Iran's Clemente Can't Reign From Spain

GOAL - The Iranian Football Federation (IFF) gets a bad press – it certainly does on Goal.com. Portrayed as an amateurish and corrupt organization that is holding back the potential that exists in Iran, the body is often held up as an example of how a football federation should not operate.

This time though it is hard to find fault. The IFF is certainly right in its demands that new coach Javier Clemente should live in Iran. Why would the Spaniard think otherwise?

Nothing is ever simple in Iranian football. The search for Amir Ghaleneoi’s replacement may have dragged on for six months but it looked as if the federation had finally found the right man – the former national team boss of Spain and Serbia who also had a stack of big clubs on his CV. That document is perhaps the most impressive of any coach currently operating in Asia but it doesn’t mean a great deal if he is going to spend the majority of his time far from Tehran.

“To be a coach of Iran you don't have to live there," Clemente told the Spanish press last week. "Even if you did you could only go to one match and see the rest on video. And videos work just as well in Tehran as they do in (Clemente's hometown) Zarautz. I will live in my house on the beach in Zarautz and travel to Tehran a week or two before the games and whenever is necessary.”

That’s arrogant nonsense. More than most national teams, Iran is in desperate need of an experienced foreign coach to come into the country and get his hands dirty at all levels of the game. Iran needs Clemente to provide a framework for the national team and Iranian football in general to acheive success. Iran needs Clemente to show the IFF exactly how they should support a coach and what needs to be done to restore Team Melli to the top of Asian football. Iran needs Clemente to use his talent to help the domestic coaches in the country.

The very fact that a top European coach has been appointed was encouraging and not only because of the obvious knowledge and experience that he possesses. The theory was that a top boss would only accept the position if he was satisfied that the IFF was fully behind him and ready to be fully supportive, It could be a new start in Iranian football. At the very least, it would see the national team operate in a similar way to most others –not a great deal to ask.

But Clemente can’t reign from Spain. You can’t lead one of the most passionate football nations in the world from a sofa in Zarautz. You need to be in Tehran, Shiraz and Ishafan, getting to know the players, the coaches, the fans, the culture and, last but not least, the country.

Ali Kafashian may have been a controversial appointment to head the IFF but he was exactly right when he told Clemente that his plans are unacceptable.

"We do not need a remote control manager.We don't want a flying coach and if Javier Clemente does not accept our conditions we will consider other alternatives. Even though Clemente has signed the contract we have not as yet signed it," said Kafashian.

"We do not accept that our coach sits in Spain and only watches video recordings of Iranian league games."

Quite right too – Iran deserves nothing less.

John Duerden
Asia Editor
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