Rah Ahan – An Iranian Experiment

by Mehdi Rahnama

The long awaited privatisation of government-owned football clubs in Iran has begun. The first team to be officially handed over to the private sector was Rah Ahan. Owned by the Rail Road Company of Iran until months ago, Rah Ahan football club has been the first and, so far, only Iranian Premier League team to be offered to the public.

The club had been offered to the public at an estimated $3.6million added to the $3mil. debt which had to be paid at the time of purchase. This adds up to a valuation of $6.6million for a team that only survived relegation in the last week of the past season.

On the other hand, Rah Ahan is unique in the fact that they own their own stadium unlike most of their counterparts in the top tier of Iranian football. Rah Ahan has a well recognized youth academy and its own stadium, the Rah Ahan Stadium in the Ekbatan Area of Tehran (15,000).  Rah Ahan is only one of two fully private clubs in the Iranian Premier League season of 2011/ 2012.

The yellow ‘rail men’ of the capital have been playing in the top division since their controversial promotion from the Azadegan League, Iran’s second tier. Following the 2004-2005 edition of the Azadegan League, Sanat Naft of Abadan filed a formal complaint to the League and Federation, accusing Rah Ahan of match- fixing and use of ineligible players. These allegations didn’t prevent Rah Ahan to play in their first Premier League campaign.

They finished 13th before being found guilty of wrongdoings in their promotion year. Rah Ahan was allowed to continue playing in the Premier League, while Sanat Naft were promoted for the 2007/ 2008 season regardless of their position in the second division. To accomodate them the number of teams in the league was increased to 18, from the previous 16.

Sanat Naft were relegated in its first year while Rah Ahan has since been able to establish itself as a regular mid-table outfit in the league.

Going private

As part of this process the club was moved from Tehran to Shahr-e-Rey. Rey is a southern neighbouring town of the capital and oldest existing city in the Tehran province. This was part of the movement of clubs from the capital city to other cities in the country. Most notably, the 2003/ 2004 champion Pas was moved to Hamedan. Pas of Hamedan was relegated last season and will participate in the Azadegan League.

The ‘rail men’ have become one of the better run clubs in the league, since Mohamad Hassan Ansarifard (48) was named CEO, bringing about improvements to the stadium, a reduction of the club’s debt and strong transfer decisions to name a few achievements.

All this though, is now part of Rah Ahan history. This summer a new era has begun, following the takeover by Amin Mohammadifar. Since the takeover, Rah Ahan has been one of the busiest clubs in Iran. The Rah Ahan stadium will witness a completely revamped side in the next season. Ansarifard has been able to show his skills in the transfer market by signing up some well-known figures such as Hossein Kazemi (31), Hossein Kaebi (25) both from Steel Azin and Sattar Zare (29) from Shahin Boushehr. The most impressive signing though was Ali Daei as head coach.

Rah Ahan will need to be a success story if other clubs are to be handed over to the private sector in future. If  this experiment proves to be a failure, government officials may change their mind and be reluctant to give up further teams. Prior to privatisation Rah Ahan was the lowest placed government team in the league (excluding relegated clubs). For others like Pirouzi or Sepahan to be offered to the private sector, some experiment needs to be made, not to mention that it needs to be successful.

Rah Ahan has 15 new players, a new coach, and for the first time, a private owner. Definitely a new era at the club; will it also begin a new era in Iranian Football?

Mehdi Rahnama is a contributor to Just Football specialising in Asian football.

Football in the Middle East, Iran, Politics and Society, Rah Ahan