Ali Kaffashian , the President of FFIRI has warned football fans that there will be no TV coverage of football league matches anytime soon. “Those who want to watch football, need to go to the stadiums because we have not reached any agreement to resolve the dispute between us and IRIB” Kaffashian announced after the meeting with Ezzatollah Zarghami the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
When asked by reporters what was the outcome of the meeting between the two parties regarding the TV broadcast, Kaffashian said that they simply exchanged views and no serious discussion on the issue of TV broadcast value was discussed! The meeting was the last one in a series that was supposed to resolve the issue of payment by IRIB for broadcast rights. IRIB strongly disagrees with the FFIRI valuation of the TV rights and described it as unreasonable and beyond the capabilities of the TV and Radio organization. The gap between the IRIB expectation and the FFIRI is quite large while mediators suggested the interference of the government and the parliament.
IRIB is the singular broadcaster in Iran and has complete monopoly on TV and Radio services. Most of the clubs in Iran are also run, owned or financed by the government directly or indirectly. The situation is quite peculiar in Iran as the government, despite being theological and run according to Islamic principles which translates into free market, in reality the government has direct or indirect in control on every key commercial, business, media , sport activities and organizations that have impact on the country’s political or commercial interest. The concept on NGO is hardly applied in Iran while the population is brought up with a mentality of government welfare expectation.
Adel Ferdowsipour , for the first time, tackled the issue on Monday night through the popular Navad TV show. The issue of TV blackout and broadcast rights became a challenge for NAVAD and its anchorman Ferdowsipour who was defied by many reporters to have enough courage and discuss the issue openly on the popular program with tens of millions of viewers every week. It became a question of trust in the program and the impartiality of Ferdowsipour as a person who is looked upon as instigator of many behind the scene issues in Iran’s football politics and the person who has revealed many shortcomings , inadequacies and even corruption in the most popular sport in Iran.
Ferdowsipour addressed this challenge and the whole program was nearly dedicated to the issue with the main guest being none other than the opposition in the shape of Mehdi Taj , the head of the football league commission of FFIRI.
The long debate and exchange of thoughts, ideas and data between the two sides did not result in any practical solution. While IRIB believes that there should be a Broadcast Right for football, it vehemently disagrees with the figures that are demanded by the FFIRI and clearly informed FFIRI that its football standards and values should not be compared to those of Major European luges like the English EPL or the Spanish La Liga. A short report in the program highlighted the lack or even the nonexistence of any meaningful marketing activities by many Iranian clubs apart from shirt sponsorships. Instead, the clubs are looking for easy money and the least effort to get that, claimed the report. By receiving financial support from the owners, which are mostly government owned organizations, they are now again extending their hands to the government to receive substantial funds by the way of bloated TV right broadcast demands. “Many clubs live beyond their means. While the incomes of these clubs are negligible in business terms, their expenditure are quite high with millions of dollars payment for players and coaches. When the cash eventually dries out, which is a regular occurrence in Iranian clubs, they naturally resort to government to bail them out.”
The head of IRIB is appointed by the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamanei. Zarghami was appointed for a 5 years period by the leader. His mission and goal is quite clear which is to spread the religious ideas/sermons and implant the regime’s ideology into every Iranian home. The ex- revolutionary guard and an engineer by qualification is closely connected to the religious hierarchy and considered as a fundamentalist. However, despite much criticism by the liberals against his appointment, Zarghami managed to improve the services of the TV in many areas but all that falls short of the standards of the media in the west and the democratic nations. When it comes to sport, Zarghami is an avid sport fan, but the insiders say that his favorite sport is Volleyball not football. Whether his leaning towards Volleyball, which has attracted the attention of the sport world towards Iran’s after the remarkable run of Iran’s volleyball team at global stage, has any influence in the negotiations between IRIB and FFIRI is not known. Despite the lack of reliable sources, it is believed that both the regime Hierarchy and IRIB in the figure of Zarghami, do not believe that football has brought enough glory to the nation despite the huge influx of resources compared to a sport such as volleyball, to merit huge investments and payout. They simply believe that the return on Investment (ROI) on football is poor and much below expectation.