Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran

Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran

AFC
Founded	1920[1]
FIFA affiliation	1948
AFC affiliation	1954[2]
CAFA affiliation	2015
President	Ali Kafashian
Website	http://www.ffiri.ir/

The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (F.F.I.R.I.) (Persian: فدراسیون فوتبال ایران‎‎) is the governing body for football in Iran. It was founded in 1920, and has been a member of FIFA since 1948.^[3] It is also a member of the Asian Football Confederation. The FFIRI is responsible for organizing the Iranian national football team.

Suspension

On 23 November 2006, the federation was suspended by FIFA,^[4] due to government interference in football matters. FIFA rules decree that a national football federation should remain autonomous from the national government. However, on 17 December 2006, the ban was lifted and a new Transitory Board was composed of Mohsen Safaei Farahani as chairman, Kiomars Hashemi as deputy chairman and Mohammad Hassan Ansarifar, Dr Hassan Ghaffari, Dr Mohammad Khabiri and Ali Reghbati as members.

Controversies

The federation and Islamic government do not allow Iranian women into their stadiums.^[5]

During the 2009 Iranian election protests, seven members of the Iran national football team were initially reported to have been banned for life by the federation for wearing green armbands in support of the Iranian Green Movement.^[6]

Iran women's national football team was briefly banned by FIFA from international competition in 2011 for being forced by the federation to wear hijabs.^[7][8]

In 2015, Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran banned players from the men's national team due to conscription problems.^[9][10]

Board members

• reference

Position Name President Ali Kafashian General Secretary Alireza Asadi First Vice President Mahmoud Eslamian Second Vice President and Women Section Ellahe Arab Ameri Third Vice President and Head of Football Pro League Organization Mehdi Taj Head of Azadegan League Organization Gholamreza Behravan Head of Referees Committee Fereydoun Esfahanian Haydar Baharvand Shahabodin Azizi Khadem Shahram Dabiri Oskooei

Membership

Organization	affiliation
FIFA	since 1948 (68 years ago)
AFC	since 1958 (58 years ago)
West Asian Football Federation	2001–2014 (13 Years) (Founding Member)
Central Asian Football Association	since 2015 (fifteen months ago) (Founding Member)

Presidents

Old Logo of Iran Football Federation (until 1979)

Jersey badge of Team Melli in the 1978 FIFA World Cup^[11]

Presidency [12]	President	Took office	Left office	Note
1	Dr.Ali Kani	1947	1950	Runners-up of 1951 Asian Games
2	Hedayatollah Gilanshah	1950	1952	Commander of Imperial Iranian Air Force (1952)
3	Mohsen Haddad	1952
4	Hossein Siasi	1952	1953
5	Mohsen Haddad	1953	1954	second term
6	Hossein Siasi	1954		second term
7	Dr.Ali Kani	1954	1955	second term
8	Mostafa Salimi	1955	1956
9	Hossein Mobasher	1956	1958
10	Mostafa Makri	1958	1960
11	Zabih Khabiri	1960	1961
12	Hossein Soroudi	1961	1962
13	Hossein Mobasher	1962	1967	second term qualified to 1964 Olympics Runners-up of 1966 Asian Games
14	Hossein Soroudi	1967	1968	second term
15	Mostafa Makri	1968	1972	second term winner of 1968 Asian Cup and 1972 Asian Cup qualified to 1972 Olympics
16	Kambiz Atabay	1972	1979	Presidents of AFC (1 August 1976 - 9 December 1978) qualified to 1978 World Cup qualified to 1976 Olympics winner of 1976 Asian Cup Founder of Takht Jamshid Cup winner of 1974 Asian Games
17	Naser Noamooz	1979	1980	first president after revelation qualified to 1980 Olympics but boycotted the event Third place of 1980 Asian Cup
18	Hadi Tavoosi	1980	1981
19	Hossein Abshenasan	1981
20	Hossein Raghfar	1981	1982	youngest president of FFIRI ever with 28 years old[13]
21	Hossein Abshenasan	1982	1983	second term
22	Behrooz Sahabeh	1984
23	Nasrollah Sajjadi	1985
24	Ali Mohammad Mortazavi	1986	1987
25	Mohammad Reza Pahlavan	1987	1989	Third place of 1988 Asian Cup
26	Naser Noamooz	1989	1993	second term winner of 1990 Asian Games Founder of Azadegan League
27	Mohammad Safizadeh	1993	1994
28	Amir Abedini	1994		chairman of Persepolis (1993—2001)
29	Dariush Mostafavi	1994	1997	Third place of 1996 Asian Cup
30	Mohsen Safaei Farahani	1997	2002	qualified to 1998 World Cup winner of 1998 Asian Games and 2002 Asian Games Founder of Iran Pro League winner of 1998 FIFA Fair Play Award member of Iranian Parliament (2000-2004)
31	Mohammad Dadkan	2002	2006	Third place of 2004 Asian Cup qualified to 2006 World Cup Third place of 2006 Asian Games
32	Mohsen Safaei Farahani	2006	2008	second term interim,appointed by FIFA
33	Ali Kafashian	2008	present[14]	qualified to 2014 World Cup 2008 and 2012 Best Asian Football Federation of the Year [15]

#	President	Stability[16]
1	Ali Kafashian	8 years and 4 months
2	Kambiz Atabay	7 years and 6 months
3	Mohsen Safaei Farahani	4 years and 9 months
4	Mostafa Makri	4 years and 6 months
5	Hossein Mobasher	4 years
6	Naser Noamooz	3 years and 10 months
7	Mohammad Dadkan	3 years and 9 months
8	Dr.Ali Kani	3 years and 7 months

References

1. http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=irn/
2. "Asian soccer championship next year". The Straits Times. 27 May 1954."ASIAN SOCCER FINALS IN SINGAPORE May be used as Olympic series". The Singapore Free Press. 5 October 1954."Singapore to Meet Indonesia in Asian Soccer Tourney". The Straits Times. 14 June 1955.
3. History of Iran’s Football, ffiri.ir
4. FIFA suspends Iran Football Federation
5. World Cup ban? Iran's women just don't care
6. Clayton, Andy (24 June 2009). "Iran soccer players banned from national team after wearing green pro-opposition wristbands". New York: NY Daily News. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
7. "Iran women's soccer team thwarted by hijab ban". CBS News. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
8. "Iran’s women soccer team banned from Olympics, because of headscarves". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
9. "Mehrdad Pooladi saved by FIFA !". TeamMelli.
10. http://www.teammelli.com/2015/08/24/team-melli-unable-to-use-players-under-military-service/
11. "Historical Football Kits - World Cup 1978". historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
12. شناسنامه کامل روسای تاریخ فدراسیون فوتبال
13. http://www.parsine.com/fa/news/59002/%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%A6%DB%8C%D8%B3-%D9%81%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84-%DA%A9%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA
14. "ورزش". Etemaad.com. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
15. فدراسیون فوتبال ایران برترین فدراسیون آسیا
16. 100 ماه ریاست کفاشیان در فدراسیون فوتبال

External links

• Official website
• FIFA website
• Iran at AFC site