By Mark Baber
January 3 – Ali Kafashian, head of the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) has confirmed Iran’s bid to hold the 2019 Asian Cup whilst hitting out at critics he claims are undermining the work of the federation in developing football in Iran.
Speaking at a meeting of the Hamedan Province football committee, Kafashian argued the recent awarding of AFC Asian Federation of the Year 2012 by the Asian Football Confederation was a honour which belongs to all the administrators of the IFF.
Although Kafashian did not mention the critics by name, it is believed his main target is the weekly IRIB channel 3 show ‘Navad,’ (“Ninety”) the most popular TV show in Iran watched by 10 million viewers every Monday night. ‘Navad’ is hosted by Adel Ferdowsipour, a close friend of Ali Daei who has often been at loggerheads with Kafashian
In 2012 Iranian teams had poor results at a number of levels, including losing their AFC futsal title to Japan in a sport they had dominated.
‘Navad’ runs a very popular SMS poll during every program and asked the viewers what the most astounding event of the football season had been in Iran. The majority chose the option of the IFF winning the AFS Member Association of the Year.
Iran faces rival bids from Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Oman and a joint bid by United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to host the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, with the hosts scheduled to be announced during the 2015 Asian Cup.
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