Jul 29, 2006, 16:02 GMT
Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called for local rather than foreign coaches to be hired for Iran's national football team, Fars news agency reported.
In a letter to Vice-President Mohammad Aliabadi, who is also the country's sports chief, Ahmadinejad said that 'qualified local coaches, who are genuinely concerned about the national team, should be employed for improving the level of Iran's football.'
Aliabadi had briefed the president on the developments following the Iran team's performance at the World Cup in Germany where the team scored only one point in three games. They had hoped to reach the second round at least.
Ahmadinejad also called for a vigorous battle against financial corruption in Iranian football which has exposed certain players' financial value and hindered the development of young players, sports critics say.
Following the World Cup, the sports organization, which is part of the government, ordered the dismissal of both Mohammad Dadkan and Croatian Branco Ivankovic, President of the Iranian Football Federation (FFI) and national team coach respectively.
The new FFI officials appointed Amir Qalehnoei, the coach of current Iranian champion Esteqlal Tehran, as new national team coach.
Qalehnoei, who is supposed to lead the team in the Asian championship qualifying round, has already dropped veteran skipper Ali Daei from the national team.
The 36-year-old Daei, who also used to play in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC Berlin, was widely considered a scapegoat for Iran's flop at the World Cup even thought the other Iranian players did not perform well either.
The new coach dropped former Kaiserslautern midfielder Fereydoun Zandi from the squad although Iranian FFI officials had last year used all their efforts to persuade the half-German to play for Iran.
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