Arash Bayat (; born July 19, 1983) is a former Iranian-Swedish footballer, Arash was voted the best middle eastern player of Sweden in 4 different time: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005.

Career

Bayat has made an impressive career in Swedish second tier

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 ...

with

Västra Frölunda IF Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening () is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg. Founded on 2 January 1930, the club has spent a total of ten seasons in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. As of the 2025 season, Västra Frölund ...

and

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollf� ...

. GIF took the step up to the Swedish top flight,

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

at the end of the 2007 season. On August 17, 2008 it was announced that Bayat would join

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''), winning their first title in 2016. The club is managed by Gary Williams, and it plays ...

for the remainder of the 2008 season on a loan. In December 2010 resigned his contract with

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

club

Ljungskile SK Ljungskile SK is a Swedish football club located in Ljungskile, a town within Uddevalla Municipality. They currently play in the Swedish third tier, Division 1. History Ljungskile SK, formed in 1926, is famous for their promotions between 199 ...

and joined as player to

Assyriska BK Assyriska BK is a Swedish football club based in Västra Frölunda, Gothenburg. The club was formed in 1985 by Assyrian immigrants and is currently playing in Division 2 Västra Götaland which is the fourth tier of Swedish football. They play ...

.Arash Bayat klar för Assyriska BK

Attributes

He usually plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

but can also play as a striker if required.

International career

Bayat played from 1999 to 2001, 37 games and scored sixteen goals for the Swedish U-16 and U-18 national football team.

Language

Persian is his official but he learned Swedish after he moved to Sweden.

Private life

He holds Swedish and Iranian citizenships.

Early life

He was born in Tehran but moved to Sweden with his family at an early age.

Career statistics

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayat, Arash 1983 births Living people Swedish men's footballers Iranian men's footballers Iranian expatriate men's footballers Sportspeople of Iranian descent Allsvenskan players Superettan players Veikkausliiga players Ettan Fotboll players Division 3 (Swedish football) players Västra Frölunda IF players GIF Sundsvall players IFK Mariehamn players Qviding FIF players Ljungskile SK players Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Iranian emigrants to Sweden Sweden men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Tehran 21st-century Iranian sportsmen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen