Mahdi Taj, the president of the Football Federation, in recent statements referred to new dimensions of the challenges facing the Iranian national football team in organizing friendly matches. He stated that the cancellation of preparatory matches with Guinea and Venezuela is related to the decisions of the governments of these countries, and this issue has negatively impacted the national team's preparation for upcoming competitions.
Challenges of Holding Friendly Matches
The Iranian national football team was scheduled to play three preparatory matches during the FIFA window in October 2023, but ultimately only two matches were held, both of which resulted in defeats. This is while the Football Federation was seeking to increase preparation opportunities for the national team, but efforts to find a third opponent were unsuccessful.
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The national team initially lost 3-1 to Uzbekistan in Fergana and then was defeated 2-0 by the host in Kazan, Russia. While it was expected that another match would be held, Mahdi Taj referred to the cancellation of the matches in his explanations and said: "Qatar had issued approval for matches with Guinea and Venezuela, but unfortunately, three countries canceled their matches with us."
Diplomatic Objections and Travel Issues
Taj also pointed to travel issues for African teams and said: "African countries require visas to travel to Turkey, and this causes our plans to face difficulties." He added that matches with Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau were also canceled for the same reason, as each withdrew from playing due to political and administrative obstacles.
These issues indicate that the challenges of holding friendly matches are not limited to technical and scheduling matters, and diplomatic barriers and government decisions also play a significant role in this matter. Taj continued: "They refer to their government and say that their government has instructed that it should not be held, and there is nothing the federation can do."
Such problems have arisen for the national team while Iran is preparing for the Asian Cup and needs to hold suitable friendly matches. With the cancellation of friendly matches, the opportunity to assess the national team's technical conditions and its weaknesses has been lost, and this issue could affect the team's performance in upcoming competitions.
Past experiences show that the Iranian national team has always faced similar problems on the path to participating in major tournaments, and this time, on the eve of the Asian Cup, these challenges have resurfaced. It seems that there is a need for a review in the planning and management of such matches by the Football Federation to prevent similar issues in the future.
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