“We had tried to end Iran’s 36-year-old Olympic drought but failed to do that. I know the Iranian football fans are disappointed, but this is not the first time that we cannot qualify for the Games,” Kaffashian said on Monday.
“Unfortunately, Iran’s football structure has problems, so, we also failed to advance to the World Cup, but we have a huge potential,” he added.
On Sunday, Kaffashian fired three top football officials for dereliction of duty as the national squad suffered exit from 2012 London Olympics qualifiers.
Fereydoon Moeini, the head of the national team management committee, Asghar Hajiloo, supervisor of Iran’s Olympic team, and Davoud Parhizgar, member of staff have been sacked over their negligence.
“Iran Football Executive Committee decided to sack those who are guilty and it’s not my decision; I apologize to all Iranian people; we have a lot of problems and we must work hard to find solutions,” Kaffashian concluded.