The new appointment comes as Farhad Majidi resigned as the team coach on Thursday, criticizing the attempts of others to interfere in his work. His team suffered two defeats in friendly games against Uzbekistan in early September which made critics more worried about the team’s future.
“I step down from my role as head coach of Iran’s U23 football team due to interference in my job. I spent too much time solving the problem and I’d rather stay away from the team in the shameful situation ahead of the important tournament like the AFC U23 Championship. The non-standard ways dictated by technical committee didn't reflect my values,” Majidi posted on his Instagram account on Thursday as reported by the Tehran Times.
The Iranian football federation website announced on Sunday that its technical committee has appointed Hamid Estili as the head coach while also appreciating efforts of Farhad Majidi during his tenure.
Iran has been drawn in the Group C of 2020 AFC U23 Championship along with the defending champion Uzbekistan, China, and South Korea and many consider this as the competition’s ‘group of death’.
The event will take place in Thailand from January 8 to 26 and the top three teams of the competition bring home 2020 Tokyo Olympics quota.
Iran has not been in the Olympics since the 1976 games in Munich.
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