Sport

Renowned Iranian football commentator criticizes officials over “poor condition” of stadiums

Iranian football commentator and TV show host Javad Khaibani has severely criticized officials over the bad condition of football stadiums. 

“The Iranian people are sitting on a treasure but we do not have stadiums”, said Khiabani on a live TV show.

Khiabani added that there are rich people in Iran who can afford to build stadiums but they refuse to do so because they are critical of the officials. “They are like ‘officials do not give us land and facilities’ [to build stadiums]”, the football commentator said.

Khiabani also cited officials, saying that it will take longer to repair Azadi Stadium in Tehran than to build a new one. He then urged the officials to abandon the repair effort and start constructing a new stadium.

Khiabani’s comments on state TV comes as football matches of Tehrani clubs, most notably the highly popular football clubs of Esteghlal and Persepolis, both in the Persian Gulf Pro League and the AFC Champions League Elite, are held in non-standard stadiums including one near Tehran known as Shahre Quds Stadium.

Officials say the matches are held in pitches other than Azadi Stadium because maintenance work is underway at the 50-year-old stadium.

These remarks follow severe criticism from experts regarding the condition of the football field grass in several cities in Iran, which recently hosted the Asian club competitions. This issue has sparked widespread reactions on social media in Iran.

Additionally, the lack of a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system in the stadiums has also become problematic.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.

Recent Posts

Iran strongly condemns Israeli official West Bank annexation comment

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman has strongly condemned an Israeli cabinet minister’s statement regarding the annexation…

10 hours ago

Minister: Iran’s population will decrease to 35 million in over 7 decades

Iran’s interior minister issues a stark warning about the aging population of the country if…

10 hours ago

Iran reeling from murder of heart specialist

Iranians are still reeling from the murder of a heart specialist in the country where…

14 hours ago

Heavy autumn snow blankets Damavand

The first autumn snow has whitened the heights of northeastern Tehran.

14 hours ago

Iran says 4 Israeli-backed terrorists killed, 7 injured in anti-terror operation

An Iranian official has announced that four mercenary terrorists affiliated with the Zionist regime were…

14 hours ago

US says to continue sending arms to Israel despite dire conditions in Gaza

The United States will not change its policy on weapons transfers to Israel even though…

16 hours ago