Timur Ghiasi: Fraud Occurred in Athletics Federation Elections

The electoral assembly of the Athletics Federation was held at the National Olympic Academy, resulting in Majid Keyhani being elected as the new president of the federation with 23 votes. The assembly was presided over by Nasrollah Sajjadi, the Deputy Minister of Sports, who joined the attendees after the assembly began. In the first round, Karimi led with 14 votes over Keyhani, but in the second round, Keyhani, who is not well-known in the athletics community, secured the assembly's votes. Shahnaazi, representing the National Olympic Committee, and Hosni-Khoo, the Director General of the Ministry of Sports' security, were present at the assembly. Ehsan Mohajer Shojaei, the federation's secretary, did not attend, leading another individual to manage the electoral assembly. Hoomanian, one of the candidates, stated: "The federation's budget is 3 billion and 300 million tomans, but when I asked each of the provincial boards, they said they haven't received even one million tomans, and athletes have not received any salaries." This statement was met with a warning from the Deputy Minister of Sports. Sajjadi advised this candidate to avoid criticizing the federation. After assuming the presidency, Keyhani claimed that, in his opinion, the athletics federation elections were the most democratic that had been held. However, the national teams' manager, Timur Ghiasi, stated: "In my view, this election was engineered, and fraud occurred, which is why I am leaving athletics for good." Timur Ghiasi, a former Asian record holder in high jump, told ISNA news agency: "There was fraud in this election, and with the support of the Ministry of Sports, this person became the president of the athletics federation. He has neither a resume nor a championship history. I hope everyone has a good judgment and sees how this election was engineered and how this person became president." The national teams' manager continued: "We will certainly see what disaster will happen to athletics in the future, leading to its destruction." However, the Minister of Sports and Youth stated: "We have no right to interfere with the votes directly or indirectly, and we have not expressed any opinion about any of the candidates. If anyone knows of any actions or gestures from me or Sajjadi, please announce it here so I can repent and apologize." Mahmoud Goudarzi made these statements at the electoral assembly of this sports discipline. Meanwhile, in recent months, widespread criticisms have emerged regarding the direct interference of the Ministry of Sports in the elections of some federations, as well as the selection of board members and managers of several sports clubs. The new president of the athletics federation denied any support from the Minister of Sports for his election, saying: "I deny that the Ministry of Sports provided me with any support. I hope everything that happened in the elections is forgotten. I spent 80 days preparing for my election as president of the federation." Nasrollah Sajjadi, in response to Timur Ghiasi's criticism, said: "Ghiasi was not a member of the assembly to protest. Anyone who has objections must submit them in writing for review. Regarding the claim that the Ministry of Sports played a role in this election, the minister's statements are conclusive, and I will not say anything further." The Deputy Minister of Sports rejected the accusation of the elections being "engineered," stating: "We always hear such things, but I think it would be good to respect people's votes." However, Davood Hoomanian, during the electoral assembly, addressed Sajjadi and the assembly members, saying: "If you have lobbied in advance to vote for someone, you should know that you are responsible and should not come here just to vote while others make decisions for you." After Afshin Davari's resignation from the presidency of the federation, Hassan Tabatabai was appointed as the interim head. In the electoral assembly of this federation, besides the provincial boards, Hassan Taftian, Reza Ghasemi, and Leila Rajabi represented the athletes, Hamed Ahmadpour represented the coaches, Shahram Shahbazi represented the referees, and officials from the Oil and Afzal Toos clubs had voting rights.