Report by Press TV, photos by Amir Kholoosi, ISNA
Persepolis' Karim Baqeri has been appointed the best Iranian football
player of the year by Iran's Physical Education Organization.
Karim Baqeri
In a ceremony held in Iran's National Olympic Academy, Baqeri was voted player
of the year by Iranian soccer coaches and the heads of various sports media
outlets.
The 34-year-old, capped 80 times for Iran's national team, has been playing for
Persepolis since 2002, one year after he ended his international career.
Baqeri joined Arminia Bielefeld in 1997 and played for the German club until
2000 when he left for England's Charlton Athletic.
His Persepolis teammate, Mohsen Khalili, and Esteqlal's Mojtaba Jabbari were the
other two nominees for the player of the year title.
Zohreh Kardaei, best woman goalkeeper
Persepolis had two other winners at the ceremony. Afshin Qotbi was voted the
best coach of the year and Mohsen Khalili was voted the top scorer of Iran's
Premier League, together with Rah Ahan's Hadi Asghari.
Afshin Qotbi
Abu Moslem's Ivan Petrovic was appointed the best foreign player of the year.
Mehdi Rahmati from Mes Kerman was named the best goalkeeper while Sepahan
Isfahan's Ehsan Hajsafi won the title of the year's best young player.
Ivan Petrovic
Vahid Shamsaei and Mohammad Khorakchi were voted the best futsal player and
coach of the year respectively.
Vahid Shamsaei
The rest of the winners include:
Mohammad Taheri (top scorer in Iran's futsal league); Mostafa Nazari and Reza
Naseri (best goalkeepers in Iran's futsal league); Fahimeh Zarei (best player of
the year in women's futsal); Maryam Irandoust (best coach in women's football);
Afsaneh Eqbal and Bayan Mahmoudi (top scorers in women's football league); Ali
Naderi (best beach football player); Saeid Mozaffari (best referee) and Hossein
Shahmoradi (best futsal referee).
