Sport

Iranwire – Two and a half years ago in summer 2019, the Iranian Football Federation was still under the embattled leadership of Mehdi Taj, who would resign not long after mired in allegations of corruption. In July that year, the Federation had signed a contract with Pars Oil Company for the sponsorship Iran’s football referees. The following month at the outset …

Iranwire – Iran’s Tasnim News Agency has called the behavior of three Iranian karate athletes, at the Karate-1 Premier League competition in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, last week, “unfortunate” and “strange” and called on Iran’s top sports directors to discipline the athletes. Saleh Abazari, Mehdi Khodabakhshi and Keyvan Baban are top karatekas for Iran’s national team; but they were not …

Iranwire – A few days ago, Saeed Morad Abdevali, a world wrestling champion, announced he was currently spending his time cultivating wheat. He had no intention of going back to wrestling, he said, not as a competitor or as a coach or manager, despite the fact that he practices four times a week. “This year I planted wheat and I am busy with …

Iranwire – With the Winter Olympics now in full swing, Hamid Sajjadi, Iran’s minister of sports and youth, and Reza Saleh Amiri, president of the National Olympic Committee of Iran, travelled to Beijing in the hopes of meet with Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee. But for the second time in a year, the pair came back empty-handed. …

Iranwire – Mehdi Mahdavikia, who was meant to be the new head coach of Iran’s Omid national team, an under-23 team and technical director of the Iranian Football Federation, has resigned under a barrage of negative press by Fars News Agency. According to Tabnak news agency, Mahdavikia, in response to an invitation received from the World Football Federation, has announced …

Iranwire – As January came to a close, 65 Iranian motorcyclists took part in a Motorcycle and Auto Racing Federation competitive event in Iran. More than 30 women competed, despite an official ban on doing so. Iran’s state media and media affliated with the Revolutionary Guards refuse to cover such events, but independent websites and media in the diaspora regularly report …

Al-Monitor – The president of Iran’s Wrestling Federation, Alireza Dabir, says he was left with “no choice but to cancel” an Iran-US meet after several visa applications submitted by the Iranian delegation were rejected by American authorities. In a letter to his American counterpart, Dabir lamented the fact that he and five others had been denied their visas and were, therefore, unable …

RFL/RE – In a rare message, the U.S. special envoy on Iran has congratulated the Islamic Republic’s national soccer team on making it to this year’s World Cup in Qatar. “Congrats to #teammelli on qualifying for the #WorldCup2022. It’s good to see women were allowed to attend the match,” Robert Malley wrote on Twitter, using the Iranian team’s nickname. Iran became …

Iranwire – According to widespread media reports, about 2,000 female fans were allowed into Azadi Stadium on Thursday to watch the Iranian national football team beat Iraq 1-0, securing a place at the Qatar World Cup. The eleventh-hour decision was praised by many observers as a first step in the right direction after months of prevarication by Tehran. But there were some …

Iranwire – Iran has qualified for the FIFA World Cup competitions in Qatar with a 1-0 victory over Iraq at home on Thursday, January 27. With the requisite number points secured, Team Melli’s upcoming games against the UAE, South Korea and Lebanon will now be mere formalities and the team is bound for Qatar. Even after a fantastic season for Iran, …