Hossein Shams, the former head coach of Iran’s national futsal team defined the upcoming elections of the football federation as crucial and demanded full independence of the federation from political institutions.
“In my opinion, the head of the federation should be strong and independent and not a servant of the minister, pressure groups, or the parliamentarians. Don’t let non-football personnel run the federation and do not allow decisions to be made by outsiders whose interests and objectives are not necessarily in tandem with the development and progress of football and futsal. Try to improve football and futsal yourself. He should not allow the interference of the minister, he should not let the parliamentarians and the Article 90 Commission make decisions for football, and he and his team alone should do all the work. “
“This football that we are witnessing now is the end result of continuous interference from outsiders that use all sorts of tactics to influence outcomes and systematically interfere in major decisions. The head of the football federation must be strong enough to withstand such pressure and be independent of the government and parliament. After all, this is the normal practice. This is the most important feature that a federation president should possess.”
Regarding the possible competition between Azizullah Mohammadi, Mehdi Taj, and Mirshad Majdi for the presidency of the Football Federation, Shams said: “I have no idea if they have been vetted and approved yet. It has not yet been confirmed and none of these 3 have presented a plan that one could decide which one to choose. I believe that someone should be elected whose plans are practical and doable. Regrettably, as soon as they win the office, they have achieved their objective which is primarily to win recognition and hold the office of president. “
“History tells us that most of them do not fulfill any of their promises”.
The football federation in Iran has historically suffered interference and pressure from the government with impunity. The fact that the federation is virtually bankrupt and depends a lot on government handouts, pressures the leadership of the FFIRI to abide by the government but that is all done under the table fearing FIFA Sanction.
Despite the constant denials of the Ministry of Sports, it is no secret that the head of FFIRI has to visit the ministry whenever a major decision needs to be taken. The latest episode with Dragan Skocic is one typical example.
The government owns two of the biggest and most popular clubs in Iran Esteghlal and Persepolis and refusing to let go despite decades of promises to do so.