Iran, Qatar Soccer Relations to Suffer?

As Qatari media have reported in the past few weeks, (ex-)members of Team Melli, the Iranian national soccer squad, who play for Qatari clubs are apparently in hot water after their relatively weak performances during the first half of the current season of the Qatari Stars League.

Qatar’s well-endowed soccer clubs have traditionally been popular destinations for Iranian soccer players. After the 2014 World Cup, a new wave of Iranian footballers, including Team Melli’s captain, Andranik Teymourian, and playmaker, Ashkan Dejagah, signed contracts to play in the Qatari league.

Last week, Qatari newspaper Al-Watan reported that Al-Arabi fans want Dejagah, who rejected Bundesliga and Premier League offers to join the club, to leave the club following a heavy defeat he missed for an injury. In an interview with Iranian sports newspaper Iran Varzeshi, Teymourian also reacted to rumors of his dismissal from Umm Salal, the first Qatari club to make it to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, suggesting the reports are orchestrated to deport Iranian players.

Following the interview, Iranian sports media started to call unfavorable reports by Al-Watan groundless ado against Iranian players, which seems to have pressed the newspaper to change its stance. A recent article published in Al-Watan argues in favor of Iranian soccer players and praises their performances. The article suggests that Qatari clubs trust their Iranian members and that this can pave the way for other Persian players to move to the Stars League.

On the flipside, whereas in late May 2015, Ali Kaffashian, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, had told reporters that Qatar officially sought Iran’s hand to help the country host 2022 World Cup, the director of Iran's Forest, Range and Watershed Management Organization said on Saturday that Tehran has rejected a request by Doha to buy soil from the Islamic Republic.

The export of arable soil is prohibited in Iran and is considered as smuggling, but in the past few years, arable soil has been exported from Iran to Persian Gulf littoral states as sand, gravel or mineral cargos to bypass the law.

"Qatar is seeking to meet its soil needs for the greenery of the 2022 World Cup by importing soil from Iran, but the organization was against such requests," Khodakaram Jalali told ICANA News Agency.

The fate of the Iranian legion in Qatar remains to be decided when the January holidays and the transfer window in the Stars League close.