No decision yet made on new Iranian national football team coach

DPA - No decision has yet been made on Iran's new national team coach, one of the two main candidates for the post of Iranian Football Federation (FFI) president said Friday. Sahahrokh Shahnazi told the website of the state television network IRIB that all candidates would be once again evaluated next week for the head coach post.

Shahnazi was referring to reports that Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, together with two foreign assistants and one German-based Iranian assistant coach, have already been named for the job.

Due to differences with football's ruling body FIFA over governmental interference in football affairs, the FFI has had no president since last year and been run by a transitional committee until elections on January 9.

Shahnazi said that the transitional committee has just introduced Jorge and his assistants to the new FFI presidential board which is to be elected under FIFA supervision on January 9.

"Jorge is just an option among other options and nothing has been finalized yet. If I was elected as FFI president, I would evaluate his case just like the other options," Shahnazi said.

The other options are French coach Jacques Santini and German Peter Neururer, but Jorge is said to have demanded much less in salary than the other two and therefore has better chances of being appointed.

FFI spokesman Ali Reqbati said Wednesday that an initial arrangement was made last week by the transitional committee, with Jorge adding that as FFI elections would be held next week, the deal should be finalized by the new FFI president and board members.

Jorge was in Tehran last week and held initial talks with the transitional committee, but the two main candidates for the FFI presidency asked for the deal not to be finalized until after the January 9 elections.

The two main candidates, Shahnazi, head of the country's tennis federation, and Ali Kafashian, secretary general of Iran's Olympic Committee, insisted that selecting the new coach should be the job of the new FFI president.