Iranian football’s fifth column!

Sometimes it seems to me as if some of the Iranian football officials, in certain clubs and the federation, are actively trying to get Iran disqualified from the World Cup!

Over the last few months certain club officials have gone public with comments that are clearly attempts at muddying the line between sports and politics. One would think that with all the ongoing attempts by some European and American politicians to have Iran banned from the World Cup, these guys would shut their mouths and not give them more excuses.

Then there is the ongoing debate over whether or not Iranian Football Federation’s structure and bi-laws comply with FIFA requirements.

I am not going to go into details here, but apparently FIFA has specific requirements regarding election of each country’s football officials. Furthermore, the reporting structure must be such that it clearly separates sports from politics.

Iran has some work to do there, but in the last few months there have been public interviews by some former officials and communications with FIFA by some undisclosed characters from within the federation that have highlighted these inconsistencies.

With all the pressure already on FIFA, IRIFF better be very careful or they may be staying home this summer after all.

What a mess!