In the meantime, he has selected his preliminary squad for the tournament, with Iran-born German bad boy Ashkan Dejagah called up. A former representative of Germany at youth level, he outraged officials by refusing to play against Israel in 2007, citing security problems for his family in Iran as the reason.
A few years later, struggling for a regular start at Wolfsburg and given the recent green-light by FIFA, he is set to make his debut for Team Meli.
As always, Dejagah has been quick to make headlines. Days after committing himself to Iran he changed his mind in the hope of breaking into the Wolfsburg first team, if not the senior Germany squad in the future.
Talking of controversial players, Ali Karimi was also recalled by Ghotbi. Last summer, he was left out of the squad for his objections to a training camp held in Austria.
The 32 year-old has recognized the dearth of young talent in his country and for that reason offered his services for Qatar 2011, perhaps not reflecting kindly upon the national team manager's grooming of youth during his reign.
It was a choatic week on the domestic front as well. Struggling Naft Tehran club are relocating to from Tehran to Arak, with Arak's Member of Parlimant proposing the idea as a means to create a larger fan base for the promoted club.
IRANIAN FOOTBALL'S CHAOTIC WEEK
Legendary
Iran international Ali Daei succumbs to the pressure of angry fans at
Persepolis, who are twelve points off first place after a horrid run of
results. The former player offered his resignation after resident fan
leaders called for him to depart during a league match.
In an
incredible turn-around, former Germany youth international and Wolfsburg
player Ashkan Dejagah gets his FIFA clearance to represent his country
of birth before performing a backflip, refusing to play at the Asian Cup
so that his club career isn't put in jeopardy.
National
team boss Afshin Ghotbi signs with J-League club Shimizu S-Pulse, whom
he will be joining when his contract runs out with Team Meli at the end
of the Asian Cup. He called up Dejagah in his preliminary squad for the
tournament.
Ali Karimi
offers his services to the national team despite having been vocal in
his opposition to certain decisions in the past, including the staging
of a recent training camp in Austria. He cites the lack of young talent
in the squad as his reason for deciding to play.
His motives are thinly veiled though, with only a bit of paperwork needed for the MP complete the transfer and profit significantly from the move. Challenged by the host of the most popular sport tv show in Iran, “90”, for “an unjustified political interference that could potentially spark another FIFA suspension of Iran”, Arak's MP now aims at taking the host in question to court for public criticism of government officials.
Another Tehran-based team in turmoil these days is Perspolis. Despite Perspolis’ rock solid start to the season under management of former national team coach Ali Daei, five consecutive heavy defeats were enough for the shamed manager to resign voluntarily on Sunday.
The highlight of his last match was when fan leaders in the stadium, whom are paid by club officials, used their chants to call for Ali Daei’s resignation. The legendary player duly fulfilled their wishes.
After all, Perspolis’ misfortunes were the last thing director Habib Kashani wanted at this point, with the Iran Football Federation's elections aroud the corner. Some analysts argued that the chants against Daei were in fact an echo of the club owner’s request: Kashani needed quick fix with his position within the IFF under threat.
And to make matters worse, Iran's sport minister summoned Perspolis and Esteghlal directors to complain about the 4-1 thrashings dished out to the two giants at the hands of Saba and Foolad respectively this week. Job security is one thing you aren't guaranteed at either club, with both owned by the government.
This was the story of a turbulent week in Iranian football. Don't expect the storm to calm during January, when Iran's Asian Cup campaign kicks off against Iraq.
Niloufar Momeni