GOAL - Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-American, took control of Iran's biggest club in August 2007 and left in November 2008. The time was an amazing one full of drama, politics and intrigue.
Iranian football clubs are used to foreign coaches entering the country, making headlines and leaving in a year or two. Whether they resign or they get dismissed, it is hard to find many coaches that have spent more than two years at a given club.
Iran’s Reds, Perspolis, are notorious for signing brand name coaches and somehow managing to get rid of them after a short period of time. The German Zobal (2004), the great Turkish coach Denizli (2006) and Dutch legend Arie Haan (2007) are examples of head coaches that tried leading Perspolis over the last few years.
Other leading clubs have had their short term foreign head coaches. Germans Koch with Esteghlal (2003), Lorant (2006) and Littbarski (2008) with Saipa are other examples.
Afshin Ghotbi was to be different. He was born in Iran and at the age of 13 moved with his family to the U.S. Years later, Ghotbi worked under great Dutch coaches like Hiddink, Adcocaat and Verbeek with the Korean National team. When in 2007 Ghotbi was appointed to lead Perspolis, the hope was that he would be given a chance to build a champion.
Like a Hollywood movie script, Ghotbi returned to Iran with an amazing fanfare. He couldn’t do any wrong and Afshin became the toast of football. For seventeen months, his every move was made under the watchful eyes of millions of fans, hundreds of journalists and many supporters and detractors in the Iranian football community.
Afshin’s journey to Iran started long before when he entered Tehran amongst the cheers of many well wishers. In June of 2005, when I first interviewed him in California, I was stunned at Ghotbi’s polite, humble and respectful manners. A Korean sports paper had called him: “An Iranian born, leaving America, flying to Hong Kong on British Airways working for the Korean National team under a Dutch coach.”
As I spoke then to Afshin with his broken Persian, he spoke about his dream to return to Iran and contribute to Iran’s football. Between then and Perspolis, Afshin worked with the South Korean national team before, during and after the 2006 world cup. We talked many times during those days and each time I found Afshin’s Persian better, his desire to work in Iran stronger and the excitement of such possibility more real.
Iran’s media found Afshin an intriguing character and was captivated by him. He was called a daring coach that brought discipline and organization to the chaotic Reds. He was the “simple minded foreigner” who promised championship at his arrival. To the anger and frustration of some yet the pleasure of millions he and Perspolis delivered on that promise.
Some tried to tie his past to Iran’s former regime. A few former players who believed it was their right to lead Perspolis were unhappy with the presence of an Iranian – American at the helm of Iran’s most popular club. The fans took Ghotbi to their hearts, cheered every move of his and stayed loyal until the end. Perspolis won Iran’s league in Ghotbi’s first year in the most dramatic fashion in the 96th minute of the last match.
Along the way, Afshin Ghotbi was told that he was Iran’s national team head coach only to be told an hour later that he no longer was the appointed coach. Iranian football community found Ghotbi an inspirational character that talked and thought different than other domestic coaches about the game.
All were amazed that how an Iranian coach could accept defeat, take responsibility and congratulate the opponent without making excuses. A new coaching ethic was being introduced and most appreciated it. Fans invented “Emperor Afshin” slogan as fans do when their team wins.
Season two for Ghotbi was a lot like a Hollywood’s sequel. The team was not as good as the year before even though it had better players. Fans came back to see Perspolis play and cheer for Ghotbi but the results were not satisfactory and the team was not playing well. Despite all that, Perspolis remained competitive but internal conflicts were brewing.
Along the way, Ghotbi made his share of mistakes. While his mistakes were a few, those who wanted to see him leave worked hard to ensure his departure. Perspolis’s championship with Ghotbi in his first year was an amazing story that put Afshin in Perspolis and Iran’s football memories.
However, a Perspolis repeat would have been simply too much with Ghotbi as the head coach. Ghotbi should have learned from history that Kings are to be overthrown, Sultans are to be ridiculed and Ghotbi and Emperors are meant to enjoy short rides but ultimately they would be removed from power.
In November, Ghotbi resigned from Perspolis and flew to Dubai. Once the initial shock wore off, media began to speculate Ghotbi’s reasons for his resignation. Then sections of Ghotbi’s contract with Perspolis leaked to the press and became public knowledge.
Until now, Ghotbi has stayed silent but the time for him to speak and present his side of the story has come. Afshin needs to set the record straight and share with tens of millions of fans his reasons of why he left his team in the middle of the season. The more he stays silent, the more Ghotbi loses among Iran’s football fans.
His journey to coach in Iran has taken a detour but in his short time with Perspolis, Afshin Ghotbi left behind an amazing mark of achievement. Through how he was treated and how he conducted himself, we got to know our football players, personalities and media, both inside and outside of Iran, a bit better.
Kaveh Mahjoob