“I didn’t want to resign, that was suggested by the federation” – Queiroz

Persianfootball.com – TEHRAN, As many Team Melli fans continue to come to terms with Carlos Queiroz resigning from his post, he provided an in-depth, tell-all interview with Iranian journalists upon his return to Tehran regarding recent events surrounding the national team.

Prior to the two friendly matches against Chile and Sweden, controversial issues continued to surround the national team head coach. The new IRIFF general secretary Alireza Asadi almost immediately dismissed Queiroz’s results, whilst the Team Omid (Olympic U23) coaching staff wanted to take Team Melli’s two most promising players, Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, for the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. Queiroz refused and would not accept if forced to release them. These two issues are assumed to have been coupled with other problems which resulted in his resignation and heated media exchange between both parties.

As the squad returned to Iran after the Sweden friendly, questionable events still hindered Queiroz upon his arrival in Tehran. According to Iranian media outlet Varzesh3, Carlos Queiroz was again delayed at the airport and had his passport confiscated due to visa issues. As mentioned in previous interviews and statements from Queiroz himself, these issues should have been taken care of by the federation.

Upon his arrival back to Tehran, Varzesh3 was able to conduct an interview with Queiroz. He offered his thoughts on several topics, namely his resignation, the recent friendlies against Chile and Sweden, criticism from the IRIFF officials and the upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

“Goodbyes are never happy. After 4 years of work in Iran, I am proud of my players and my team as they were the best team I have ever worked with. The players played for so little compensation and they have made me proud. I am just sad now and goodbyes are not a happy occasion, but this is life and we must move forward.”

Upon being asked about the friendly with the Swedish national team which ended in a 3-1 defeat, he said: “I want to thank the Swedish Football Federation, players and staff for accepting to play us. In the last 4 years, it has been difficult playing high calibre friendlies and I am glad my players gained such international experience. I am happy we played Sweden and I am more than satisfied that we played against a team with great tactics. Our players have much less international experience compared to Swedes and this was a great experience. A player like Ibrahimovic is a key player and can change the game. We were scored on in the first half due to our inexperience. We also showed that if we gain more experience, we can put on a better show.”

In response to his critics stating Iran defeated a depleted Chile squad 2-0 and continuing on with the Sweden friendly he said,

“The national team always comes first. Chile brought 40 players so their youth players could gain international experience. Sweden played with their main team and as the 41st ranked team in the world, showed lots of respect to Team Melli, the fans, and sponsors. Don’t forget, the national team always comes first. They (the IRIFF) didn’t even return the respect to Sweden. When some of your best players are not present, the players that were suppose to be here and weren’t, other than the fans, you didn’t respect Chile and Sweden, since they came fully prepared with all their top players. I have had the opportunity to work with FIFA as a technical analyst since 1989, and I know different federations from around the globe. I have never seen any national team not have the first choice when it comes to player selection.”

Queiroz then spoke about his strained relationship with new Iranian Federation General Secretary Alireza Asadi and criticism that he received from the new federation officials,

“The new officials have the opposite thinking compared to the fans. The answer to the question that what or who caused my departure is a long story. After our performance in the WC and Asian Cup without any support from officials, fans were happy with us, but the new officials were unhappy with my results as a head coach. Kaffashian told me it will get worse. In my last meeting with him he mentioned it will be a harder environment to work in and we may not even make it to the 2018 World Cup.”

“Asadi said that he is unhappy with our performance and there is nothing to be done under these circumstances. I must leave so IRIFF can make new decisions and exercise their options. Disrespect to me and my team is not acceptable. Let me say it in another way, I would do everything possible to bring success to Team Melli and my players like during the last 4 years, but as I said, there are multiple points of view in the federation. Almost as if there are two federations with two different sets of views. It is OK to have different views and I am a professional coach and am used to hearing different views, but one person gave himself the permission to disrespect me and belittle all my efforts, my staff and my players. That is unacceptable. I am the weak link here. They can tell me they don’t like my looks and I can deal with it, but to disrespect and to play with my reputation and dignity or put my efforts down, I will not accept that. There is no room for two different federations in this environment. That makes me the weak link since I am not part of the federation or the board.”

“God will always show the truth. For this reason, Mr. Kaffashian told me there is no other way but to separate and it was his idea. Again I want to be clear, it was his idea and not mine. There were many witnesses to this conversation and I can prove it. Mr Kaffasian and I were forced to make this decision. Since we are at the end of the road, they want to make me the bad guy. They don’t want to take responsibility and want to hide the truth. But I accepted to part as friends and with mutual agreement. I am here to tell you that I am the bad guy in this story, but he fans know the truth and I am sure they all know that I never wanted to leave my post and stop supporting my players and the team. I was forced to make this conclusion. This gentleman (Asadi) said that I don’t have certain standards.”

He continued, “Ultimately, God controls our lives, but the future of all coaches also depends on certain officials and their respective federations and some want to play mind games. Let me be clear. As coaches, we get used to playing these games and we can do it with closed eyes. Asadi has brought a new point of view and every time we have a meeting he mentions “we” with emphasis as a group. But no one knows who is really “we”. When he says we only want you because it is crazy to let you go at this time but at the same time looks me in the eye and tells me neither the players or you have brought anything to our football other than happiness to the fans. He also said that we the intellectuals think that you haven’t done anything, you have not had good results, brought any new players or provided technical training. The gentleman that has been here for 5 weeks told me that I don’t even qualify for his minimum standards. So if I can’t measure up to his standards or the people he represents, then they must fire me.”

The topic then shifted towards the World Cup Qualifiers for Russia 2018 which will begin in two months time,

“2018 WC qualifiers starts in Khordad. If I had more players, I would have had more choices and this doesn’t mean that I am unhappy with my players and the youngsters. I am happy with their performance. But as the coach of Team Melli, my ideas are different than some officials and I believe since the qualifiers start in couple of months many of our young players can have bright futures if they have a qualified coach that can provide international experience. We saw a new guy like Vahid Amiri shine on a night like this with very little experience. I hope the federation provide other opportunities for players so they can get better.”

Queiroz then concluded the interview by saying, “I am a humble coach. In the end, I want to apologise for bringing up these points in this conference. There is a new way of thinking in this federation. I am humble and it is different than being scared. I am not that stupid, when one comes in my face and in front of the federation questions my standards, what do you expect from a guy with 33 years of experience. I am really sorry.”