Tehran Times - It has been more than two months since the Iranian Football Federation sent its statute to FIFA, but the international governing body of football has not yet approved it. And the question remains unanswered.
The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI)'s statutes recently moved closer to being approved by FIFA while the body is set to hold elections in November.
It was more than a year ago that FIFA ordered the FFIRI to amend its statutes. The Iranian football federation observed the requirements of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), FIFA, and also the domestic law and then sent the revised version of the statutes to FIFA.
The final amendment of the statutes will be followed by the approval of the FFIRI assembly to approve it and then holding the FFIRI’s elections immediately.
Several correspondences between the Iranian football federation and FIFA regarding the FFIRI statutes eventually resulted in only one major objection by FIFA. The significant disagreement between the Iranian football federation and FIFA is about the legal nature of the federation. According to Article 1 of the amended statutes, the FFIRI is a “non-governmental public organization,” while FIFA emphasizes that the football federation must be a private and independent organization.
On July 13, the Iranian football federation sent the final version of the statutes to FIFA after resolving all the disputes. But after more than two months FIFA has not yet sent a confirmation to the FFIRI.
However, the Tasnim news agency, in a report has criticized the process and has referred to the name of Vahid Karadny, the director of AFC Member Associations and Regional Association, and claimed that the main problem that prevents the approval of the FFIRI statues is not related to FIFA but to the above-mentioned regional association of the AFC and its director. The report concludes that the FFIRI statues has become a means for some people inside the federation to achieve certain personal goals. It is also mentioned in Tasnim report that FIFA has approved the FFIRI statutes, but the AFC has deferred its approval and keeps it in limbo without any logical justification.