Iran friendly set for Wednesday, TV broadcast doubtful

PFDC – TEHRAN, The quickly organized friendly match between Iran and Mauretania was now scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 15:30 local time, in Tehran’s Azadi stadium.  

While time and venue were confirmed, confusion arose about whether the game would be open to spectators and about the TV broadcast, with contradictory reports flourishing through Iran’s sports media all day.

Apparently the game initially was planned to play without spectators and TV cameras, however, later reports suggest fans would be allowed to enter the stadium, but no live broadcast would be offered in an attempt to attract more specators.  

Not broadcasting an official friendly match of the Iranian national team would be a sad and unique event in Iran’s newer footballing history and fans all over Iran and the rest of the world are still hoping for a change of mind of Iranian Football Federation President Ali Kafashian and his staff.

Team Melli boss Carlos Queiroz, however, defended the friendly, which has been critisized in Iran due to the expected low quality of the opposition.

“Sometimes, Manchester United plays Hong Kong and these kinds of matches help the teams to prepare for the important competitions”, Queiroz is quoted by ‘Tehran Times’.

Iran will have to do without several key players due to club commitments and also Mauretania is expected to field a domestic team.