MNA - Ernie Brandts was presented as Rah Ahan football club coach on Wednesday. The former Nac Breda coach has joined the Iranian club on a one-year contract.
Iran drops down six places in FIFA ranking
PTV - Iran’s national soccer squad has dropped six spots in the latest FIFA rankings following its failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. According to the FIFA rankings released on Wednesday, the Iranian outfit plunged to 58th place with 559 points, but remained fourth in Asia.
Madanchi joins UAE Al-Ahli
MNA - Mehrzad Madanchi joined the UAE’s Al-Ahli on Wednesday on a one-year contract. The 24-year old Iranian international passed his medical examination on Wednesday in the Dubai-based club.
Iran suspends eight premier league clubs
PTV - Iran’s Football Federation (IFF) has suspended the activities of eight Premier League clubs over their failure to pay off their debts. The eight clubs suspended by the IFF Disciplinary Committee include Abumoslem, Esteqlal, Esteqlal Ahvaz, Pas, Paykan, Persepolis, Rah Ahan and Saba Battery.
Seven reasons why Iran failed
AFC - Consistency has often eluded Iran at the threshold of world’s greatest football extravaganza. Except for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers when they finished second in the group behind Japan, Team Melli suffered do-or-die situations twice in the past 11 years, emerging victorious once and returning crestfallen the second time.
Iran denies penalizing players over green bands
PTV - Head of the Iranian parliament’s Sports Committee rejects reports of a ban on four Iranian football players for wearing green wrist bands in the Iran-South Korea match. “No player has been banned and basically Parliament is not authorized to impose such a ban,” Jalal Yahya-zade said on Thursday.
FIFA explores Iran player ‘punishments’
AFP - Football’s world governing body FIFA wrote to the Iranian football federation on Wednesday to ask for answers over alleged punishments meted out to several of their players for wearing wristbands reflecting their support for opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.