The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Formed in 1920, it is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in the country. Since 1948, the FFIRI has been a member of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and later of the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly ...

History

The football association of Iran was founded in 1920.

Suspension

On 23 November 2006, the federation was suspended by FIFA, due to government interference in football matters. FIFA rules decree that a national football federation should remain autonomous from the national government. However, on 17 December 2006, the ban was lifted and a new Transitory Board was composed of Mohsen Safaei Farahani as chairman, Kioumars Hashemi as deputy chairman and

Mohammad Hassan Ansarifar Mohammad Hassan Ansarifard ( fa, محمدحسن انصاری‌فرد; born 9 September 1962) is an Iranian former footballer who played for Persepolis and the Iranian national team. He is currently the president of Persepolis F.C. since 27 A ...

, Hassan Ghaffari, Mohammad Khabiri and Ali Reghbati as members.

Controversies

The federation and Islamic government do not allow

Iranian women Throughout history, women in Iran have played numerous roles, and contributed in many ways, to Iranian society. Historically, tradition maintained that women be confined to their homes so that they could manage the household and raise children ...

into their stadiums. During the

2009 Iranian election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests c ...

, seven members of the

Iran national football team ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

were initially reported to have been banned for life by the federation for wearing green armbands in support of the Iranian Green Movement. Iran women's national football team was briefly banned by

from international competition in 2011 for being forced by the federation to wear

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While s ...

s. In 2015, Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran banned players from the men's national team due to

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

problems. In August 2017, the federation reportedly banned

Masoud Shojaei Masoud (; ) is a given name and surname, with origins in Persian and Arabic. The name is found in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and China. Masoud has spelling varia ...

and Ehsan Hajsafi from the national team after they played against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. On 9 November 2018 Fatma Samoura, Secretary General of International Federation of Football Association FIFA said she would ask Iranian government to end ban on women's entry to sport stadiums. On 7 August 2019, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, prosecutor general of Iran, supporting the ban, said that it should not concern FIFA, if women in Iran can enter sports stadiums or not. However, after continuous pressure from FIFA, IRNA deputy Sports Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh said, women would be allowed to enter

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

to watch the men's World Cup 2022 qualifier match between Iran and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

in October.

Competitions

Men's

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

Azadegan League The Azadegan League ( fa, ليگ آزادگان, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 ( fa, لیگ یک, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran fro ...

League 2 (Iran) Iranian football's 2nd division ( fa, ليگ دسته دوم ایران) is the third-highest football division overall in the Iranian football league system. Before 2001, the 2nd division league was the second-highest division in Iranian footbal ...

League 3 (Iran) Iranian football's 3rd division ( fa, ليگ دسته سوم ایران) is the fourth-highest football division overall in the Iranian football league system. Before 2001, the 3rd division league was the third-highest division in Iranian foot ...

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Ch ...

* Iranian Super Cup

Women's

* Kowsar Women Football League

Membership

Presidents

Board members

reference

National teams

''Head coach: Carlos Queiroz'' *

Iran national under-23 football team Iran national under-23 football team, also known as Iran U-23 or Iran Olympic Team; represents Iran in international football competitions in Olympic Games, Asian Games and AFC U-22 Asian Cup, as well as any other under-23 international footba ...

''Head coach:

Mehdi Mahdavikia Mehdi Mahdavikia ( fa, ; born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional football coach and former player usually played as a right winger or right back. He is currently under contract by Hamburger SV as a youth coach, and also manages his own ...

'' * Iran national under-20 football team ''Head coach: TBD'' * Iran national under-17 football team ''Head coach: TBD'' * Iran national under-15 football team ''Head coach: Vahid Amiri'' *

Iran national futsal team The Iran national futsal team represents Iran in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Futsal Commission of the Iranian Football Federation. According to the Futsal World Ranking, it is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st among ...

''Head coach: Vahid Shamsaei'' *

Iran national under-20 futsal team Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

''Head coach: Ali Sanei'' * Iran national beach soccer team ''Head coach: Abbass Hashempour'' * Iran women's national football team ''Head coach: Maryam Irandoost'' * Iran women's national under-23 football team ''Head coach: Maryam Azmoon'' *

Iran women's national under-20 football team The Iran women's national under-20 football team represents Iran in international women's under-20 football in the AFC U-19 Women's Championship and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It is controlled by the Iranian Football Federation. History The ...

''Head coach: Maryam Azmoon'' *

Iran women's national under-17 football team The Iran women's national under-17 football team represents Iran in international women's under-17 football in the AFC U-16 Women's Championship and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. It is controlled by the Iranian Football Federation. Iran women' ...

''Head coach: Shadi Mahini'' *

Iran women's national futsal team The Iran women's national futsal team represents Iran in international women's futsal, and is controlled by the Iran Football Federation. Results and fixtures 2023 Players Current squad * Farzaneh Tavasoli (''captain'') * Nasim ...

''Head coach: Shahnaz Yari''

References

External links

Official Website of IR Iran Football Federation
a
archive.orgOfficial Website of IR Iran Football Federation

Iran
at AFC site {{DEFAULTSORT:Football Federation Islamic Republic Of Iran Football federation

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Sports organizations established in 1920 1920 establishments in Iran