Esteghlal Tehran Archives - Iran News Daily

Skocic one of Esteghlal options for coaching

reporter 1222 — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 12:31:56 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Esteghlal football team has reportedly opened negotiations with Sanat Naft coach Dragan Skocic.

The Iranian club has failed to reach an agreement with Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni and now is going to sign the Croatian coach, Dragan Skocic.

Skocic has 18-month remaining on his current contract and it’s pretty unlikely that Sanat Naft will let him go.

Esteghlal has also negotiated with an Italian coach.

The Blues sit fifth in the Iran Professional League (IPL) table with 29 points, five points adrift of leader Persepolis.

Esteghlal football club officially announced that it has parted ways with Andrea Stramaccioni.

The Italian coach left Esteghlal on December 8 after the Iranian team failed to transfer his salary due to the USA sanctions.

While the Italian coach received part of his unpaid salary after the representative of an Iranian bank gave him a check at Iran’s Embassy in Rome, he refused to return to Iran to lead Esteghlal.

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Fathollahzadeh Sends Resignation from Esteghlal Board of Directors

reporter 1222 — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 08:29:11 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Ali Fathollahzadeh sent his resignation from Esteghlal board of directors after serving just one week in the post.

Fathollahzadeh announced resignation on his Instagram account.

“When I returned to Esteghlal, the team neither had a coach nor a general manager. I did my best for a better situation but I am accused of being here for myself and it’s while I’ve done everything for the fans so far. From now on, I am an Esteghlal fan and will not work as a board of directors’ member,” Fathollahzadeh wrote on his Instagram.

Coach Andrea Stramaccioni left Esteghlal three weeks ago and has not yet returned to the club.

Esteghlal fans hoped that a solution can be found with the help of Fathollahzadeh.

Fathollahzadeh is an Iranian businessman and football administrator, who was formerly the chairman of the Esteghlal FC. He is also managing-director of Esteghlal Javan Newspaper.

Earlier, a member of the board of directors of the Esteghlal football club said Farhad Majidi is a candidate to replace Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni.

“We don’t know what Stramaccioni wants. He had said he would have returned to Iran if he had received his payment,” Ali Fathollahzadeh has said earlier this month.

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Amir Hossein Fathi Resigns a General Manager of Esteghlal

reporter 1222 — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 05:32:39 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Esteghlal General Manager Amir Hossein Fathi resigned as his role following Andrea Stramaccioni’s exits his role in team management.

The Italian coach canceled his contract on Sunday and traveled to Rome early Monday.

Esteghlal has moved top of Iran Professional League after about four years under the discipline-based approach of the Italian coach but he left his post after the Iranian club failed to respect contractual obligations.

The local media have reported that around 100 Esteghlal supporters have gathered outside Iran’s Ministry of Sport and Youth, which owns the club, to protest the incident.

Amir Hossein Fathi was appointed as Esteghlal GM in November 2018.

Earlier this week, Andrea Stramaccioni has resigned as coach of Esteghlal after the Iranian football club failed to respect contractual obligations.

Stramaccioni assistant Javad Zarincheh has been named as Esteghlal’s interim coach.

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Stramaccioni, Esteghlal Go through Dialogue

reporter 1222 — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 10:34:34 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni announced on Sunday that he and his staff are terminating the contract with the Esteghlal football team but the club’s managers are still trying to find a way to continue work with the successful Italian coach.

Under the guidance of Stramaccioni, Eteghlal could get back to the top of Iran Professional League’s table after some four years. Almost all the experts inside the country praise the work of the Italian coach in creating a unified attacking team.

Being under unilateral US sanctions, there are limitations for transferring money outside Iran and Esteghlal has failed to pay the wage of coaching staff according to the contract. This made the coaching staff, also including Marco Caser, Sebastian Eduardo Leto and Omar Danesi, to announce unilateral termination of the contract on Sunday.

The news was a great shock to Esteghlal fans and the issue has become a trend on Twitter among Iranian netizens.

Reports indicate that Stramaccioni and Leto have left Tehran early on Monday.

In an official statement on Monday, Eteghlal appreciated the efforts of the Italian coach, highlighting that the club has fulfilled all its obligations under the contract. The statement said that the club has paid the wage of the coach but because of some problems in his bank account, the transaction has not completed.

It said that club managers have failed to make any contact with the Italian coach on Sunday but negotiations are underway with his lawyers. One of the lawyers has suggested decreasing the contract term from two to one year which has been rejected by the club, said the statement, adding that the remaining salary of the coach will be paid on Monday.

“According to the documents, Mr. Stramaccioni is not entitled to unilaterally terminate the contract and Esteghlal FC is still considering the agreement as valid and is ready to solve the problems in a face-to-face meeting as before,” noted the statement.

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Qatari Al Sadd beats Iranian Esteghlal in AFC Champions League semi-finals

reporter 1222 — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:45:48 +0000

The Iranian Esteghlal football team faced Qatari side Al Assad in Tehran this evening and suffered a humiliating defeat.

Playing in front of 80,000-capacity Azadi Stadium in Tehran, the Qatari Al Assad easily defeated his giant Iranian rival 3 to 1 in the first leg of the AFC Champions league quarter-finals.

Esteghlal ended the first half of the match 1-0 thanks to an own goal, but soon after the second half started it received 3 goals, one of which was on a penalty kick.

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IPL: Esteghlal Downs Tractor Sazi at Azadi

reporter 1222 — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 07:45:07 +0000

Esteghlal football team defeated Tractor Sazi 3-0 in Iran Professional League (IPL) on Friday.

In the match, held in front of about 50,000 spectators in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, Ali Abdollahzadeh scored an own goal in the 13th minute.

Esteghlal’s new signing Morteza Tabrizi extended the lead in the 28th minute and Farshid Esmaeili made it 3-0 in the 51st minute.

In Isfahan, Sepahan missed the chance to go top of the table after a 0-0 draw against Paykan.

Padideh edged past Sanat Naft 1-0 in Mashhad and Naft Masjed Soleyman and Foolad played out a goalless draw.

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Amirhossein Fathi named Esteghlal’s acting president

reporter 1222 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 05:15:14 +0000

TEHRAN – Amirhossein Fathi has been named as acting president of Esteghlal football club on Wednesday.

Fathi replaced Reza Eftekhari in Tehran-based football team.

Eftekhari, who stepped down as General Manager of Esteghlal on Wednesday, was the target of considerable fan dissatisfaction due to his side’s failure to challenge for the Iran Professional League title.

Under leadership of Eftekhari, Esteghlal have yet to extend the contracts of Senegalese striker Mame Baba Thiam and Uzbek iconic midfielder Server Djeparov.

Defensive midfielder Omid Ebrahimi has left the team for Qatar’s Al Ahli and the Blues are yet to really make an eye-catching transfer in the summer transfer window.

On Tuesday, the Iran Football League Organization also awarded Iran’s Super Cup title to Esteghlal arch-rivals Persepolis after they withdrew from the match.

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Iran League Organization must apologize to Esteghlal’s fans: Official

reporter 1222 — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 05:45:11 +0000

TEHRAN – Esteghlal’s board member Hassan Zamani has said the Iran Football League Organization must apologize to Esteghlal’s fans after awarding Super Cup to Persepolis.

Following Esteghlal’s withdrawal from Super Cup, the Iran Football League Organization announced Persepolis reclaimed the title for the second successive year.

The 2018 Super Cup was scheduled to be played on July 20 in Tehran’s Aszadi Stadium between Iran Professional League champions (Persepolis) and Hazf Cup titleholders (Esteghlal).

Esteghlal announced they would not play Persepolis on July 20 since they are in Turkey at that time.

On Monday, the Iran Football League Organization announced the match has been postponed but Persepolis were surprisingly awarded the trophy a day after.

“The Iran Football League Organization must apologize to millions fans of Esteghlal for their decisions. We’ve already announced that we cannot play on July 20,” Zamani said.

“We never had a problem playing Persepolis but we could not play at that time since we are in Turkey until July 22,” he added.

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Esteghlal fight for victory against Zob Ahan: Winfried Schaefer

reporter 1222 — Tue, 08 May 2018 05:30:42 +0000

TEHRAN – Esteghlal coach Winfried Schaefer says Zob Ahan are a difficult team to beat but they fight for victory against them.

Just five days after claiming Iran’s Hazfi Cup title, Esteghlal will meet domestic rivals Zob Ahan for the first leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League Round of 16 at the Foolad Shahr Stadium on Tuesday.

“First of all, I have to say we are not happy to play Zob Ahan in this stage. I think the Asian Football Confederation’s officials should change their system and two teams from a same country should not play together in the early stages,” Schaefer said.

“Zob Ahan like to play a lot of long balls and they are dangerous at set-pieces. They take advantage of the tall players who are successful in the aerial challenges,” the German coach added.

“We know Zob Ahan are a good team but we travel to Isfahan to fight for a good result. Esteghlal want to book a place in the AFC Champions League quarter-final,” he concluded.

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IPL: Esteghlal beat Paykan, Persepolis beaten by Zob Ahan

reporter 1222 — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 07:10:34 +0000

TEHRAN – Esteghlal football team earned a late win over Paykan in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, while Persepolis lost to Zob Ahan in the penultimate game of Iran Professional League (IPL) season on Sunday.

Esteghlal edged past Paykan 3-2 thanks to Omid Ebrahimi’s late goal.

Arman Ghasemi put the visiting team ahead in the 13th minute but Mame Baba Thiam equalized the match with a header in the 49th minute.

Vouria Ghaffouri made scoreboard 2-1 five minutes later but Faraz Emamali canceled out his goal just after hour mark.

Ebrahimi scored the winner in the 90th minute to keep Esteghlal’s hopes alive to finish in second place.

Persepolis, who won the IPL title with three weeks remaining, suffered a 2-1 away defeat to Zob Ahan in Isfahan’s Fooladshahr Stadium.

Ali Alipour was on target in the 48th minute but Milad Fakhreddini equalized the match in the 70th minute.

With three minutes remaining, Zob Ahan Brazilian striker Stanley Kiros headed the ball into back of the net.

Elsewhere, Saipa were held to a goalless draw by Gostaresh Foolad, Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Sepahan 3-2, Tractor Sazi drew 1-1 with Sanat Naft, Padideh beat Siahjamegan 2-1 in Mashhad derby, Sepidrood Rasht played out a goalless draw against Foolad and Naft lost to Pars Jonoubi 3-0 and were relegated to first tier.

Persepolis sit on top of the table with 61 points, followed by Zob Ahan and Esteghlal with 52 and 51 points respectively.

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