As usual yet another friendly match arranged by FFIRI is canceled only days after it is announced!!

Mehdi Taj, head of FFIRI, has earlier announced that a match against Capo Verde has been agreed upon, with the venue still to be confirmed but most probably it will be in Tehran.

Today, the director of Team Melli had something else to say about the international friendly matches on FIFA Day.

According to Mehdi Mohammad Nabi; the contract for the first friendly match, which is scheduled to be held on September 07, against the Bulgarian national team, has been approved by both federations, the relevant confederations, and FIFA. He added: Regarding the second friendly match which is scheduled to be held on September 12, considering that the Cape Verde national team has an official match against the Togo national team on September 10, and based on the statements of the representative of the mentioned federation, they have not succeeded in changing the time of the official game!!!. Accordingly, Cape Verde will not be able to play the friendly match in Tehran. (…)

He added: “We are trying to take the necessary measures after consulting with the head coach of Team Melli for finding other options for the second friendly game.”

Yet again, it is another messy, amateurish act by this federation whose intellect and professionalism are on par with that of primary school pupils, with the utmost respect for the kids. How on earth, they even think of arranging a friendly match with a National Team that plays in Africa, and expect the squad to be in Tehran two days later for a match against Team Melli, is beyond comprehension!!!

Iranian football has for the last four decades severely suffered from mismanagement, failures, screw-ups, and a lack of common sense in the most basics of administration and management. We are not even approaching corruption, political interference, nepotism, and bias.

The standard of management personnel, mostly inept former or current civil servants, Basij, revolutionary guards, and regime loyalists, have left Iran’s football handicapped and absent from crowing and championships for nearly half a century.

And there is NO hope of any improvement in sight.