Official:no Shirt Swap Between Iran And Nigeria In The World Cup

Official:no Shirt Swap Between Iran And Nigeria In The World Cup

It is customary for international footballers
to swap shirts after matches but Iran’s stars
have been instructed not to do so at the
2014 Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil.
President of Iran’s Football Federation (FFI),
Ali Kafaschian says players of the Team Melli
would need “to be economical” with their
shirts after matches at the World Cup.
“We are not giving the players a shirt for
every game. The players have to be
economical with the shirts,” Kafaschian told
Fars news agency.
The practice of swapping shirts after major
games and events is common practice in
football and for Iranian players who rarely
encounter European or South American
opposition, an opponent’s shirt would have
a memorable souvenir to take back from
Brazil.
As Iran face Argentina and Lionel Messi in
their second group match, it is hard to
imagine the players not ignoring the ruling
from the FFI president.
It will also be fascinating to see what the
Team Melli players will do after facing the
Super Eagles who boast of Premier League
stars like Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel.
Iran stands to earn a minimum of $8 million
from the tournament, and the decision to
stop players exchanging jerseys with a retail
value of approximately $50, seems churlish
in the extreme, according to several experts.
The Iran federation has, meanwhile, been
trying to address complaints from players
and coaches about the quality of the kit
supplied.
The new shirts are made by the small
German football manufacture Uhlsport, who
have been the official shirt supplier for the
Iranian national football team since 2012.
However, the players appear to be recipients
of a rogue batch.
Reserve keeper Ali-Resa Haghighi has been
quoted as saying his tracksuit in size XL
shrank to medium after the first wash – but
the federation president claims he washed it
at the wrong water temperature.
Haghighi, clearly, is a man who does not
normally do his own laundry.
In the event of an unlikely run to the final,
the quality of these shirts really will be put to
the test.
Iran play in Group F against Nigeria,
Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Iran’s game against the Super Eagles is on
16 June at Arena da Baixada, Curitiba.