Protests Against the Astronomical Income of the Islamic Republic's Media from Football

The Farhikhtegan newspaper reported on the "1800 billion tomans income of the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization" from the live broadcast of "only two matches" on Monday, November 14, between the football teams Esteghlal and Persepolis in the Asian Elite League. In this regard, Reza Darvish, the CEO of Persepolis, reacted to the discussion about the broadcasting rights of football matches, stating: "The income recently published from the broadcasting organization for the airing of club games is only from advertising sources, and the main income comes from content production, which if added, will multiply several times." He added: "If several thousand billion tomans are to be generated from the Persepolis club for the broadcasting organization, it is not permissible ethically, religiously, or from a social justice perspective." Previously, Farshid Sami'i, the CEO of Esteghlal, had protested the allocation of broadcasting rights by posting a legal clause on his personal social media page. He wrote: "In order to develop public and championship sports, the broadcasting organization is obliged to prepare and approve the regulations for determining the amount of broadcasting rights for sports competitions within three months of the enactment of this law." The Farhikhtegan newspaper's report noted: "According to the advertisement broadcasting guidelines published by the commercial department of the broadcasting organization, the highest income class on television is class 35, which is used to calculate advertising rates in programs like 'Football Baratar', which have the highest tariffs." The newspaper stated: "On November 14, in the context of the Asian Elite League competitions, Persepolis faced the Qatari team Al-Gharafa, followed by Esteghlal against Al-Nassr. The simultaneous occurrence of these two matches deposited an astronomical amount into the account of the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization." This organization, whose head is appointed by Ali Khamenei according to the Islamic Republic's constitution, has not yet accepted the claims of football clubs for the payment of broadcasting rights for competitions. According to the report, for the Persepolis match, there were 2034 seconds and for the Esteghlal match, 2138 minutes of advertisements before the match, between the two halves, as subtitles and logo designs on the field, generating 1793 billion tomans for the broadcasting organization, calculated with special discounts for cultural and sports institutions. This income was calculated without the double rate of the invitation to watch advertisements. The report referenced clause "J" of article 28 of the advertisement broadcasting guidelines in the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization, which stated that the rate for invitation to watch is calculated at double the normal rate and excluded sports competitions. According to FIFA regulations, football clubs must operate privately and non-governmentally, generating income through receiving broadcasting rights, environmental advertising, ticket sales on match day, selling clothing and sports items, and transferring players. According to the CEOs of Iranian football clubs, the club management system in the Islamic Republic is typically operated non-privately and under direct supervision of security and military institutions, with budgets from government-affiliated organizations and without receiving conventional broadcasting rights from the broadcasting organization.