Government meddling leaves Iranian football in a sorry state

Newcastle United have nothing on Iran. The Geordie and Persian nations may share passionate fans, incompetent administrators and underachieving teams but the similarities stop there. The Geordies now have a manager and also no concerns that an aggressive US president may point his finger in the direction of Newcastle and shout "I would love it, love it, if we bomb them". There are no warmongers on Tyneside, only, according to ex-owner Freddie Shepherd, 'wor mingers', but at least the lasses can enter the stadium.

There is definitely nothing black-and-white about the world of Iranian football - it is a swirling mess. With less than three weeks before the start of qualification for the World Cup, Iran has no coach and hasn't had one since July 2007 when the team was knocked out of the Asian Cup - the latest in a series of disappointing tournaments. After that quarter-final exit, the brooding Amir Ghalenoei took his leather jacket and left.

In contrast to Ghalenoei's furrowed eyebrows, Pim Verbeek, whose South Korea team eliminated Iran last summer, usually has one sardonically raised. It probably fell when the Dutchman arrived in Sydney to take the Australia job in December and was called 'Peter Reid' by a TV broadcaster. Harsh perhaps, but there is at least one similarity between Verbeek and the former England midfielder - they both turned down the Iran post. The multitudes of Tehran sports dailies reported that others such as Rudi Krol, Terry Venables, Javier Clemente and Graeme Souness also said no.

The political situation both in Iran and in the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) doesn't make it easy to recruit international names or win international games. Until earlier this month, the federation had been without a president for a year and a half, since the end of another disappointing tournament - the 2006 World Cup. Former IFF chief Mohammad Daadkan paid for those two defeats and one draw in Germany with his job. It was one of Iran's vice-presidents, Mohammad Aliabadi, who wielded the axe. Fifa then temporarily suspended the federation from international football due to governmental interference.

Aliabadi may look similar to Las Vegas CSI chief Gil Grisham, but fancy investigating wasn't necessary to discover the link between politics and sports in Iran. They go hand-in-hand - all but two of the top flight clubs are funded by state industries - and have done for three decades. Aliabadi is also the head of the Physical Education Organisation, the state body that runs sport in the country.

The president himself, the controversial Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lifted the ban on Iranian women entering stadia in April 2006 only to soon backtrack under pressure from conservatives, is, like almost all Iranians, a fan of the beautiful game.

He is no fan of Fifa, however, telling state television in December: "We will respect Fifa regulations, but Fifa is just an agency and should not be allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of Iran." Fifa told Iran to hold a free election to find a new IFF chief. Ahmadinejad told Aliabadi, already responsible for all sports in Iran, to run. The ballot was originally scheduled for October 2007 but was postponed after Fifa said it would not recognise the result if Aliabadi won.

Ahmadinejad said: "The level of our football is beyond Asia, although over the past we have consistently failed. A strong person like Aliabadi would have been able to solve these problems and that's why I originally advised him to stand in the IFF elections." After Fifa's warning, the sports jacket-sporting statesman told his man to withdraw. The president denied that any Fifa regulations had been broken but, to paraphrase Tim from 'The Office', it's hard to know what to believe.

When Aliabadi, who claimed he could run the IFF with 20% of his time, entered the race, there were 10 candidates. Soon, there was little more than 20% of the field remaining as candidates left the race, telling reporters that Aliabadi was the right man for the job. By the time Aliabadi dropped out, just two runners were still running. And then, on January 8, the day before the election, Shahrokh Shahnazi withdrew, making the job of Fifa's 'appointment' observers nice and simple.

Silver-stubbled Ali Kafashianv, secretary general of Iran's Olympic Committee - no connection to the Aliabadi-run Physical Education Organisation there then - was the 'winner' and his first act was to tell ex-Portugal, Switzerland and Cameroon boss Artur Jorge that his services weren't needed. "Jorge does not have proper conditions to lead the national team for the World Cup and bring us victory," said Kafashian. He then held a meeting on January 14, almost six months after Ghaleneoi left, which confirmed that Iran actually wanted a foreign coach.

There is one positive for frustrated fans: the World Cup qualification draw was fairly kind. Group E is an all-West Asian affair containing UAE, Kuwait, another nation under Fifa's watchful eye, and February 6 opponents Syria. Surely even with a young Beryl Reid at the helm Iran should be able to finish in the top two of that group and make the final stage? Perhaps so, but preparations have been typically amateurish. A 2-0 defeat against Hansa Rostock on January 5 was not a good way to start 2008 and, four days later, a drab goalless draw with Qatar followed in a game that was not broadcast on television due to Qatari concerns about Australian spies. In the past week, a Mali match-up has been called off due to bad weather and a Tunisia test cancelled.

It is not as if many of Iran's European-based stars are getting much playing time either. Andranik Teymourian's hopes that the arrival of Gary Megson at Bolton would result in regular playing time have been dashed, and the German-based duo of Vahid Hashemian and Mehdi Mahdavikia are in and out of their respective starting XIs. To make matters worse, inspirational midfielder Javad Nekounam has missed all of Osasuna's season so far with a knee injury and former Bayern Munich player Ali Karimi, reportedly at the centre of a split in the 2006 World Cup dressing-room, is a pale shadow of the 2004 Asian Player of the Year version.

There is no shortage of talent in Iran but, until there is a similar level of ability at the top, the team's struggle to fulfill its potential looks likely to continue. While Newcastle welcomed back Kevin Keegan this week, Iranian fans still have no idea as to the identity of their next boss and no confidence in the people who will appoint him.