Ahmadinejad asked to stop high transfer fees in Iran football

DPA - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been asked by his deputy to stop high transfer fees paid by certain Iranian football clubs to players in the country's Premier League, the Mehr news agency reported Saturday.

Vice-President and sports chief Mohammad Ali-Abadi has asked the president in a letter to stop some "industrial football teams" from investing billions of Rials (millions of dollars) for new players.

The sports chief was referring to clubs which are financed by some state-run industries, such as vice-champion Isfahan, affiliated to the steel factory Sepahan Mobarakeh, or ex-champion Saipa, owned by the country's second-biggest automobile maker Saipa.

Ali-Abadi even wants to put the issue on the agenda of the next cabinet session, Mehr said.

Iran has for some years started a professional league which was supposed to be run like European leagues and eventually market-oriented.

The two main Tehran clubs, Persepolis and Esteqlal, which are run by the sports organization headed by Ali-Abadi, have in the recent years faced competition by teams affiliated to industrial units with huge capital.

As a result, the absolute domination by Persepolis and Esteqlal has decreased and teams from the provinces have gradually emerged as real competition. The national team is also using more and more players from the provinces.

The elite players, however, either move to neighbouring Persian Gulf sheikhdoms such the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, or even to European teams.

In order to keep other good players inside Iran, the teams have to adjust their salaries competitively with those abroad, which has eventually affected the local football market as well.