PLDC - Tehran, The CEO of Romario Sports (the licensed distributor and representative of Uhlsport in Western Asia) responds to Ali Daei's claims against the German brand.

The CEO of Romario Sports, Vahid Jafari said, "Unfortunately, the issues that were voiced were based on incorrect information."

Jafari who is the man responsible for Uhlsport coming to Iran, explained, "When I had traveled to the headquarters of Uhlsport in Germany to convince them to branch out to Iran, they told me that expanding to Iran and North Korea will create a bad image for them in Europe. But I adamantly told them not to compare Iran to North Korea. Iran has a 2500-year-old history and is one of the great cultures of the world. I saw myself as an ambassador of Iran, and I was able to convince them to work with us. And now the managers of this company (Uhlsport) are very satisfied and proud of their presence in Iran."

He continued, "We are now ready to pull aside (close operations in Iran), and I would like to see those who say Adidas and Nike can provide better equipment, to come forward. Do you know that Adidas and Nike have surrounded FIFA and its confederations like a mafia? These companies have separated themselves from other companies, and they won't work inside Iran (sponsor teams and leagues). We (Uhlsport) give 4500 balls to the Iranian Football Federation for free every year. Are Adidas and Nike ready to provide even 3000 balls for free?"

Jafari went on, "I want to know, if we stop providing balls for the league, will anyone put a foot forward (and replace us)? Or like previous years, will each delegation and province buy their own balls so that we see a different ball each match? Unfortunately, we had seen that in one match a Molten ball was being used, and Adidas in the next, and Uhlsport, Nike and different brands in other matches. But now there is consistency and these balls have no issues or flaws."

He added, "We have FIFA's approval for these balls that we have provided. And if Mr. Daei likes, we are ready to have our balls compared to Adidas and Nike balls by experts in professional quality tests. I am sure our balls will be graded the same as them, if not higher."

The Uhlsport distributor also responded to Daei's comment about the balls being from the year 2007, as he explained, "Him saying that these balls have been manufactured in 2007 is false. These balls were registered with FIFA in that year. In fact, these balls have been manufactured within the last 45 days. Just like the brands that he (Daei) mentioned, these balls have been manufactured in Pakistan, and directly shipped to Iran. When the coach of a Pro League team makes these false claims without any adequate information, it shows that he has ulterior motives that happen to relate to my business."

Regarding the colour of the ball, Jafari claimed, "The colour is a personal preference. Mr. Daei might buy a car with a certain colour that him and ten other people like, but there might also be 100 people that don't like the colour. FIFA has no restrictions on the specific colours of match balls. In fact, Nike and Adidas also use many colours. If you had paid attention, you would have seen that this year's Confederation Cup match ball had unique colours (green and yellow)."


France's Ligue 2 uses the same match ball as Iran's Pro League. Jafari explained, "The balls used in Ligue 2 have a green design. We wanted to provide Iran with the same balls, but we thought that there would be complaints because of the shade being too close to the colour of the grass. So we chose a thrilling and joyful colour. Some people have said that these balls are for games in snowy conditions, but the balls made for snowy conditions are completely orange. These balls are 80% white, and only 20% orange, and that's what makes them look nice, but some people have run out of excuses so they are now choosing to criticize the balls."

Ali Daei had claimed that these balls get stuck under the players' feet. Jafari responded to this claim, "Til now we have had no complaints (from other countries). These balls are also used in one of Australia's leagues and they were given a perfect score (by the Australians), meaning they don't have the slightest flaw."

Daei Sportswear is one of Iran's major kit and equipment manufacturers, and prior to Uhlsport's expansion to Iran, Ali Daei's company used to be the major supplier of kits for Iran Pro League teams and at one point, even Team Melli. Mr. Jafari believes that Daei is insidiously trying to tarnish the reputation of his competitor by making these claims. The Romario Sports CEO said, "Unfortunately, some people are reacting this way and saying these things because they are the competitors of my business, and this is how they choose to compete." William Hill Free £25 Bet

Vahid Jafari concluded, "Nike balls are used for AFC competitions and they have had several problems. Adidas's Jabulani ball (WC 2010) also had several complaints. In the last Champions League season, in a Tractor Sazi match, a Nike ball popped and turned oval-shaped. This is why we are ready to have our balls compared to these brands by experts, so you can see that we will come out on top, because we have complete trust in our Uhlsport balls. "

By: Arman Tamjidi