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IRNA - Mohammad-Hossein Ziaei will take the helm of the Tractor Sazi of Tabriz, capital of East Azarbaijan Province, said a club official Sunday. An informed source, who talked on condition of anonymity approved the news and said former manager of Saba Battery, Ziaei, and Tractor Sazi have reached an agreement.

He added Ziaei will steer the Azari team in the current first-division season. Ziaei, who had already coached Tractor Sazi was formerly a player of Shahin and the Tabrizi team. Ziaei filled the shoes of Ebrahim Qassempour, who avoided starting his work at Tractor Sazi as the manager on December 28.

The club managing director said Qassempour would not return and his club would hire another coach. Khosro Abdollahzadeh added Qassempour was insulted by some unidentified people before he offered his plan and he preferred to quit. Tractor Sazi fired Romanian coach Vasile Ioan Godja and signed Ebrahim Qassempour as the new manager on December 23.

The first-division club managing director said Godja was dismissed due to unfulfillment of his obligations. The ranking official had already termed Qassempour's records as an important factor for picking former national player as the trainer in the midseason. Qassempour played for Iran in 1978 World Cup in Argentina. During his coaching career, Qassempour was the manager of Tehran's Pas, San'at Naft of Abadan, and the Shiraz-based Barq.

Tractor Sazi stood ninth on 20 points in midseason. Coached by Godja, the popular Azari team which ranked third in the club competitions in 1992 has been in hot water and failed to retain the title since then. Scores of managers including Mohammad-Hossein Ziaei, Mahmoud Yavari, Reza Vatankhah, Firouz Karimi, Hamid Alidousti, Ahad Sheikh-Lari, and Vasile Ioan Godja were hired but did not make success.

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