Tag: Marc Wilmots

“Wilmots Curse” Ban on recruitment of Foreign Coaches in Iran.

“Wilmots Curse” has struck Iranian football in an unprecedented way. The astronomical figure to be awarded for a sub-standard coach whose failure to win two crucial matches in FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers is threatening an early exit from the competition, has left an incurable scar in Iran’s football. The first immediate effect of that is the recent banning of new foreign recruits. The FFIRI had decided that a blanket ban will not only help preserve the flight of precious foreign currency but also minimize the inherint corruption in football.

The ban on recruiting foreign coaches and players was passed by the executive committee of the football federation FFIRI.

From next season, starting in a few week’s time, a blanket ban on recruiting foreign players and coaches is enforced for all clubs in the country

The following resolutions were approved by the executive board members in the meeting:

1- Approving the transfer ceiling of football players in the next season

2- Prohibition of employing foreign players and coaches for the next season in all clubs of the country due to the lack of foreign exchange resources and restrictions on foreign exchange transfers.

3- Extension of the contract of foreign players and coaches who have had contracts with clubs from previous seasons is unrestricted and upon the expiry of their contract, both sides can only renew or extend with the current club. Transfer to another club is prohibited

4 – All domestic players and coaches, without exception, who have a contract in Rials with their club must agree on a national currency (Rials or Tomans) in other options of the contract and nothing else.

5- Allocation of membership fees for Premier League football matches is mandatory in accordance with previous approvals.

6- Approval of regulations to determine the status of futsal players in compliance with legal requirements

7- Holding training courses conducted by internationally renowned trainers for trainers in the country in the form of webinars

8- Approving the performance and financial statements of the federation

9- Regarding the hosting of the 2027 Asian Cup, it was decided for periodical reports by the stakeholders on the progress of hosting requirements and capabilities.

FFIRI board and Minster of Sports summoned to the Majlis.

Finally, Mehdi Taj and his entourage board members of the Football Federation are to be challenged about the circumstances of the suspicious and highly controversial deal by the parliament.

Mehdi Taj, along with several members of FFIRI board of directors and several current and former directors, attended a questioning session in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

According to ISNA, the purpose of FFIRI board of directors’ appearance in Majlis is to determine if there was wrongdoing, negligence or corruption behind the signing of the deal with Wilmots, especially since the federation has been claiming for many years under both Ali Kaffashian and Mehdi Taj that it is critically short of funds even to pay its basic obligation, like the employee’s salaries, National teams training camps and inability to arrange meaningful friendly games for Team Melli to prepare for the World Cup citing fund shortage. Yet, the same federation that has been constantly seeking handouts from the government in effect using blackmail tactics, signs a multi-million dollar contract with a coach who has lasted only six months with Ivory Coast before he was sacked!

The FFIRI had steadfastly refused to disclose the terms of the deal and the justifications until public pressure and the threat of law suite finally exposed this horrendous commitment by the bankrupt federation.

 

Mehdi Taj and Ebrahim Shakoori, along with the current board of directors are under investigation for signing the worst sporting contract in the history of Iran at all levels. A contract with Marc Wilmots which resulted in Iran’s Team Melli not only risking eliminations from the qualifiers with two consecutive defeats under the Belgian but also resulted in the coach of Team Melli leaving the country accusing his employer of several breaches of the contract, which was supported by FIFA’s committee with Iranian side ordered to pay some € 6.2 million in fines to the person who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the World Cup !.

The Minister of Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar and his deputies are also summoned for the hearing. It is strongly believed that the influence of the Minister was telling in the conclusion of the contract. With FFIRI board constantly seeking handouts, it is believed that none dared to challenge the Ministry’s choice while Soltanmifar denies any wrongdoing and only introducing the coach by recommendation of Iran-Belgium Chambers of commerce.

The executives are expected to answer questions from members of the Parliament about the background and the termination of the contract with Wilmots. FFIRI has borrowed over € 2.2 million from the social security organization to pay Wilmot’s salary.

Many observers are skeptical about any progress of the proceeding as it is feared that the issue will be kept under wrap and no one will be prosecuted especially since the Ministry of Sports and Youth is involved in the case as defendants.

Wilmots contract verdict and the depth of tragedy in Iran’s football.

The contract of Marc Wilmots with the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI has caused a further 8,142,000 Euros in damages (about 216 billion Tomans), which is about 50 billion more than the entire budget of the Iranian National Olympic and Paralympic Committees!!

The astronomical and tragic waste of public money epitomizes the sheer mismanagement, corruption, and lack of oversight in Iran’s football.

Recently, however, FIFA announced its verdict in the dispute between Iran and Marc Wilmots and ordered the Iranian Football Federation to pay Euros 6,137,000 in compensation to this Belgian coach; In addition, the Iranians must pay an amount of about five thousand euros as a court fee to the ruling committee. A grand total of Euros 8,142,000 so far goes to Wilmots. FFIRI, had previously borrowed 2 million Euros from the Social Security Investment Company (Shasta) to pay Marc Wilmots’ wages of which compensation of 6,137, euros, and five thousand euros related to the proceedings for a total 8,142,000 euros. That is the total cost of the contract with the coach who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Considering that the FFIRI has to pay its 2 million euro loan to Shasta in foreign currency and this figure has not been paid in full so far and it is not clear what the price of the euro will be when settling the debt, calculation of all the expenses that is due and libel by the Football Federation of Iran so far in today’s exchange rate, (including 26,500 Tomans to the Euro) it will be about 216 billion Tomans, which is equivalent to 13% of the total budget of Iran’s sports expenditure of this current year!!!

Of course, the price that Iranian sports must pay for the four national team games with Wilmots is about 50 billion tomans more than the total budget of the National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which must prepare Iranian sports for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is the depth of the contract tragedy with a failure coach Wilmots.

Iran’s football and as we realize now the entire sports especially those who bring glory to the nation like wrestling, weightlifting, volleyball, basketball, and Martial Arts are held ransom by a group of incompetent and corrupt individuals marshaled by the government.

There is no end in sight either.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers may be held behind closed doors.

With COVID19 still prevalent, Team Melli is likely to play the rest of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers behind closed doors.

After months of uncertainty following of the postponement of the qualifiers, the schedule for the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers in the Asian Zone was announced, and Iran will play four crucial matches in October and November this year. However, the venues have not yet been announced yet by the World Football Governing body and AFC, and it is unclear whether the games will be hosted by the home team as standard, and whether spectators will be allowed entry into the venues. There is a possibility that the rest of the qualifiers will be played in a third country behind closed doors.

This possibility of action by FIFA and AFC is due to the continuing outbreak of coronavirus in different countries of the world. Corona is currently on the rise in some countries, and experts predict that the spread of the disease will worsen in the fall, and health protocols need to be implemented more vigorously. In this regard, the head of the UEFA Medical Committee announced that all national games will be held in the fall without spectators and that fans will not be able to return to the stadiums at the moment.

Such ruling by the Europeans could also be implemented in Asia which would practically deny the Iranian fans from attending matches in Azadi.

 * Effect of behind closed door games on Team Melli Chances.

Is this ban complicating Team Melli’s chances of qualifying? Although FIFA will announce its decisions after consulting with local confederations, it is clear that some Asian countries are less prepared than the Europeans and developed countries in terms of health protocols. As a result, due to the Iranian Premier League games being played behind closed doors, the AFC may not allow Iran to host spectators in the fall, and the national team will be forced to face its rivals without the support of the fans. Iranian fans have been a hallmark of Team Melli’s success throughout the years.

The players and managers have bee counting of home advantage in their remaining games specifically against Bahrain and Iraq, the two contenders of this group.

Due to the fact that Team Melli has played three away games, the matched in Tehran without the presence of spectators will be slightly in favor of the rivals. Currently, Iran is in third place in its group due to poor results of the previous round and the loss against Bahrain and Iraq under former coach Marc Wilmots. Iram has 4 points less than its two group leaders, namely Iraq and Bahrain.

Accordingly, the schedule of the Iranian national football team’s return matches was announced as follows:

Iran – Hong Kong (Thursday, October 8)

Cambodia – Iran (Tuesday, October 13)

Iran – Bahrain (Thursday, November 12)

Iran – Iraq (Tuesday, November 17)

AFC proposing new dates for Iran World Cup qualifying games.

Qatar’s Al-Sharq newspaper reported today that the AFC is evaluating alternative dates for the Asian Teams competition backlog since March 2020. According to the newspaper, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has made two proposals for the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers and the AFC Asian Cup 2023, which are scheduled to take place on October 8th and 16th).

“The AFC is expected to present these two proposals to the local federations to identify their views and opinions, but in the end, it all depends on the coronavirus situation in the countries concerned ” Al-Sharq reported.

Team Melli matches against Cambodia and Hong Kong were postponed.

Iran’s Team is currently in third place in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers, which is also the qualifying round for the 2023 Asian Cup, after Iraq and Bahrain with 6 points. Meanwhile, there has been a change in the coaching staff with the Croat Dragan Skocic taking over after the disappointing Belgian Marc Wilmots left the job.

Dragan Skočić, has yet to lead Team Melli in any match, in fact, he has not managed to get the team together due to the restrictions and lockdown after the COVID-19 outbreak. All sporting activities are suspended in Iran at the present.

FFIRI files a countersuit against Marc Wilmots.

Mehr news agency reports that the Iranian Football Federation FFIRI, has filed a countersuit against the lawsuit by Marc Wilmots claiming over a million dollars.  The lawyer assigned by the FFIRI is the same Swiss lawyer who failed in his most recent case while representing the TractorSazi Tabriz football club.

In that case, an infamous Irish player by the name of Anthony Stokes has won a libel case worth US$ 400,000 that Tractorsazi has to pay the Irishman plus 5% interest.

The Former Republic of Ireland international Anthony Stokes has reportedly been arrested by armed police at London’s Gatwick Airport due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest last week.

Stokes arrived at the airport on a plane from Dubai, where he had been on a short break, after refusing to return back to his current employer Persepolis!

In Wilmots vs FFIRI, the Belgian coach is claiming several million euros in back payment plus interest. It is quite likely that Wilmots will win the case and Iranian football will have to pay yet another hefty sum to outsiders due to their own utter incompetence and mismanagement of the federation.

The next in line to pay similar fines are Persepolis and Esteghlal who have several open cases against them in Zurich all for breach of contract and non-payment of dues.

The irony is that all such funds have to come from the public coffers as these clubs are practically bankrupt and wholly dependent on the ministry of Sports budget.

 

 

What is the story behind Di Biasi ?

The saga of Iranian football managements ( or mismanagement, to be more accurate) continues unabated with the latest revelation that an Italian coach is being considered for Team Melli after the debacle of Marc Wilmots!

Notwithstanding the truth behind this story and lack of an official confirmation, it is prudent to analyze such possibility and dissect the pros and cons of appointing a foreign coach who does not have the slightest clue about Iranian football culture to head Team Melli at this critical juncture.

Who is Di Biasi?

Giovanni “Gianni” De Biasi is an Italian coach who started his career in 1990 and managed several clubs in Serie C, B, and A, the most famous of them was Torino. Di Biasi never seemed to stay with one club for more than two seasons. During his playing days, he played with Treviso, Inter Milan ( 10 matches only) Brescia, Palermo but never managed to make it at top grade.  The same can be said about his coaching career until the big break came when he was recruited by the Albanians to coach their national team.

It was with Albania that Di Biasi enjoyed his best days in coaching. In his 6 years with Albania, he succeeded in qualifying to the Euro Finals in 2016. He left in 2017 to coach Alaves in La Liga.

Clearly, Gianni Di Biasi is not in the elite category of world coaches however, his success with the Albanian national team was remarkable considering the status and standard of the tiny European nation.

DI Biasi and Iran.

While Marc Wilmots had a similar resume as Di Biasi, perhaps a little bit better for coaching a powerful team like Belgium, he struggled to succeed with Iran. In fact, his poor familiarity with his players’, poor reading of the game and sub-standard knowledge of the opposition, resulted in two major defeats for Team Melli against teams that should have been beaten.

That Marc Wilmots was not familiar with the Team Melli players was a direct result of the guy living and working remotely with minimal contact and communication with the team members. It is only natural that a coach cannot employ the capabilities of the players to the full if he does not understand those skills and abilities. There are other factors too, but nothing like the poor technical and tactical leadership of the game which resulted in these diabolical defeats and possible elimination at an early stage.

Di Biasi is in the same boat as Wilmots was before taking the job. A person who has no knowledge of football in Iran, perhaps unable to name more than two or three players and is totally alien to the Persian culture and football politics. To settle in Iran in the first place, is a challenge for this Italian, assuming he is not going to be a suitcase flying coach. It will take him time and we are talking months if not years to be comfortable enough to deliver the goods.

The establishment, environment and the politics of Iranian football is a steep learning curve for any outsider. Expecting a foreign coach to deliver in a short time is unreasonable and unfair on both sides.

Team Melli has just about two months for the next match in the World Cup qualifiers vs. Hong Kong in Azadi. Granted, it is not an intricate mission but it still needs preparation, the familiarity between the coach and the players and building the best team line-up. The real test is against Bahrain and Iraq at home, two matches that must be won for Team Melli to be in contention for a place in the next round.

The contract!

It is not clear what has changed since Wilmot’s dispute with FFIRI which turned sour mainly due to non-payment or delay of wages by FFIRI.  This will repeat with any other coach if it is not sorted out.  Will Di Biasi suffer the same as Wilmots, Branko Ivankovic, Calderon and Andrea Stramaccioni who all had disputes with their paymasters on payments of dues? It is highly unlikely that the FFIRI has suddenly created a magic wand to manage to circumnavigate the American sanctions to enable paying the wages of its foreign coaches, so what has changed in FFIRI policy to assure the respect of contractual obligations?

It is particularly this subject that can turn a good relationship into a fractured one. It is a big challenge and a bigger risk for the federation as they have already been burnt, although no one takes responsibility or accountability.

This administration of the FFIRI is far from a competent operative. Although the fans of Team Melli should not be normally bothered or concerned with the administrations or contract details, with FFIRI and as we have experienced previously, it is a major concern. A lot is dependent on how he FFIRI respects its contractual obligations. By track records, it is not too promising. If there is anything that this administration excels in is, making excuses, fabrication & twisting of fact and diverting blame.

Chances of success

Assuming all is well with the contract, It is not an absolute requirement for a top-level coach to handle Team Melli. It needs a strong person, knowledgable, dedicated and tactically astute. Di Biasi can tick a few boxes here. His lack of familiarity can be addressed as he can develop that depending on how happy the man is at his job.  Iran can be both a pleasant place to live and frustration at the same time. He can do the job as well as any although from the onset it looks a lot more complicated for a newbie foreign coach than having a domestic one at the helm.

The Ghalenoei’s, Daei’s or Golmohammdi’s have their advantages as Team Melli coaches but also we must not forget a certain stigma attached to them, after all, in Iran, a local coach has an automatic label of being biased! A foreign coach is revered even if he struggles. The fans seem to be more tolerant of foreign coaches but unforgiving to a local. It is the Iranian culture.

FFIRI contemplating an Iranian coach for Team Melli.

The FFIRI has been negotiating secretly with several Iranian coaches in search of a new coach to take over the incredibly challenging task of coaching Team Melli.

Although the football federation as customary keeps denying such reports, it is not a secret that Ali Daei, Yayha Golmohammadi, and Amir Ghalenoei have been approached and talks have been carried out. Ali Daei is always a candidate for the job, but Daei’s standing and achievements have not been at its best lately. He was last fired from Saipa Alborz after failing to meet the expectations of the club board. Daei has turned down many job offers lately since then.

Ghalenoei coaching in Asian Cup 2007

Yahaya Golmohammadi, unlike the other two, has never coached Team Melli and is the least experienced the lot, however, he seemed to have an excellent chance to take the post. And then Persepolis comes calling and grabs  Yahya right under the nose of the FFIRI. Golmohammadi has been offered a return to his old club replacing the Argentine Calderon. Perspolis seems to have a contractual dispute with their coach with Calderon refusing to return back to the club.

Sepahan’s Head Coach Amir Ghalenoei seems to be in the lead to sit on the bench of Team Melli. His records with clubs are second to none. He is by far the most successful Iranian coach In the history of the league with 5 championship titles. He also coached Team Melli during the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

But Ghalenoei is driving a hard bargain. He has a bitter experience working for the federation. He is aware of how his paymasters can turn on him and deny him support.  This time, the former coach of Esteghlal, Tractorsazi, Zob Ahan, and Sepahan wants to ensure that such experience is not repeated.  Ghalenoei is giving the FFIRI all the strict conditions upon which he will only accept the offer including a handsome numeration package similar to the foreign coaches and complete say on the selection of the technical assistance and training crew.

FFIRI administrators and managers have hinted many times that the next Team Melli coach will be a foreigner, although local coaches are not being ruled out either. However, with the recent developments, the reputation of this federation and their habitual tendency to breach contracts with their employees, it will be very difficult to imagine a foreign coach agreeing to work for this federation unless he is very desperate. After the experiences and well-publicized hardships of Marc Wilmots, Branko Ivankovic, Gabriel Calderon and Andrea Stramaccioni amongst others, it is unlikely that we will see a foreign coach leading Team Melli any time soon.

FFIRI and the Iranian clubs’ justification for not paying their foreign coaches and/or players is the American sanctions on financial dealings and money transfer. The questions remain, however, if this is indeed the reason, then why offer jobs to foreigners knowing that they cannot be paid properly and regularly?

With Ghalenoei negotiations with FFIRI still in progress; Sepahan will have a tough time replacing Ghalenoei if he leaves. The Esfahani club has a good chance of grabbing the title this season and the departure of their coach will definitely impact the team chances of winning the Persian Gulf Pro League.

Marc Wilmots files suit against FFIRI

The former head coach of Team Melli has the Iranian national football team has sued the Iranian Football Federation at FIFA following the termination of his contract while seeking compensation from FFIRI

The Football Federation FFIRI has also filed a  countersuit against the Belgian Marc Wilmots for breach of contract.

The poor showing of Team Melli resulting in two losses against Iraq and Bahrain in the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifier has raised tension and fan’s displeasure with the Belgian coach. The criticism of the on-vacation coach was even harsher in the Iranian media. Wilmots’ performance and refusal to carry out his duty prompted the federation to negotiate the termination of the coaching contract.

However, Wilmots unilaterally terminated the contract before the game against Iraq citing overdue payments and non-payment of wages by the Football Federation. After a meeting with federation officials in Turkey, the Belgian coach was paid his dues just a few days before meeting Iraq.

Wilmots refused to return to Tehran even after his loss to Bahrain and the doubts started to emerge on the qualification to the next stage. While the Federation has insisted in recent weeks that the process of terminating the contract with Wilmots is continuing and the parties are seeking an amicable way to reach an agreement, the Speaker of the Parliament’s Cultural Commission commented on the news of Wilmots’ complaint to FIFA and similar action.

It is not clear how much compensation is Wilmots demanding as the federation has kept the contract under strict secrecy raising doubts about the clauses and concerns about possible profiteering.

Wilmots terminated his contract before the Iraq game!

In a series of bizarre justifications and rhetorics, the head of the Iranian Football Federation says Wilmots had terminated his contract before the game against Iraq!

Mehdi Taj spoke about the recent developments of Team Melli and Wilmots in a radio programme today noon (Friday).“after the World Cup and the Asian Cup, 2019 many believed that the next coach should be young and experienced and must be foreign nationals. The federation first spoke to Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui, who turned down the offer due to the ill health of his father suffering from cancer. After that, we shifted our attention to Hervé Renard  (Morocco’s World Cup coach), but he said he could only accept the offer to coach Iran from June however we needed a coach from the March at least. Finally, we negotiated with Marc Wilmots, who was young enough (50 years old) and had experienced four World Cup as player and coach. He was an asset to the Belgian national team and was a very good choice for Team Melli, and everyone had confirmed him!” Mehdi Taj continued.

“When Wilmots came to Iran, we signed a good deal with him, but we insisted that the amount of the contract should remain confidential and not be transparent (…). It was also stated in a clause that any party unilaterally terminates the contract, will pay damages to the other an amount equivalent to three months wages.”

“It is has been mentioned in various media outlets that the contract with Wilmots and his assistants is valued up to € 5 million, which is untrue and those who have claimes that are liars. In my opinion, the Majlis member who publicized this figure should not talk about these issues and he should think about solving people problem.”

“We signed a contract that included everything, and before we presented it to Wilmots, we consulted three international legal experts, one of whom is a member of the FIFA Appeals Committee,” said the head of the Iran Football Federation. “The figure of Wilmot’s contract is reasonable for anyone who knows Belgian football. It is not right when the lawmaker says this trainer isn’t worth $ 500,000. There are many foreign and domestic coaches in our league who earn more than  $ 500,000.”

“When we signed the contract on May 22, one of the clauses referred to the subject of outrageous US sanctions and that may affect the way we pay our salaries, which led Wilmots to request two days for consultation,” Taj added. “The contract stipulates that if the coach does not receive his entitlements for 2 to 3 months, he can terminate unilaterally. Mark Wilmots terminated his contract before the match against Iraq.

“In the meantime, we have sent several letters to FIFA to pay Wilmots’ money out of their budget, but due to the new sanctions, they have not been able to find a bank, and Wilmots has stated that the federation has no will to pay him. However, we paid 7 days later. Taj added: “At the last meeting, he wanted us to guarantee that payments would not be delayed, but I told him that we should discuss more urgent clauses in view of the termination of his contract before playing with Iraq.”