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PFDC - Iran faced the whole of
Asia’s vengeful might!
And NOT in a football field. Iran faced AFC’s ruthless offensive away from
the pitch and in the boards and corridors of AFC.
At times, it looked AFC did everything .... anything possible to make sure
Iran does not come away with the trophy. Iran was treated as an UNINVITED
guest to the continent’s premier tournament.
From lining up the referees and their one-sided and heavy handed judgments
of Iranian players, which somehow never applied to other teams in Asia !
To the AFC committees and their sentencing of Iranian players, which while
demonstrating most blatant and clear anti-Iran tendencies, some of which are
in direct contrast with the rules of Fifa!
Then we have a long series of bad and unjustified calls, coupled with a few
extremely justified penalties never given by the referees. I will not even
bother to go over the number of bad offside calls, one of which meant a goal
against Japan, thus deciding the fate of the tournament!
Even the Chinese TV seemed to be in league with the AFC with their
reluctance in showing the many incidents that favored Iran’s cause, and
concentrating on the two incidents in Oman game, i.e.: Nosrati and
Badav-Rezaei .
However, many other occasions where a TV replay would have benefitted Iran’s
cause and claims, which proved the one-sided and biased atmosphere of the
organizers and continent’s confederation bosses’ approach towards Iran, were
conveniently ignored and not televised!
What is quite distressing, is how AFC strutted their bias and partisan
decision making, as if there is no authority they should answer to, and they
are given a free reign to bend and twist the rules based on the team in
question!
While we received huge penalties through TV reviews ( Nosrati’s 4 match ban
was even harsher than what Zidane got for the very same foul, at the more
prestigious world cup ), yet AFC refused to stay consistent and apply it to
other teams, which increases the suspension on AFC’s despicable partisan
behavior.
The all too quick and immediate sentencing of Iranians, within hours after
the Oman game, was yet another direct contrast in AFC’s other actions, which
took days, if at all acted on!
AFC’s president’s immediate words of apology to the Omanese team broadcast
quickly by all Arab channels throughout the gulf, was strange.
Ironically, the referee of the Iran-Oman was suspended, where he seems to
have not seen the Nosrati’s action. However, he was the only one penalized
for missing such incidents!
What constituted of a severe sentencing for Iran, was rarely even
acknowledged as a foul if committed by the opposite team, in the eyes of the
AFC.
Iran-Japan game; the Japanese player clearly punches Karimi. He gets away
with it, even a week after the game!
Iran-Korea game; where the Korean player’s rude gesture was not dealt with,
even after many days!
Such inconsistencies by referees and AFC’s blatant one-sided actions, peaked
in the game against the hosts, China... a country which AFC’s Peter Vellapan
has clearly announced his and AFC’s support and backing to finally win their
first Asian trophy.
Iran-China game; where apart from the host had far more dangerous tackles,
that deplorable playacting by their forward, which resulted in Zareh’s red
card. While the main referee was feet away from the scene, and his assistant
referee had direct view of the incident, yet both preferred to look the
other away and go along with AFC’s trend of constant chipping at Iran’s
team!
Even days after the game, the AFC committee has not bothered to act on such
a decisive decision.
The referee of Iran-China game clearly proved our case, with his refusal to
act on yet another tackle on Karimi, where he passed the last Chinese
defender, and had only the goalkeeper to beat. Such tackles, also from
behind, are deemed as deserving a direct red card, according to Fifa. And
the Lebanese referee failed to even call it a foul!
It is noteworthy to know the very same Lebanese referee, Talaat Najm,
possessed a record of ...... and was found guilty for malpractice.
This raises yet another question as to why AFC, inspite of such a record for
Mr. Najm, still trusted such a vital and important match! It is however,
quite consistent with the apparent trend of AFC’s inability or reluctance to
be fair and just.
The culmination of this was the last match against Bahrain. Yet another
Arab referee, and yet another questionable judgement.
And the icing on the cake was AFC’s sudden sentencing of Iran’s Taghipoor,
pertaining to a club game of 3 months back, solely for protesting against a
referee’s decision! Penalizing him, just prior to the match against Bahrain.
Would having a Bahraini national as head of a major committee in AFC have
anything to do with this?
Would another Arab national ( Syrian ) being the head of the AFC refereeing
committees have any connection?
Would having Mr. Bin Hammam, n Arab national ( Qatar ) being the president
of AFC have any bearings on AFC’s decisions?
The vicious sweep of Daei’s legs from behind ( which resembled the crippling
tackle that ended the career of Van Basten ) also went unnoticed, and
somehow the player was not even warned, let along issued any card!
Mahdavikia protested ... for which, the referee warded Mahdavikia a red
card, as if that was the worst display by any player present!
Such tackles are the very ones Fifa is most insistent on, since they can
result in some of the worst injuries to a player’s knees and legs, resulting
in rendering the player incapacitated and ending his career.
But before blaming the barbaric behavior of the Bahraini player, we must not
deny AFC’ role in it, by providing such an atmosphere in the games, that
teams against Iran can get away with anything, and no-one will hear Iran’s
cries of protest!
This would create an aura of immunity for the rivals, which ends in such
barbarism and unsportsman-like acts!
It is very concerning to see AFC will carry over MahdaviKia’s and Borhani’s
red card, from an AFC tournament, into a Fifa tournament, the crucial world
cup qualifiers against Jordan.
However, AFC’s blatant double standards scream through, when they decide to
wipe out the two cards issued to the Japan’s Brazilian player, Alex, ( in
his quarterfinal and semifinal match ) for the final match of the games!
I wonder if AFC’s favoritism and bias could be more vivid and apparent.
AFC’s anti-Iran tendencies did not come to the fore in this Asia Cup. Iran
had been facing this wrath for more than a decade.
Refereeing ‘mistakes’, which somehow usually went against Iran, were rife
from 1996 Asia Cup. From the Egyptian referee’s one sided match in the
semifinals, disallowing Iran’s goal as offside, sending the AFC favorites,
Saudi Arabia to the finals. Ironically, the very same goal was allowed in a
European champions league game within weeks from this match!
In a 1998 world cup qualifier, Iran’s visit to Qatar, which was to decide
the advancement of a team between Iran and Saudi Arabia, was marred by tons
of refereeing ‘mistakes’ , where the referee chose to over look many vicious
fouls by Qatari players, ignore punches and kicks thrown at Iran’s players.
Resulting in mounting stress amongst the Iranians, and Qataris given
Card-Blanch and immunity, took advantage and defeated Iran, sending Saud
Arabia to the world cup.
AFC’s reluctance to act and upkeep Fifa’s “FairPlay” policy was most vivid,
yet again in 2002 world cup qualifiers, where Iran faced Bahrain in Tehran.
This match was a showcase of how football should NOT be played. It was a
shameful example of most unsportsman-like behavior committed by any team.
The Bahrainis managed to waste away the 90 minutes of the match, more in a
horizontal position than vertical. One could observe some of the worst
playacting and time wasting tactics by the Bahrainis, so much that the term
“Grass Rolling” was coined by a fan for such despicable conduct.
Stats show somewhere close to 27-28 minutes of the match were wasted SOLELY
on Bahraini s’ unfair conduct, apart from the usual wasted periods within a
normal match.
The referee’s failure to issue a warning, let alone penalize the guilty
parties, proved AFC’s unfair trend once again.
The return leg, in Bahrain saw yet another display of unsportsman-like
conduct. And in a decisive match to nominate either Iran or Saudi Arabia, we
witnessed some of the worst ‘Grassrolling’ by the Bahrainis, coupled with
other usual punches and kicks, saw Bahrainis use this advantage to defeat
Iran, and once again send Saudi Arabia to the world cup.
The end of the match bear witness to some scenes that have been etched in
every Iranian football fan, where the Bahraini players and officials waved
not the Bahraini flag, but the Saudi Arabian flag!
AFC’s shameless double standards rears its head in many other occasions,
that would fill pages, but we hope we have made our protests known.
We would like to bring our cries of protest to Fifa’s doorsteps. We are not
asking for any kind of favors or special treatments, only consistency in
application of rules by AFC.
We demand justice and nothing more.
Such conduct and attitude will only harm and hurt the name of football.
Afterall AFC should look upon Guam with the same eye, they do to South
Korea. The importance of tiny Yemen should be the same as that of China.
There should not be any discrimination based on region or size, and least of
all, the nationality of the AFC’s members in various committees.
AFC by backing a few certain teams, and denying the rights of other
deserving teams, will only hurt the level of football in Asia. This trend
may appear beneficial to a handful of AFC officials, but it only lowers and
damages the game, thus ruining AFC’s chance to vie for a higher and better
place in the world of football.
Should this continue, AFC can bid farewell to respect from the world. Bid
farewell to their quota in international competitions.
And suffice to remain at the bottom of contributing confederations in Fifa,
below those from Oceania and Africa and North America.
Let such matters not tarnish the view of the ‘Beautiful Game’ among the
world.
Let Fifa’s great slogan of “Fairplay” stand true.
Sign the petition against AFC NOW!:
http://www.petitiononline.com/iran2004
Persian News: courtesy Iran
Varzeshi |
