Tag: Mahmoud Goudarzi

Dr. Mohammad Dadkan, is a leading candidate for Minister of Sports.

Following the resignation of Goudarzi , the Minister of Youth and Sports in President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet , the former Head of FFIRI  Mohammad Dadkan’s name is being put forward as a replacement.

President Rouhani has reshuffled his cabinet by replacing 3 controversial ministers including Mahmoud Goudarzi. The Youth and Sports Minister has failed to improve the level of government support for sports with lack of proper infrastructure and facilities marring the progress of Iranian athletes. Football in particular has suffered from this minister with his continual interference in the administration of the federation. His attempt to implant his own men in the federation and his strong views in Team Melli affairs did not go down well with the critics.  However, in his core business and responsibilities , he failed to improve the facilities provided for sportsmen and women of Iran. He also failed to release the strong government grip on the clubs such as Persepolis and Esteghlal while he failed to honor the long promise of privatization of these clubs. Team Melli , on the verge of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup has been suffering from lack of a proper practise field for many months. Iran was embarrassed when FIFA banned the use of the upper tier of Azadi stadium , rendering the iconic stadium being halved in capacity, due to its cement slab being used for seating the fans.

Mahmoud Goudarzi, like the other two ministers have submitted their resignations , which was a face saving act.

 According to an Oct. 19 report in the moderate publication Entekhab, possible candidates to replace Goudarzi include Amiri; Ali Asghar Mounesan, the managing director of the Kish Free-Trade Zone; Mohammad Dadkan, the former head of the Soccer Federation; and Masoud Soltanifar, the vice president and head of the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.  

Dr. Mohammad Hossein Dadkan (63 years) was Team Melli player,  having spent most of his playing career in Persepolis. He served as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation from April 2002 until April 2006. His controversial removal from his post by the government after the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany , lead to sanctions against the federation and suspension from international football by FIFA on 22 November 2006

Post 2006 ,  Dadkan has always been an outspoken critic of football politics and administration in Iran.  He refused several appointments in the federation and Persepolis management.  Dadkan has his own critics though, plenty of them in fact. He was accused of nepotism and interference in Branko ivankovic’s job when he was the head of FFIRI. His background as a player lead him to enforce his views on the Team Melli’s coach and his constant appearance in Team Melli practise sessions and accompanying all Team Melli trips, enforced this opinion by the critics.

The nomination for the post will be announced within two weeks by the President, Hassan Rounhani.

Azadi stadium is becoming a full seater.

The Minister of Youth and Sport inspected the ongoing work in Azadi stadium to convert the jewel of Iranian crown into a full seater venue.

FIFA has put a partial ban on the stadium due to the fact that the higher level section was consisting of concrete slab and spectators had to suffer being seated on such a rough surface. That ban reduced the capacity of Azadi stadium to less than half.

The Sport Ministry managed to fork out a budget to upgrade the stadium especially since Iran is involved in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers starting next September. 

Mr. Mahmoud Goudarzi spoke to the media after concluding his inspection tour and assured the public that the seats will be ready before the match against Qatar on September 1st. “We have been promised the delivery of the stadium 10 days before the match. I am confident that we will have all the seats ready by then”. “The stadium capacity will be reduced to 78,116 all seated.” the minister declared.

Asked about the request by Carlos Queiroz to move the Team Melli practise sessions to Azadi Stadium , the Minister declined such request and said that “Azadi is a venue for matches and not a practise ground. The football federation must find a suitable place for Team Melli to practise”. Responding to another question from a reporter on whether this Stadium will be handed over to Esteghlal and Persepolis, Mr. Goudarzi rediculed such claims “This is meaningless. This stadium belongs to the people of Iran, it makes no sense at all to hand it over  such a grand venue to two clubs only”

 Goudarzi said that by the instruction of the President, a technical team has been inspecting the stadium to check the safety level and problems of water seepage and accumulation. This team has already carried out the inspection and are in the process of finalizing its recommendations and report.

 

Goudarzi :No Iranian team will play with the Saudi’s on Neutral grounds

The Minister of Youth and Sport of the Iranian government , Mr. Mahmoud  Goudarzi announced that Iranian team playing against Saudi teams in a neutral country as demanded by the Saudi government and approved by AFC, is out of question. This statement , by the highest authority in sport in the Iranian government  will create an unenviable situation for the Asian Federation.

Goudarzi criticized the AFC for bowing to the Saudi political pressure. In a short statement to the press said “Everyone knows by now that politics must not interfere with sports. Football governing bodies have been particularly very strict in this matter. FIFA has sanctioned and suspended many countries for violating the political interference rules . AFC has very obviously ignored the rules that they have created themselves by  bowing to political pressure from the Saudis. We will not play in any other country but ours, We have no issues with playing in Saudi Arabia either.”

This short statement will put the AFC in a real dilemma. The Asian Federation has not provided any solid grounds for accepting the Saudi demands. In its feeble statement , it reasoned that the break in relationship between the two countries was behind such decision!!!. There is no secret that such demand by the Oil Rich Arab country is nothing to do with the security or safety of the players as claimed by their FA but very much to do with the political situation between the two countries. By accepting the Saudi demands , AFC has registered a precedent that it will regret in future and could open a floodgate of such requests in Asia in the future.

Mr Goudarzi like most of other Iranian officials have emphasized that Iran will take legal action against AFC and will seek compensations as the result of this ruling.

Three Iranian clubs are involved in this edition of the AFC Champions League. Sepahan, Zob Ahan  (Esfahan)and Tractorsazi (Tabriz). ALl stand a good chance of qualifying to the next round after half of tha matches have been played. Tractorsazi is leading its group C with 6 points from 3 matches., Zob Ahan is second in the Group B with 5 points (same points as Al Nasr of KSA on top with better goal difference) , and Finally Sepahan on third in group A with 3 points.

 

Kaffashian will not run in the latest FFIRI elections.

Ali Kaffashian the incumbent President of the Iranian football federation FFIRI has announced that he will not run for re-election due in a few weeks.

7 candidates have announced their candidacy for replacing Ali Kaffashian amongst them are Mehdi Taj , the current head of the Football League in FFIRI , General Mostafa Ajerloo famous for his succesful days as Pas Tehran club chairman and Azizollah Mohammadi , the former  head of the Football League . The trio have the highest chances of winning the election as the new President of FFIRI.

Kaffashian has been put under pressure by his Nemesis the Minister of Sport Goudarzi to quit. The two never had an amicable relation mainly due to the constant interference by the Ministry in football affairs thus risking a ban by FIFA. Kaffashian has publicly denied any rift but admitted that the FFIRI and the Ministry of Sport have conflicting interests and opinions that could harm the sport. 

Despite Kaffashian’s withdrawal , he noted that if he feels that there is enough backing and support from the general assembly , he will reenter the election for another 4 years.

The impact of Kaffashian leaving the administration will be directly felt at Team Melli. Carlos Queiroz , the head coach has been receiving full support from Kaffashian while on the other hand, creating a plethora of enemies around him. It is a forgone conclusion that Queiroz will not survive without Kaffashian at the helm. No one in the current administration cares much for him being the head coach except for Kaffashian. None of the other candidates expressed public support for the Portuguese coach either. However , in Iran changes can happen and shifts in support has turned situations before. 

Queiroz in Minsitry of Youth & Sport
Queiroz in Minsitry of Youth & Sport

The Minister who insists on running football.

In yet another turn of events of Iran2s football, the Minister of Youth and Sport Goudarzi has indicated that he will come down hard on football referees and those who want to hurt the Tehrani teams.

This is another blatant and direct interference in football affairs by the government minister  who has warned the football league referees that they will have to answer for their mistakes and errors in matches. Such function is the responsibility of the Football federation and its referees committee.

According to Sports reporter of Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Mahmoud Goudarzi, commenting on the of protests in recent weeks about football refereeing , mainly from the defeated teams Persepolis and Esteghlal, ” I have been given a report about these  abuses and complaints in form of wrong calls against teams from Tehran, which I am investigating all the cases.”

“In addition there are 3 other teams that have complained to me but it seems that the case for Persepolis is much more clearer than the rest. I will be reviewing all those with the football experts (…) If it is proven to us that there has been wrongdoings and intent to hurt these teams , then we will come down heavily on the culprits.”

The minister who has always acted as the policeman and executioner of football in Iran is clearly violating the FIFA rules which prohibits political and politician interferences in football. Iran has already been suspended once by FIFA in 2006 for the same reason but Mr. Goudarzi is probably testing the waters and defying FIFA , an organization that itself is embroiled in corruption charges.

Persepolis and Esteghlal , the two teams that have complained the most are owned and run by the Iranian government, giving Mr. Goudarzi’s statements and interest in their affairs , another meaning to the term “conflict of interest”.

Alireza Mansourian , Naft Tehran and ex-Team Melli coach and player, expressed his surprise by the interference of the government minster.

source : ISNA

Kranjčar ultimatum to FFIRI  

The Croat coach has given Ali Kaffashian and the football federation up to this weekend to decide on his  approval and appointment as the head coach of Omid Team (U23) else he will be responding to other offers. Peykan is the prime candidate for the services of the Zlatko Kranjčar and has been quite active in pursuing him following the sacking of their coach, Mansour Ebrahimzadeh last week.

Kranjčar was all set to join the FFIRI as a coach with approvals granted internally with in the federation administrations including the president himself. However, a telephone call from the Ministry of Youth and Sport put a halt to all that. A day after Kaffashian confirmed to the press that Kranjcar is appointed he retreated and changed his wording by claiming that there are a few pending issues!

It is not clear what objection the Ministry has against Kranjcar appointment. Although the international football laws of FIFA prohibits government interference in football and has already sanctioned Iran for doing so right after the World Cup 2006, such meddling and imposition is quite common under the table and behind closed doors. With a submissive and compliant management at the helm of FFIRI, the decision making process of the federation must seek the blessing and approval of the Minister before implementation, else the wrath of the Ministry.

Mahmoud Goudarzai , the Minister of Youth and Sports.

Despite the on-going denials of the Ministry and its legal arm, it is a common knowledge that Minister , Mahmoud Goudarzi was instrumental in delaying the finalization of Queiroz contact until the 11th hours. The Minster of Youth and Sports has been quite active in manipulating managerial and coaching position in its two prize assets, Persepolis and Esteghlal which are authoritatively, wholly owned by the government.

Mahmoud Goudarzi , a former wrestler, was the fourth candidate that was suggested by President Hassan Rouhani to the Parliament for approval as Minister of Youth and Sport. 3 previous candidates of  the President were rejected by the parliament. Iran is the only Middle East country that has such a democratic system.  Mahmoud Goudarzi won the approval by a small margin.

 

Goudarzi” The government does not create football Billionaires.”

20 months after the conclusion of London summer Olympic games 2012,  Iran’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) held a ceremony in honor of the Iranian athletes Olympic games medal winners .

In the ceremony attended by many dignitaries, including Iran’s vice-president Dr. Noubakht and Minister of Sport  Mahmoud Goudarzi , the athletes received gifts in appreciation of their achievements.  London summer Olympic games 2012 recorded the best medal haul for Iran since its first participation in London summer Olympic games in 1948.

The minister of youth and sports , Mahmoud Goudarzi  in an exclusive interview with Iranian Students News Agency ( ISNA ) ,  commenting on the the ceremony, said “the main objective of organizing this gathering , was organizing a major sports event as well as meeting and honoring of Olympic medal winners and that was a good thing. We applaud NOC for holding such ceremony. We were honored to be present at the event and thank the heroes of Iran who were exemplary representatives and true credits for the sport and their country.”

Commenting on Vice-President attendance at the ceremony , the Minster highlighted the objective of one of the highest government ranks in  the country to be among the athletes and sport  administrators, is to see for himself the current status and the needs of sport.

“Tonight’s ceremony was attended by Dr. Noubakht  , which was a positive move. The Vice-President was well briefed about some of the problems and shortcomings facing the various sports and also to get to know the athletes closely and keep in touch with them .  Dr. Noubakht promised to help solve the country’s sport problems.”

On the program of Team Melli , the minster said ” We have special programs for successful participation of our  national team in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. God willing,  we are looking forward for a successful participation and honorable representation of the Iranian people who look up to this team . Some people say that I do not care much for football . I do not accept that at all. It is completely false.”

“When it comes to financial support , I have to tell you all that the government will NOT finance clubs to create football billionaires. We are not interested in that aspect. The income of the  rich footballers that the fans are aware of , the money exchanged in the clubs for transfer of players,  has not come from the government coffers.T he government does not create football Billionaires, I can assure of that. Some other supporters perhaps pour money into the clubs to buy players or take care of their wages. We at governmental level , cannot and will not afford that.”

“We have to face reality. Football is the most popular sport in the world including our own country, The support has to be appropriate but not on the expense of other sports. It is our firm policy to support all sport , especially those that bring us honor at international levels.”

Asked about the future and privatization of Esteghlal and Persepolis , the Minister got agitated and responded “Why do you keep asking about Persepolis and Esteghlal all the time ? Why not Sanat Naft, Tractorsazi , Damash Gilan? these teams need your attention as well (!!!)”

So, the the honorable minister of youth and sport , cleverly avoided the question that has been on every fans mind  since the last President Ahmadinejad promised , which is the timescale of these 2 popular clubs privatization.