Copy in clipboard...
Provisional candidates unveiled for Iranian Football Federation presidency
The five-man shortlist may could be reduced through a vetting process before the election day on March 1.
A vice-president to AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Taj first took the helm at the federation in 2016 but stepped down from his role three years later, for what he claimed to be a health issue.
He was reelected to the role in August 2022 and went on to replace then-Iran head coach Dragan Skocic by his Portuguese predecessor Carlos Queiroz for the World Cup finals in Qatar.
The most controversial name on the list is Shahabeddin Azizi Khadem, who first took the role in February 2021 but his reign came to a premature end as he was dismissed from his duties less than a year later due to lack of financial transparency, among other ethical misconducts, within the federation during his 11-month stint.
Ali Kaffashian, an ex-secretary general of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, will be aiming at a third term at the federation, having been at the helm from March 2008 to May 2016.
A former vice-president to Taj, Kaffashian was in charge of the federation when embarked on his eight-year spell on Iran bench in 2011, before steering Team Melli to back-to-back qualifications for the World Cup finals.
Former Persepolis CEO Amir Abedini, 76, is the oldest member of the pack.
An ex-governor-general of Khorasan, Lorestan, and East Azarbaijan provinces in the 80s, Abedini will be looking to be back in the federation after three decades, having served at the job on a six-month period in 1994.
Heidar Baharvand, who was the caretaker of the federation for a year after Taj walked out in 2019, is currently the head of the Iranian League Organization but remains a long-shot candidate for the election day.
Skocic was first appointed to the job on Iran bench during Baharvand’s interim stint.