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Crisis in the football team deepens
KABUL (SW): Crisis in the football team deepens as a number of national players have raised objection over the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF)’s move to recall controversial Zohib Islam Amiri back to the national squad.
This came following the outburst of the former head coach Segrt Petar, the Croatian-born German coach and former football defender, against inclusion of Amiri. Zohib Islam Amiri is a former skipper who left the squad couple of years ago while protesting against the inclusion of Non-Resident Afghans in the national team. Segrt Peter pronounced Amri as trouble-maker and charged the AFF for bringing him back without consulting him.
Echoing the concerns over split in the national team, a number of players including Owais Azizi, Noorullah Amiri, Kanishka Taher, Noor Zadran, Zubair Amiri, Hassan Amin, Aarash Hatafi and Maseh Saighani have pushed the AFF to choose between the national pride and Amiri. In a joint statement issued on the social media, these players have urged upon the AFF to abide by the commitments the board made with players on the tour of Tajikistan last week.
“A few days before our trip to Tajikistan, we were informed that our outstanding manager, Mustafa Mehrzad, was told that he will slowly be dismissed of his duties and replaced. And a few hours before the flight we were told that our coach Peter Segrt was fired. These absurd decisions left us players feeling confused, shocked, angry and frustrated. Many thoughts were running through our heads”, the players recalled while noting that many thought Islamudin Amiri might be behind all this.
The note further mentioned that upon convincing arguments by the national players, the AFF and interim coach agreed to not have Zohib Islam Amiri on the pitch for the match against Tajikistan. According to this group, the players told the management that Amiri has a track record of match fixing hence they would not like to play alongside him.
It is worth noticing that the former skipper Jalaluddin Shariatyar has also voiced his concerns over the inclusion of Amiri in the national team. Zohib Islam Amriri; the man facing all the allegation has so far kept mum. Upon contact, the AFF media affairs head Syed Ali Kazimi told Salam Watandar that the board is unaware about the statement issued by the players, and the AFF would respond in appropriate time.
ENDS
