeat against the USA, the bitter defeat against Japan in the semi-final of AFC Asian Cup 2019, or even the regret of Tarami’s last-second header against Portugal which missed by inches, It is better that instead of making such false claims like the best generation in history, Beiranvand or any player who thinks like that, face the reality that does not cast a shadow on the countless efforts for the success of the national team and the good name of Iran.

he elite of Ira’ns football are names such as Parviz Ghleechkhani, Hossein Kalani, Ali Jabbari, Hassan Habibi, Nasser Hejazi, Homayoun Behzadi, Hassan Rowshan, Gholam Vafakhah, Ali Parvin, Mostafa Arab, Ebrahim Ashtiani, Jafar kashani, Karo Haghverdian and loads of other that acheived glory for Iran. They can lay claim as being the best, not Beiranvand.

Perhaps after a short period when the national team players realized that one of the most attainable championship chances in the history of post-revolution Iranian football was lost in Qatar, they should have a nice apology from a generation that has not yet tasted success after 48 years. A generation that only a few people will know about them these days.

Team Melli beats Bulgaria in Plovdiv

Iran’s Team Melli defeated Bulgaria 1-0 in international friendly match at Hristo Botev Stadium, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on Thursday evening. The only goal of the match was scored early in the first half by FC Rostov forward, Mohammad Mohebbi from an immaculate first time cross by Saman Ghoddos.

Team Melli has taken its winning run to five and will be meeting Angola next at Azadi to continue its perfect run ahead of the challenging time in AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January 2024.

Iran began the match in a fine style distributing the ball smoothly and opening up the Bulgarian defences many times over. However, Mehdi Taremi, who perhaps had his worst match in Team Melli jersey, failed to capitalize on the services of his teammates as he was a shadow of himself failing to connect for the final shots at goal or stumbling over.

The goal scored in the 14th minute, had some element of luck as a long ball was sent towards the Bulgarian goal. The half back misjudged the flight of the ball as it lazily flew over his head towards the far end near the corner. An opportunistic , Ghoddos read the situation perfectly and gallantly reached out for a half volley type to send the ball towards the goal. Mitov the Bulgarian keeper was already out of his goal thinking he will receive the pass from his defender. Mohammad Mohebbi , coolly headed the ball by Ghoddos into the empty net.

The Bulgarian defense was quite lax and a Iran should have scored more than they did in the first half. Ghoddos was doing a fine job distributing the ball and creating chances but the final ball was disappointing.

In a freak accident, Beiranvand who caught the ball right on the D, cleverly saw an opportunity for a counterattack. He fully stretched himself to send one of his famous balls all the way to Taremi in Bulagria half. In the process he seemed to have over-stretched himself pulling a muscle. It was a double blow as that ball should really have been scored by Taremi who was profligate and also led to substitution of Beiranvand.

In the second half the Bulgarians were more aggressive and looking for the equalizer, but that created more scoring chances for Team Melli that again was marred by loose ending and misjudgment of the final balls.

The absence of Sardar Azmoun was truly felt in this half.

The Iranian defense was majestic and thwarted many attacks without really allowing the hosts to seriously bother Niazmand. , the star was Shojaa Khalilzadeh in his return to Team Melli whose immaculate defensive work steered the team to yet another a clean sheet.

Team Melli will return back to Tehran to Face Angola next Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia set to host 2027 Asian Cup after India withdraws bid

Saudi Arabia looks set to host the 2027 Asian Cup after becoming the sole bidder for the tournament when India withdrew its bid.

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - NOVEMBER 22: Saudi Arabia players celebrate the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia at Lusail Stadium on November 22, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR – NOVEMBER 22: Saudi Arabia players celebrate the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia at Lusail Stadium on November 22, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)© Clive Brunskill

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement that the All India Football Federation had pulled out from the selection but did not provide any reasons for India’s decision.

In October, the AFC’s executive committee shortlisted India and Saudi Arabia as potential hosts. Iran which submitted its own bid also withdrew for unknown reasons.

“The Asian Football Confederation has been officially notified by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) of their decision to withdraw their bid from the AFC Asian Cup 2027 host selection process,” the regional body said Monday without elaborating.

Three-time champions Saudi Arabia will now probably host their first AFC Asian Cup. The AFC Congress will formally decide on the host in the Bahrain capital of Manama in February next year.

Saudi Arabia caused one of the biggest shocks in the ongoing World Cup in Qatar when they beat Argentina 2-1 in their opening match, although the team were not able to advance past the group stage.

The 2023 Asian Cup will also be hosted by Qatar. It was previously set to be held in China but the country withdrew because of its Covid-19 guidelines.

The Asian Cup is staged every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, in 2019, which was hosted by the UAE.

Results by nation

AFC Asian Cup winners 
National team Winners Runners-up Total Years won Years runners-up
 Japan 4 1 5 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011 2019
 Saudi Arabia 3 3 6 1984, 1988, 1996 1992, 2000, 2007
 Iran 3 0 3 1968, 1972, 1976 –
 South Korea 2 4 6 1956, 1960 1972, 1980, 1988, 2015
 Israel 1 2 3 1964 1956, 1960
 Kuwait 1 1 2 1980 1976
 Australia 1 1 2 2015 2011
 Iraq 1 0 1 2007 –
 Qatar 1 0 1 2019 –

it is the same old, same old Queiroz! a pentagon of failures.

Team Melli has just experienced its fifth major failure under Carlos Queiroz, meaning that the football federation, after spending billions of tomans (Millions of dollars) in the last 11 years, could not fulfill the two demands of the fans and people of Iran in football.

 11 years ago and when FFIRI decided to choose a renowned head coach for the national team to put an end to the failures and disappointments of Team Melli especially since Iran won the AFC Asian Cup three times in a row from 1968 to 1976, a feat not repeated until now by any nation. and also failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup, the leaders of the FFIRI did not imagine that even a 9-years tenure by a renowned coach,  still could not achieve anything of worth.

Carlos Queiroz was the option that the Football Federation chose to lead the national team in early 2010 based on analysis and research, as claimed! He was supposed to be the Messiah, able to break the spells of several decades of Iranian football failures and heartbreak. FFIRI objectives for Queiroz were clear and that would be to lead Team Melli into the knock-out rounds of the World Cup and win the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1976.  Two objectives had been set for Iranian football for years and the federation members spent millions of dollars to break these spells, but until today, they failed.

Qualification to the FIFA World Cup and winning thirds and fourth places in AFC Asian Cup were achieved by national coaches at a fraction of the cost of appointing Carlos Queiroz. In fact, Iranian coaches had a better performance than his team. Football Federation hired this Portuguese head coach at a very high cost that the FFIRI could not afford,  to break the two spells, but the 1-0 defeat against the United States was the end of the dream of qualification completing a pentagon of Queiroz’s failures with the Iranian national team.

Under Carlos Queiroz, In the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Team Melli had one draw and two defeats and was knocked out at the group stage.
In the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, the team experienced the same feat with one win, one loss, and one draw collecting 4 points.
Now,  in the FIFA World Cup Qatar  2022, the same thing repeated as Iran was knocked out with one win, two losses, and 3 points.

The Portuguese head coach was supposed to lead the Iranian national team to the title in the AFC Asian Cup, but during these competitions (2015 in Australia and 2019 in the UAE), when he was the head coach, Team Melli could not reach the finals with defeats against Iraq in the quarter-finals 2015 and loss to Japan in the semi-finals of AFC Cup 2019, and hence Iran completed its pentagon of failures under this Portuguese coach.

One of the criticisms that were leveled at Queiroz during this period is that he had a brute defensive mentality, commonly known as Park the Bus. It became synonymous with Queiroz and Team Melli quite unlike the Croatian coaches before him like Blazevic, Ivic, and Ivankovic who believed in offensive and attractive football.

While coaching Iran, Queiroz preferred strong defense detrimental to the offensive side. Whatever the coach’s playing strategy is, must be respected but ultimately he is responsible for the result. In Iran’s case, the defensive mentality of Queiroz failed to yield results.

In modern-day football and with so many advances in every angle of the game, it is rare that a coach survives that long in a team without achieving zilch.  Queiroz is unique perhaps an enigma. Why are they sticking to this man?

There is a logical reason, prepare a few for that. The first of which is the poor communication skills of the FFIRI, the nonexistence of quality international relations, and the twisted way that this federation is run. In Iran, the football federation is an extension of the government. It is an NGO by name only as the de facto leader of the federation is the Minister of Youth and Sports. It was the ministry that shouldered the coact of employing the highly expensive coach.

So, the failure of FFIRI is a natural extension of the failure of the government where loyalty rather than skills, intelligence, and suitability is the main requirement for appointment in every government-controlled organization.

Mehdi Taj has shown that he has a special faith in this coach because, despite past failures, he ludicrously went on to recruit the Portugues while the man who created a miracle that took Iran to the FIFA World Cup was fired with two months left! There was no logic and reasoning behind this but what it highlighted is the culture, or lack of it, of FFIRI leaders. A Culture of deceit, back-stabbing and immoral behavior.

The youngest players in Team Melli history.

Team Melli prides itself in giving young talents to serve their country and shine international level. In fact, over 60 players made their debut for the National Team of Iran at the age of twenty or less. Some of the young players went on to make successful careers while other younger players did not progress at later stages of their careers.

At the top of the table, lies a footballer for Khuzestan who stormed Iran’s football with dazzling displays in the age groups.  Hossein Kaebi, who hardly spoke Farsi at his younger age, was an eye-catching player who quickly rose through the ranks in Khuzestan and was picked for the U16, U18, and the Omid Team of Iran. Somewhere along the line of progress of his football  Kaebi was also picked to play for Team Melli at the tender age of 16 breaking the long-time record for the youngest player held by the legendary Parviz Ghleechkhani,

Kaebi was born in Ahvaz on 23-Sep-85. He made his International Debut: against Slovakia on 06th Feb 2002 aged 16 years 4 months 14 days. 

Kaebi went on to play 92 times for Team Melli scoring 2 goals.

Lying second in the table is the Legendary Parviz Ghleechkhani at 17 years of age.  Ghleechkhani is by far the most celebrated Iranian footballer in history. No play in Iran has approached the achievement of this footballer. He has lifted the AFC Asian Cup 3 consecutive times. No player in Asia has achieved this. Ghleechkhani also played in three Olympic games, Tokyo 1964, Munich 1972, and Montreal 1976  playing 9 matches in total.

Ghleechkhani also won the Gold Medal in Tehran Asian Games in 1974 and was a Silver medallist at the Asian Games 1966 in Bangkok. He missed the 1978 World Cup because of his political activities rather than his abilities, but that hardly affects the resume of the greatest player in Iranian football who made his debut at the tender age of 17 years 11 months 2 days when he played against East Germany in the Tokyo Olympic Games 1964.  He went on to play 66 times for Iran scoring 14 goals, the most famous of which was the long-range strike against Australia in Azadi.; Amazingly, Ghleechkhani never played as a substitute. He started all of his 66 matches for Team Melli.

The third top player is Allahyar SAYYADMANESH the wonder boy who dazzled at the age group teams. The forward who is currently playing with the English Championship side, Hul City was still amongst the U18 team when he was picked for Team Melli playing. In FIFA U!& World Cup in India, Allahyar shined for Iran and went on to reach the quarter-finals where they were beaten by Spain. Sauuadmanesh scored 3 goals in that tournament.

On June 6th, 2019 in a friendly match against Syria in Azadi stadium, the first match of Team Melli under Marc Wilmots, the Belgian coach introduced the talented Sayyadmanesh as a substitute in the 79th minute. 10 minutes later, he scored in his debut to become one of the youngest Iranian players to score in their debut. Still

Sayyadmanesh was 17 years 11 months 8 days old on his debut and so far has made 7 appearances for Team Melli scoring 1 goal. He has a long career ahead.

List of youngest Team Melli debutants

1- Hossein KAEBI  [16]
2 Parviz GHLEECHKHANI [17]
3-  Allahyar SAYYADMANESH [17]
4- Mehrzad MADANCHI [18]
5- Iman MOBALI [18]

6- Ehsan HAJSAFI [18]
7- Hossein EBRAHIMI [18]
8- Mostafa ARAB [18]
9- Hameed SHIRZADEGAN [18]
10- Hassan NAZARI [18]

11- Ali JABBARI [18]
12- Saeid EZZATOLLAHI [18]
13- Mohammad Ali KARIMI [19]
14- Javad KAZEMIAN [19]
15- Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA [19]

16- Javad NEKOUNAM [19]
17- Arash BORHANI [19]
18- Amir AGHAHOSSEINI [19]
19- Homayoun BEHZADI [19]
20- Mehrab SHAHROUKHI [19]

21- Gholamhossein MAZLOOMI [19]
22- Nasser HEJAZI [19]
23- Hassan ROWSHAN [19]
24- Masih MASIHNIA [19]
25- Alireza KHORSHIDI [19]

FIFA ranking is deceiving , Is Iran really the number one football nation in Asia?

Although Team Melli has been topping the FIFA Ranking in Asia for many months and years, the reality of the football results, performances of other Iranian teams, global reputation, management, and administration chaos tells a completely different story.

A close analysis of the above shows that Iranian football is lagging behind major Asian footballing nations in recent years. According to the FIFA ranking system for the Senior National Football teams, Iran’s team has often been at the top rank of Asian teams in the FIFA rankings in recent years. This ranking cannot be questioned because it has its own criteria and points are awarded for winning in each match, while each match has a factor based on importance and the position/rank of the opponents. So, it is quite scientific and the process v=cannot be faulted in any way. However, by examining various fields and indicators, including the superiority of Iranian football in the competition with important teams in the world at the club and junior levels football and the results obtained In the AFC Asian Cup, World Cup rounds, and Olympics, we find out that Iranian football is by far not the top nation in Asia as we have always been led to believe.

Now the question is why Iranian football has not been able to get results in important Asian competitions for many years. Why has a team that claims to be a contender in Asian football not achieved any important honor in the last 30 years in the club division and in the last 40 years at the national level?

 

1/ Performance in the World Cup

Performance of Asian teams in the World Cup (teams that advanced to the second round are highlighted in blue)

 

Teams Korea Rep Japan Saudi Arabia Iran Australia Korea DPR
Played 34 21 16 15 16 7
Won 6 5 3 2 2 1
Drawn 9 5 2 4 4 1
Lost 19 11 11 9 10 5

2/ Performance in the Olympics

46 years have passed since Iran’s last participation in the Olympics, and by the time the Paris Olympics begin, this longing will reach 48 years. For every Olympic qualifier, failures and lackluster results lead to elimination from the early stages of qualifiers. Iran’s Omid national team fails to advance to the Olympics tournament after tournament. The following is the list of Asian Teams that qualified for the Olympics since 1980.

1980 IRAQ SYRIA  KUWAIT
1984 IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA QATAR
1988 IRAQ KOREA REP CHINA
1992 QATAR KOREA REP KUWAIT
1996 JAPAN KOREA REP SAUDI ARABIA
2000 JAPAN KOREA REP KUWAIT
2004 JAPAN KOREA REP IRAQ
2008 JAPAN KOREA REP AUSTRALIA
2012 JAPAN KOREA REP UAE
2016 JAPAN KOREA REP IRAQ
2020 JAPAN KOREA REP AUSTRALIA SAUDI ARABIA

 

3/ The AFC Asian Cup

The longing for lifting the AFC Asian Cup trophy by Team Melli, which Iran won three times in a row before the revolution, is now 47 years old, and Iran has not won the title since the revolution. by the next edition of the Asian Cup, this longing will last half a century. This is despite the fact that since Iran’s last championship in the Asian Cup, Japan won 4, Saudi Arabia won 3, and Kuwait, Iraq, Australia, and  Qatar have won the title once in Iran’s absence.

YEAR CHAMPION FINALIST THIRD
1980 KUWAIT KOREA REP IRAN
1984 SAUDI ARABIA CHINA KUWAIT
1988 SAUDI ARABIA KOREA REP IRAN
1992 JAPAN SAUDI ARABIA CHINA
1996 SAUDI ARABIA UAE IRAN
2000 JAPAN SAUDI ARABIA KOREA REP
2004 JAPAN CHINA IRAN
2007 IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA KOREA REP
2011 JAPAN AUSTRALIA KOREA REP
2015 AUSTRALIA KOREA REP UAE
2019 QATAR JAPAN IRAN & UAE

 

4/ Performance in the AFC Champions League

Pas won the Asian Club Cup in the 1992-1993 season. Three decades have passed since then. In this competition, Iranian club teams have never been able to win the championship title in its new format. The Asian Champions League has been held in a new format since 2002.

The number of championships of Asian teams since the start of the Champions League:

South Korea: 6 championships

Japan: 4 championships

Saudi Arabia: 4 championships

Australia: 1 championship

Iran: Zero

 

5/ The number of legionnaires in the 5 prestigious leagues of the world

 

 

JAPAN KOREA DPR AUSTRALIA IRAN SAUDI ARABIA
Bundesliga 9 4 4 1 0
English Premier League: 2 2 1 1 0
La Liga 1 1 2 0 0
Serie A 2 0 0 0 0
14 7 7 2 0

 

 

AFC invites members for hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2023.

Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) invitation to all the AFC Member Associations (MAs) to host the AFC Asian Cup 2023™.
Following China PR’s decision to withdraw as hosts of the AFC Asian Cup 2023™, the recent 32nd AFC Congress 2022 had provided the mandate to the AFC Administration to define the terms and requirements of an expedited bidding process to find a replacement host for the competition.
Following the conclusion of the bidding process, the AFC Administration will submit a report with its recommendations to the AFC Executive Committee, which will then select the new host of the AFC Asian Cup 2023™.

The deadline for interested MAs to submit their EoI to host the AFC Asian Cup 2023™ is June 30, 2022.

Such a short deadline surely means that there is one country only that can host the Asian Cup and that is Qatar. Although after the World Cup, Asin Cup hosting will be a formality, it is only logical to award it to Qatar unless the gas-rich Persian Gulf country is exhausted from hosting major tournaments and needs a break.

Team Melli is still without a sponsor!

The Iranian national team is without a sponsorship deal since the FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia, as all efforts by the Football Federation to find a jersey sponsor and a commercial partner has failed to attract any interest.

The FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup are two of the most important official events in football in which the federation has been able to make a huge profit by accepting sponsors for Team Melli and covering the cost of preparation for the team. The last official contract was signed before the start of the World Cup and lasted up to the end of the tournament, although that deal was much criticized due to lack of transparency.

The Federation or the Marketing Department has repeatedly posted ads on the federation’s website and official newspapers inviting various companies and institutions, but no entity was willing to close a sponsorship with the FFIRI. As a result, Iran’s Team Melli had no sponsor for the World Cup 2022 and World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

Continuation of this problem, given the ambiguity on the resumption of World Cup qualifying matches after Corona’s eradication, could damage the national team’s preparation process as the FFIRI cannot financially meet the demands of the technical staff and the preparations required.

Much of this concern by sponsors revolves around the poor reputation of the administrators and managers of the federation. Corruption is endemic in Iran’s football and lack of transparency on the previous sponsorship deals raised many unanswered questions. Organizations prefer to stay away from this unwelcome PR.

Another stumbling block is the unreliability of the FFIRI in terms of respect for the contract. By the unilateral termination of contracts citing violations without proper evidence or legal backing, the FFIRI has set a bad precedent and created difficult situations on several occasions while it has spoiled its own reputation in the process

As such, none of these failures by inept FFIRI leadership is much of the surprise to the observers in Iran’s football. The FFIRI has a terminal lack of competent leadership as long as the extended hand of the government insists on installing puppets rather than competent administrators and inspiring leadership.

Mehdi Taj’s masterstroke!

Mehdi Taj and the FFIRI have to be credited for the appointment of Marc Wilmots as head coach of Team Melli replacing Queiroz.

The Iranian federation FFIRI faced many obstacles in their quest to replace Queiroz beginning from the Finances, or lack of it , to political objections, to social issues and the strong local lobbies.

The lack of funds is by now a common knowledge. Despite the lack of transparency by FFIRI including no audited balance sheet that is publically available to answer discrepancies such as the alleged disappearance of large amount of payments awarded to FFIRI during the reign Ali Kaffashian, the federation has been suffering from lack of resources for years.  Transfer of salary through normal banking channels to a foreign coach is also a great challenge thanks to one Donald Trump and his American sanctions.

It is that sanction that prompted many politicians and hardliners to question the appointment of a foreign coach and thus the wasting of rare hard currency on football while large sectors of industry and other services were in dire need of that cash and hard currency. It was certainly a legitimate question particularly that this football has yielded nothing for the country since the revolution particularly the trophy that really matters for the Iranians, the AFC Asian Cup.

Compared to other sports, football has one of the lowest returns of investment  and yields in the country yet the people associated with it are the highest paid of them all, some of whom make astronomical figures comparatively.

Socially speaking, the question foreign coach appointment has always been divisive debate in Iran. A large number of fans question such appointments based on issues such as communication, language, culture, logistics and most importantly, cost.

The other factor in this endless debate is the strong lobbying by influential people in Iran’s football. Ex-players, coaches, administrators and managers who strongly support the appointment of one of their own.

That reservation on foreign coach is responded to by the other camp who believe that Iranian coaches are not suitable or favorable at this time. Ali Daei, a legendary figure in his own right, lost his job in an un-ceremonial fashion after losing to Saudi Arabia at Azadi in a World Cup qualifier match.

Before him, Amir Ghalenoei, who is by far the most successful Iranian league club coach, tried but failed to achieve success in the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

Mansour Ebrahimzadeh was an interim coach but he was a disaster losing all the 3 matches Team Melli played under him. Finally Afshin Ghotbi, who is technically an American citizen, who failed to deliver in AFC Asian Cup 2011

In reality, in this period, there is no good Iranian candidate for Team Melli. From experience to knowledge to discipline to modern football tactics awareness and many more aspects, it is clear that Iranian coaches have a lot to learn.

Taj and his men had to navigate all those hurdles and skillfully managed to come up with the correct decision.

So, without bias, the appointment of Marc Wilmots is a masterstroke carried out under immense pressure. Mehdi Taj deserves much credit for such a move, notwithstanding the shortfalls in his administration and  lack of transparency.  Certainly there remains a lot to be corrected at FFIRI, but credit must be given were credit is due

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