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DPA - No decision has yet been
made on Iran's new national team coach, one of the two main candidates for
the post of Iranian Football Federation (FFI) president said Friday.
Sahahrokh Shahnazi told the website of the state television network IRIB
that all candidates would be once again evaluated next week for the head
coach post.
Shahnazi was referring to reports that Portuguese coach Artur Jorge,
together with two foreign assistants and one German-based Iranian assistant
coach, have already been named for the job.
Due to differences with football's ruling body FIFA over governmental
interference in football affairs, the FFI has had no president since last
year and been run by a transitional committee until elections on January 9.
Shahnazi said that the transitional committee has just introduced Jorge and
his assistants to the new FFI presidential board which is to be elected
under FIFA supervision on January 9.
"Jorge is just an option among other options and nothing has been finalized
yet. If I was elected as FFI president, I would evaluate his case just like
the other options," Shahnazi said.
The other options are French coach Jacques Santini and German Peter Neururer,
but Jorge is said to have demanded much less in salary than the other two
and therefore has better chances of being appointed.
FFI spokesman Ali Reqbati said Wednesday that an initial arrangement was
made last week by the transitional committee, with Jorge adding that as FFI
elections would be held next week, the deal should be finalized by the new
FFI president and board members.
Jorge was in Tehran last week and held initial talks with the transitional
committee, but the two main candidates for the FFI presidency asked for the
deal not to be finalized until after the January 9 elections.
The two main candidates, Shahnazi, head of the country's tennis federation,
and Ali Kafashian, secretary general of Iran's Olympic Committee, insisted
that selecting the new coach should be the job of the new FFI president.
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