Iranian Football: Who's In Charge?

This article originally appeared at www.footballmedia.net

GOAL - An old management text book defines management as “The art of getting the right things done through willing and able people, on time.”

Click – Click: “The world cup is over. The head coach is gone. The Federation Head is fired.”  

Months after the disappointing world cup campaign, the picture is still not clear on who is in charge of the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) and who sets the direction. This lack of direction shows itself in every aspect of Iran’s football. The national team has no published plan of how it will challenge for the Asian Cup.  

The U23 team is in disarray and the newly appointed head coach complains left and right to every reporter who would listen that attention is not being paid to his team.   The football calendar has missing dates as people simply forget to file on deadlines to ensure our clubs could participate in the Asian Championship League.  

Click – Click: “FIFA suspends Iran’s football from all international tournaments.”  

We got around that one on a temporary basis and the team of six is working to ensure Iran stays off the blacklist. Will the team satisfy FIFA? Will the team be allowed to do its job?  

Click – Click: “The IFF caretaker head blasts his predecessor in the media who in turn blasts the Sports Organization who in turn blast …”  

The name calling by the men in charge of our football is now an old soap opera that has lost its audience. It is clear to many that this name calling serves one purpose and that is not in the interest of Iran’s football.

Next time you hear Mostafavi (IFF caretaker who resigned earlier this month) talk about Daadkan (his predecessor) or vice-versa, read between the lines to see where their self interest ends and the common interest begins.

Click – Click: “2008 Olympic qualification matches are on the horizon. Iran is grouped with two top teams; Saudi Arabia and Australia.”  

Last time Iran participated in an Olympic match or won the Asian Cup: Iran’s population was less than half of her current level, Mohammad Ali was the Boxing heavy weight world champion, Pele was making a comeback, There were two Germanys, one Yugoslavia and no former Soviet Union republics.  

Given the current state of affairs, it will be at least another four years before we will be able to watch Iran’s football in an Olympic match. How else would you explain why only nine out of 28 players showed up in the camp for a training session or the fact that five of the players’ “military service” problems have not yet been solved?  

Australia has played countless preparation matches while in Iran the debate is if the clubs should release players for the U23 training.

Click – Click: “Esteghlal is disqualified from the Asian Champions League as they fail to file paperwork on time.”  

Of all the events of the past nine months, this one truly belongs in the “Hall of Shame” of Iranian football. We have the head coach of the national team deeply involved with his first love, his club. We have several people carrying the titles of General Manager and President and Chief of this and Chief of that. Yet, all managed to collectively fail to meet the filing deadline for their beloved BLUE club. This incompetence is unforgivable.  

Assuming the current state of affairs continue, which very likely they will, Iran’s Olympic team will suffer another disappointing and disheartening campaign. Perhaps due to individual performances, Iran may show promises of a “future” and make us all think of the “What If…” scenarios.  

And the national team? With an incompetent federation and a head coach who is vocal when arguing. short on listening skills and silent in planning, the Asian Cup experience will turn into just “an experience” and the mountain of excuses would build ever higher on why Iran didn’t win the Cup even though it "deserved" to do so.

Management is to understand what the right goals are, your capabilities, needs to move toward the goals, mobilize your resources, measure your own performance every step of the way and be your own harshest critic.

Such leadership is non-existent in Iran’s football and any success achieved short term will be purely accidental or due to individual brilliances rather than a well thought plan and successful execution of that plan.  

It is time to find and place a highly qualified management team to take charge of Iran’s football and start planning ahead.

We should plan for the 2010 world cup and avoid stacking up the national team with tired and well-tested faces and legs.  

We should demand excellence and focus from our coaches where one can not be the master of the national team and the general of a football club.  

We should demand accountability from all aspects of our football infrastructure including our football management, coaches and players.

Kaveh Mahjoob

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