March 23 – Carlos Queiroz’s uncomfortable tenure as Iran’s coach ended on a bitter note when he was briefly barred from leaving the country over allegations of a reported $300,000-plus in unpaid taxes.
The former Real Madrid and assistant Manchester United boss, whose time in charge of Iran has been fraught with tension, announced his resignation on Friday citing external pressures but was due to finish his term at the end of this month after friendlies against Sweden and Chile.
He was apparently stopped at Tehran airport as he and the Iranian team were leaving for Europe and the team had to travel without him.
The incident came 24 hours after Queiroz resigned despite signing a contract extension through to 2018 six months ago. Local reports said the contract specifies that the Iran football federation must pay his taxes and the problem was apparently resolved late Saturday following talks – but not enough to keep him in the job.
Iran were among the favorites at the Asian Cup in January but their disappointing quarterfinal exit after losing on penalties to arch-rivals Iraq stepped up the pressure on their Portuguese coach who took over 2011 and successfully guided the team to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Iran, however, finished bottom of their group and Queiroz publically complained about lack of sufficient funding and support.
“I didn’t want to leave and was not even thinking about it,” Queiroz told the Fars news agency. “It was not in my control and it was not my decision. Even my boss didn’t want this but unfortunately both sides were forced to agree on this because of pressures.”
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