Doha, 27 Nov. (dpa/EP) –
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz of Portugal has called on Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann to resign from the FIFA World Cup Technical Study Group, calling his comments about Iran “a shame for football.”
Klinsmann, a World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990, claimed while working as a commentator for the BBC that Queiroz’s team had “annoyed the referee” in their 2-0 win over Wales on Friday.
“Carlos fits very well with the national team and its culture, he failed in South America with Colombia and then did not qualify with Egypt, and he arrived in Iran just before the World Cup, where he worked for a long time. It is not by chance, it is part of their culture, of how they play,” said the former Tottenham striker.
“They worked with the referee. They work with the assistant referee and the fourth official, they are constantly in their ear. There were many incidents that we didn’t see. This is their culture, they take you out of your game,” he added.
Those comments infuriated Queiroz, who took to Twitter to respond. “No matter how much I respect what you did on the pitch, those comments about Iranian culture, the Iran national team and my players are a disgrace to football. No one can harm our integrity if they are not at our level, of course.” wrote.
Queiroz invited Klinsmann to the team’s training camp and to meet the players “to learn about the country from them.” “We just want to follow with full attention what will be the decision of FIFA regarding your position as a member of the Qatar 2022 Technical Study Group. Because, obviously, we expect you to resign before visiting our training,” Queiroz said.
The Technical Study Group is led by former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s head of world football development, and provides analysis on World Cup action to identify developing styles and trends.
It is not Queiroz’s first controversy in the tournament. He previously criticized Iran fans for not supporting the team in their opening loss to England and later confronted a reporter at a news conference on the eve of the Wales game, wanting to know why England manager Gareth Southgate , does not face the same level of questioning on political matters that he does.