TEHRAN, May 23 (Mehr News Agency)-- Iconic Ali Karimi has blasted Iran's Football Federation's decision over throwing him off the national team following his criticism about the IFF's management deficiency.

The Iranian wizard said, "The national team is not my father's heritage and is not head coach Ali Daei's father's heritage either. The team belongs to the Iranian people and everybody has the right to criticize its problems. Before me, Daei had slammed the federation's approach, but there was not any negative reaction against him. I criticized the officials in a sensible manner and the big question is why they are angry with me."

"I don't know what happened. Everybody has praised me due to what I said, however they (IFF) ousted me from the team. I would much rather be out of the national team than compromise with them," Karimi added.

... Payvand News - 05/24/08 ...