However, not everything is in order for Iranian football ahead of the tournament. Formerly known as “Emperor” by Iranian football fans, national team manager Afshin Ghotbi arguably has little to gain from the upcoming tournament, having secured a future for himself beyond Team Meli with J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse.
Very few changes have been made to a team which has shown its defensive and attacking flaws throughout Iran’s World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers.
Iran Football Federation president Ali Kafashian has bluntly assumed zero accountability if a poor showing ensues at the Asian Cup, ruling out any chance of his resignation after the tournament.
Kafashian's focus is in fact well away from the Cup, with rumours about potential successors to Ghotbi circulating every day.
The selection criteria used is also contentious: a recent statement coming out of the Iran Football Federation read, “a tattooed foreign coach is against the federation’s criteria”. One might be wondering how the IFF would go about examining whether a candidate's body was tattooed in the first place.
To make matters worse, Iran's parliament approved a controversial legislation this week, in which Iran's National Youth and Physical Education Organizations were merged. The newly formed Ministry will be controlled by the central government and run by a minister appointed directly by President Ahmadinejad.
Suspension by FIFA is a potential outcome, with the governing body's intolerance for government interference in the running of the game well documented.
All of the sport federation bosses have opposed the bill, which will downsize the number of sport management experts throughout the federations, with politically motivated appointments by central government to take precedence.
The gray areas remain on budget details and merged divisions between seemingly incompatible youth and sports organizations. This overhaul could impact on Iranian sport for years to come.
A head coach lacking motivation, no successor in sight, a football federation that shirks responsibility and a newly formed sport ministry are just some of the issues casting a shadow over Iranian football on the eve of the Asian Cup.
No doubt the circumstances are impacting negatively on the spirits of the 23 men who are vying to break a drought at the tournament that has lasted for over 30 years. As things stand, there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Iranian football.
By Niloufar Momeni