News ID: 271

Date: 01 June 2025 - 20:12

#President

We’ve Come Through a Tough Season And Must Keep Getting Better

President reflected on the challenges of the recently concluded football season, emphasizing the need for continuous improvement and stricter financial oversight in club contracts.

following fa cup final between esteghlal tehran and malavan, taj spoke to the media, praising the city of arak for its successful hosting of the high-stakes match.

“we’re very satisfied with the hosting in arak. the local authorities and people were very cooperative. it was a fair environment with an even split of fan support, and notably, female fans from both clubs were able to attend peacefully and safely. that was a big positive.”

acknowledging the intensity of the past season, taj admitted:

“it was a tough and compressed season—no doubt about that. we know things weren’t perfect, but we hope for better conditions next year. now that the competitions are over, we enter the transfer window, where financial negotiations and contracts become the focus.”

he addressed recent concerns over inflated player contracts, saying:

“there’s been a lot of talk about massive contract figures recently. in response, we’ve implemented a new regulation: no contract may increase by more than 30% from the previous season. so, if a player earned 10 billion irr last season, they can sign for a maximum of 13 billion irr now.”

taj called on club executives and stakeholders to be more financially responsible:

“club ceos and shareholders—those who fund these contracts—must be the most vigilant. ultimately, only contracts officially registered with the league will be recognized.”

discussing a specific contractual dispute, he added:

“there’s one high-profile case with various components—some payments were made as salary, others as bonuses. due to these complexities, it’s been referred to the dispute resolution committee. it has gone through three rounds of expert review with differing opinions. the final verdict hasn’t been issued yet but will be announced soon.”

taj concluded by underlining the independence of the federation’s legal bodies:

“the judiciary arms of the federation are completely independent—even i, as president, cannot interfere in their decisions. they rule based on statutes and documented regulations, and detailed clarification on this case will be provided soon.”