The events leading to and following the temporary removal of Azizi Khadem are indeed mind-boggling affair and is indicative of how crooked and dodgy football is in Iran.

Hardly a household name or a person with an illustrious football career,  Azizi Khadem, found himself occupying the most important post in Iran’s football. In a dodgy election, he managed to beat a much tried and tested Kiomars Hashmi, Mostafa Ajrlou, and Iran’s football legend Ali Karimi to win the presidency of FFIRI.

Azizi Khadem was in fact was a member of FFIRI working behind the scenes but he was hardly a newsworthy item and rarely quoted in public. He tried his luck for the post of presidency twice and failed, it was his third time lucky for the former executive of several government-owned industries.

Government-owned is indeed the magical word, as through such connections that even dubious people can go a long way climbing the ladder.

Azizi Khadem’s win, which was a surprise for many critics, did not start on a positive note. He was media-shy and prepared to work quietly. His modus operandi was to keep below the radar, follow his agenda, and hope he was not noticed frequently. In such a post, it was difficult to achieve tor that. But, he managed to ruffle some feathers, and the opposition to his management style and threat to his post started brewing within the corridors of tFFIRI growing bigger and bigger by the weeks.

Career and Biography

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem was born on February 22, 1977, in Lorestan. He was a Bachelor of Political Science graduate from the University of Tehran, holds a Master’s degree in Regional Studies and International Relations from Allameh Tabatabai University, and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Tehran.

A man with two birth certificates

Shahabuddin Aziz Khatam used a birth certificate number 755 and date of birth 11973 in Pol Tang, which belonged to his deceased brother

On August 10, 1997, he was able to get his new identity card with the date of his birth of January 21, 1976, which conflicts with many of his records and does not match his real age!

a 10 years old soldier!

In his own words, Azizi Khadem said that in 1987, according to his old identity card, he was drafted and sent to the war front as a 15-year-old boy, although according to his new identity card, he would have been a 10-year-old child!!

football background.

After the war, while studying in 1997, he played as a right-back for the Rah Ahan team and was a member of Iran’s students’ national team. During the reign of Ahmadinejad’s government, and due to his close connection with Parviz Kazemi, the then Minister of Welfare, Azizi Khadem was appointed to the board of directors of several government-owned companies operating under the authority of the Ministry of Welfare.

He was a board member of Amirkabir Petrochemical and Shazand Petrochemical government-owned companies and was also the Parliamentary and Legal advisor to his mentor the Minister of Welfare and Social Security.

Azizi Khadem somehow entered football administration by recommendation and influences through an appointment in the board of directors of the Football Federation  FFIRI. in 2012 at the age of 33, and a year later he became a member of the Executive board of directors of the government-owned club “Peykan”.

He somehow was appointed as a Board Member of FFIRI at the age of 33 when the bylaws of FFIRI stipulate that the minimum age for such appointment was 35 years!

Running for Presidency

In 2017, he tried to register his candidacy for the Presidency of the Football Federation, but his application was rejected due to his lack of 10 years of managerial experience required to be eligible. He was disqualified.

Azizi Khadem tried her luck again a year later in 2018, but the assembly voted for “Mahmoud Islamian“. in 2020, he was able to enter Saipa Club as a Board Member of the government-owned club

In 2021, Azizi Khadem along with Ali Karimi, Mostafa Ajrlou, and Kiomars Hashemi were approved as candidates for the post of President of the Football Federation. Finally, he was able to win 48 votes of members of the Assembly against 38 votes of Kiomars Hashemi. After winning the election on his third attempt, he was appointed as the President of FFIRI.

Most of his career progression was through appointments. A career that started by faking his National Card “Shinasnameh” and dubious claim he was on the war front at the age of 10. The common factor in all his career was a government-own entity and a close connection to a Minster or person in a powerful position.

Interaction with sorcerers!

From the very first days of his tenure as president of the federation, there were rumors about how he interacted with some people active in the field of foreign sciences. A reference to witchcraft !. In August 2021 after Team Melli defeated Syria 1-0 to put its feet firmly for the qualification to the World Cup 2022, Azizi Khadem attributed the victory to God and the prayer of “Khooban Alam” rather than the players, coaches, or the whole squad. ‘Khooban Alam’ was a reference to those mystery forces which his critics believe to be similar to mysterious voodooism.

VAR controversy from Israel

After “Khooban Alam”, he produced another blooper which led to controversy. Iran was about to acquire the VAR system. FFIRI contracted a company based in Hong Kong, to supply the system.  The contract was suspended with that company after the revelation that it was indeed an Israeli shareholders company. This refereeing assistance system was supposed to reach Iran, but it was stopped. Seems that Azizi Khadenm and his staff failed to carry out the proper due diligence.

It was all downhill from then on as a series of shortfalls, gaps, maladministration, and bad decision making put Azizi Khadem in loggerhead with the rest of the executive members. It is safe to say that he was exposed for what he was.

And then came his suspension in February 2022. That is 353 days after his appointment.

He was blamed for and subsequently held accountable for sub-standard training facilities for the national teams, supply of poor quality jerseys, the expulsion of Esteghlal and Persepolis from AFC Champions League, negligence in finalizing the coaching staff contracts,  delayed or non-payment of staff and coaching wages, the pseudo-VAR contract, and rumors of links to some witches and sorcerers, failure of timely response to AFC/FIFA correspondences while providing inaccurate or false information with FIFA, lack of transparency, nepotism, inflating FIFA with extra staff, the appointment of unqualified administrators in FFIRI ..etc which was said to be 43 violations.

Azizi Khadem is a classic example of how dark forces operate in Iran. Corruption is deep-rooted. While their pawn in FFIRI has left after being exposed for what he is, an incompetent and unfit person to lead Iran’s football to its glory days, the big players who put him there in the first place are still there, untouched and waiting. No doubt that at the next opportunity, they will pounce to produce another man to protect their interests. Nowadays, football is a lucrative business more than being a sport. It is being used by all sorts of nefarious characters since it can generate huge amounts of money.

It is how badly football is managed that has been the Achilles’ heel of Iran’s football for decades.