Ban on signing foreigners temporary: official

Speaking in a press conference on Saturday, Mehdi Alinejad said that this limitation will be in place only in the current year.

“The Ministry had banned such transfers for Esteghlal and Persepolis but the Football League Organization decided to apply it to all teams,” he said.

Due to changes in the price of foreign currency, salaries have become unbalanced, he said, adding, “Our best players may be paid one-third of the salary of a foreign player. On the other hand, teams may not be able to pay the wage as we now have some cases at FIFA.”

“The League Organization’s decision was correct but it is not perpetual,” he said, hoping that conditions would change so that the country could go through sanctions.

The failure to fulfill their financial commitments to foreign players and coaches in recent years, especially after the imposition of tough unilateral sanctions by the US against Iran, has created problems for Iranian football.