Iran forced to give in over disciplinary punishment of Karimi

DPA - Following harsh protests by fans, the Iranian Football Federation (FFI) was on Friday forced to give in over a disciplinary punishment of Iran's top football star, Ali Karimi. FFI deputy Mehdi Taj told state television that Karimi could any time return to the national football team and that his punishment has been revised.

Karimi was banned by the FFI from the national team after he said in a television interview that the current FFI formation was the weakest in his ten-year presence in the national team and would bring Iran's football backwards rather than forward.

Without even informing national team coach Ali Daei, the FFI banned Karimi and the former Bayern Munich player left Iran to neighbouring Dubai.

Taj justified the ban in a TV programme Monday and said Karimi should refrain from referring to issues not related to him as player and that he had no right to criticize the FFI.

Football observers however agree with Karimi and believe that the FFI has performed weakly since its election last January, especially regarding the appointment of the new head coach which started with Portuguese Arthur Jorge and Spaniard Javier Clemente and seemed to end with the promising Iranian-American coach Afshin Qotbi.

Immediatley following the agreement with Qotbi, however, the FFI again revised its decision and out of the blue appointed former skipper Ali Daei as head coach and allowed the former Bundesliga player, contrary to the regulations, to also coach his club team Saipa Tehran in both the local and Asian champion league games.

Karimi said after his ban that he just gave a warning and would not revise his remarks. It is therefore still unclear whether Karimi will return to the team or not, although also President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is said to have intervened in the dispute and demanded Karimi's return.

Besides Karimi also skipper Mehdi Mahdavikia from Eintracht Frankfurt and Bochum striker Vahid Hashemian will not play in Iran's third World Cup qualification game against the UAE in Tehran's Azadi stadium.