Ali Niakani (; 8 January 1951 – 9 November 2023) was an Iranian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Early life

Niakani was born in

Bandar-e Anzali Bandar-e Anzali () is a city on the Caspian Sea in the Central District of Bandar-e Anzali County, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of both the county and the district. History Anzali is an old city in ancient Iran, first s ...

on 8 January 1951.

Club career

He spent his entire career with

Malavan Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club (, ''Bāšgāh-e Futbāl-e Malavān-e Bandar-e Anzali'') is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. It currently won Iran's second league, the Azadegan League and came back to Persian Gulf P ...

, winning the

1975–76 Hazfi Cup The 1976 Hazfi Cup was the first staging of Iran's football knockout competition. The tournament is organised annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. Round of 32 The first round was played between 15 and 18 April. Round ...

with them. He also played two matches with

that represented Iran at the tournament under the country's name at the

1974 RCD Cup The 1974 RCD Cup was the fifth edition of the RCD Cup. The event was held at the Hockey Club Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. This was a three nation tournament played in league format between Malavan (from Iran), Pakistan and Turkey. Iran did no ...

Death

Niakani died on 9 November 2023, at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niakani, Ali 1951 births 2023 deaths Iranian men's footballers Footballers from Bandar-e Anzali Men's association football forwards Malavan F.C. players