Former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz on verge of signing a contract as Iran manager
Former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz is reportedly set to sign a three-year contract that will make him the manager of the Iran national team.
The Portuguese had been linked with the job for a very long time and in February 2011, he denied his interest to take up a managerial position with Iran.
However, now it seems that negotiations have started once again and it is very likely that within the next few days, the former Real Madrid manager may officially become the next Iran coach.
According to many reports, Queiroz’s initial denial of the job was largely due to his wife’s reluctance to live in Iran due to the political unrest in the country.
It is now believed that he may sign a three-year contract only a few days after the Court of Arbitration for Sport revoked his six-month ban that the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority had imposed on him. The ban was imposed on Queiroz after he insulted officials
who drug-tested the Portuguese players ahead of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
After having his ban revoked, it is very likely that Queiroz will take up the post as the Iran manager ahead of the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Earlier in 2011, Iran were knocked out by South Korea in the quarter-final of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar after making a very bright start to the campaign.
In recent times, Iran have been literally starved of success at the world stage and after failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2010, the Iranian Football Association has made it clear that it wants the national side to feature in the World Cup in 2014.
It is very likely that the former Iran manager Afshin Ghotbi will stay in the national team set up and many believe that it is important for the former Iran international to stay as Carlos Queiroz’s assistant. It remains to be seen if Afshin would be willing
to take up a secondary role after being in charge of the side for over a year.