The Passing of Ebrahim Ashtiani, a Star in Asian Football History

Ebrahim Ashtiani, one of the most prominent players in the history of Iranian and Asian football, passed away due to a lung illness on Tuesday, October 24, at the age of 71. Ebrahim Ashtiani was born in 1946 in Tehran. He was a graduate in physical education and had a background in teaching at the university level. Ebrahim Ashtiani joined the senior team of Shahin, founded by Abbas Akrami, and officially joined Persepolis in 1968. In the 1969 season, along with most Persepolis players, he moved to Paykan for a year based on a contract signed between Abed, the owner of Persepolis, and Khiyami, the owner of Paykan. Ashtiani and the Persepolis players returned to their previous club in 1970. He also played as a substitute for Esteghlal in a friendly match against Hamburg. He was first invited to the Iranian national team by Raikoff and retired from the national team at the age of 29 after a match against South Korea. During this time, Ebrahim Ashtiani achieved numerous national honors, including two championships in the Asian Cup, participation in the Munich Olympics, and winning the Regional Development Cup. In the 1975 season, while wearing the captain's armband for Persepolis, he also experienced coaching for the first time, serving as an assistant alongside Biouk Vatankhah, leading Persepolis to league championship. The following season, he briefly held the same position alongside Vatankhah and Ivanovich Konov. Ebrahim Ashtiani also coached the national youth team at the beginning of the 1980s and coached the Poura team. In recent years, he had served as a supervisor and board member of Persepolis. He won the Tehran Club Championship with Shahin and was a leading figure in the Regional League and Takht Jamshid Cup with Persepolis. Ebrahim Ashtiani, remembered as the best right defender in Iranian football before the 1979 revolution, was also named the best player of the Asian Cup.