Hussain Faraki: "The organizers of the L.G. cup recognized Ghana as the third placed team! We will talk about all the problem we faced in the tournament."

PLDC - "At the current time, it's is difficult to talk about all the obstacles that we faced in Nigeria, and once we get back to Tehran, we will discuss them."

Hussain Faraki told ISNA reporter, "Despite playing a good game against Cameroon, and scoring the first goal, we lost the match. The game which started with a two hour delay, was played despite many issues."

The national team coach also said: "In the day of our match against Ghana, their representative asked that even the fourth team should get a prize and later on they did not appear on the field but our players were on the field for 35 minutes despite unpleasant weather conditions. Interestingly, the referee did not call the game in our favor after Ghana did not show up!"

He continue: "After almost an hour of waiting on the field, our players left to defend our dignity and to protect their physical health. It was then when the organizers unsuccessfully tried to get both teams to come to the field and play. Ghana refused to show up and even though the rule clearly states that after 15 minutes of waiting we should have been the winner, the referee failed to recognize Iran as the winner of the match and disrespected our team and players with their decision."

At the end, Faraki mentioned: "We have sent a complaint to the Nigerian Football Federation. The Nigerians who did everything to win the tournament also worked in favor of their neighbors and took away the third place position that was rightfully ours."

Posted By: Armin A.