Why Was the Women's Football Team of Esteghlal Tehran Disbanded?

The latest episode in the series of disbanding women's football teams in Iran belongs to the popular Esteghlal Tehran club. This comes at a time when contracts have been signed and women's league competitions are ongoing. Esteghlal's exit from the competition cycle is an event that has previously occurred for this team. Financial issues, as well as conflicts and divisions over the selection of a head coach, have been cited as reasons for the disbandment of the women's team of the blue-clad Tehran club. In recent months, the disbandment of women's football and futsal teams, such as Malavan, has made headlines. Subsequently, the women's football team of Arsen Tehran ceased its activities. This issue also occurred for the women's futsal team in Tabriz in the Premier League. According to ISNA news agency, Mahnaz Amirshaghaghi, the head coach of Esteghlal, told her players that if she is not going to remain as the head coach, it would be better for the team to disband. This emphasis led to a boycott of the team by the young national players of Esteghlal, as Ms. Amirshaghaghi also coaches the youth national team, and eight players from Esteghlal are members of that team. According to the club's caretaker, the fear of being dropped from the youth national team caused them not to attend club training. The president of the Football Federation regarding the status of women's football said: 'The league organization receives 5% of the clubs' contracts, but if they establish a women's team, we only receive 3%. This means that the costs of women's teams will effectively be free.' Mr. Taj, who was speaking on a live television program, reminded that 'like a child's play, players say they don't want a certain coach. This is not good. Several clubs have established women's teams, but they said we have more problems with these teams.' Part of Mr. Taj's remarks faced widespread criticism from the media. ISNA described it as a 'completely disappointing reaction' and wrote: 'The protesting players are blamed for recent events, but what is the fault of other players who have suffered due to the mistakes of a few?' In ISNA's critical report, it stated: 'The president of the federation considers the managerial problems of women's football to be child's play. The question is, does this 'child's play' not deserve tolerance as much as giving a percentage to the violence and immorality in men's football?' The last time the women's football team of Esteghlal was disbanded was during the management of Fathollahzadeh. Masoumeh Gholami, the caretaker of this team, said: 'For three weeks, I wanted to have a meeting with Mr. Fathollahzadeh, but I was not given such an opportunity.' The re-disbandment of Esteghlal occurred while this team had started from the second division, became champions in the first division, and reached the Premier League. Masoumeh Gholami, the caretaker of Esteghlal, regarding the disbandment of her team this season, said: 'Eftekhari, the CEO of the club, disbanded the team due to financial reasons and the protests of some players.' Ms. Gholami about the future status of the players of this team said: 'Most players are from Tehran, and their families do not agree for them to play in other cities. Unfortunately, no support was provided, and our team was disbanded.' Fatemeh Khodavisi, a player from Esteghlal, also said: 'Eftekhari said in a meeting that one billion has been deducted from the club's account, and our only solution is to disband the women's team because the women's team is not profitable, and we do not have a budget to spend on women. Whenever there is a problem for men, they see the solution in disbanding women.'