Iran says no deadline in FIFA spat

AFP - Iran has denied receiving a deadline from FIFA demanding an end to alleged meddling by the government in the country's football federation.

Former federation chief Mohammad Dadkan and his board were fired after last summer's World Cup in Germany, and Kiomars Hashemi was installed as the acting head of the Iranian football federation.

However FIFA reiterated in September that Dadkan, in their view, is still the Iranian football chief.

And despite a previous warning that Iran has until November 15 to fall into line with FIFA's rules of non-government intervention, acting chief Hashemi has denied receiving any deadline letter from either FIFA or the AFC.

"There is no letter from either FIFA or the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) which has set up a deadline for us, and we have not received any yet," said Hashemi.

"Therefore there is no problem in this regard, and issuing a deadline specifically for Iran is not true," added Hashemi, who is also deputy head of the Physical Education Organization and was appointed by the government.

Following complaints from lawmakers, Dadkan and his board were fired after Iran finished bottom of Group D with just one point from three games in the World Cup.

The federation was taken over by the Physical Education Organization and that body's deputy chief, Hashemi, was appointed acting head of the federation.

FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren in September dismissed speculation that Iranian football officials had resolved their spat with the world governing body.

He maintained that FIFA's official view is that the board headed by Dadkan remains the legitimate leadership, internationally recognized by FIFA and by the Asian Football Confederation.

In July, the AFC refused to recognize the new Iranian football body.

However Hashemi insisted: "We have repeated it so many times; it was Dadkan who left the federation."

"Can we leave the football federation without a person in charge? Therefore when Dadkan bid farewell to football we had to appoint someone to handle it," he added.

If recent events are anything to go by, the current Iran football set-up may face FIFA sanctions.

World football's ruling body recently banned Kenya for the second time following the federation's failure to implement reforms aimed at bringing harmony to its domestic and international scene.