Iranian Football Federation is something of a cross between the Three Stooges and the Keystone Cops! Remember those silent clips where the guys were running all over the place in a completing chaotic scene? Well that is how the IRIFF is run! Then comes Mohammad Aliabadi, one of Ahmadinejad’s VPs who is also in charge [...]

Iran Football Federation won the annual AFC Association of the Year award! What?! Come again!!
Not that I am kicking a gift horse in the mouth, but are we talking about our Football Association?! The same Association that does not know its left from its right?
When I heard this I wondered what the AFC criteria for [...]

Arash Borhani is a 28 year old striker who plays for Esteghlal of Tehran. He is currently leading the Iranian league in scoring with 9 scored goals. Some already suggesting that Team Melli coach Ali Daei show call him up and add some scoring potential to his low scoring front line.
That all sounds good, but [...]

There is a popular football news program on Iranian TV called “90”. In a recent program Adel Ferdowsipour, the anchor, showed a photo of a municipal football field in one of the small towns in south/central Iran.  In the photo there was a sheep herd having a blast munching on the grass field!
 
Ferdowsipour poked fun [...]

This appears to be the season for kissing and making up in Iranian football! Over the course of the last couple of weeks a few coaches and players who had had very loud and public falling outs have publicly made up!
First, there was former Team Melli coach Mohammad Mayelikohan and Perspolis coach Afshin Ghotbi. Not [...]

The rookie head coach of Zob Ahan of Isfahan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh is proving himself to be quite a find these days. Mansourzadeh was the assistant coach of Sephan FC also of Isfahan for a few years. He then became the assistant coach of the national team for a few months just before Ali Daei took [...]

This may not be exactly a “do or die” situation for Afshin Ghotbi, but it is as close to it as it might get
The Iranian-American Head Coach of Perspolis FC has been getting some heat, although not much, from pundits who do not feel he is doing a good job with the club. Last year [...]

Saipa got a major butt kicking by Kuruvchi, pure and simple! The Iranian side had tied 2-2 with the Uzbeks in Tehran, but any ambitions of progressing into the next round they might have had were quickly erased bye Kuruvchi’s South American delegation.
The defeat may be the beginning of the end for Saipa’s German coach [...]

Rivaldo came to town the other day! The same Rivaldo who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002!
 
The Brazilian had signed a contract with Uzbek side Kuruvchi and they were in Tehran for the away leg of their AFC Champions League match against Saipa FC coached by former German international Pierre Litbarski.
 
Rivaldo did well [...]

He was an outsider, did not speak the language as fluently, wan not familiar with the culture and people that he had left behind more than 30 years ago, but he wanted the challenge; the challenge to take on all the odds and prove that he was ready for the primetime.
Afshin Ghotbi achieved the goal [...]