TEHRAN – Ex-Esteghlal coach has been finally named as head coach of Iran’s U-23 football team.

He was named as head coach of Iran Olympic team on Monday but the Iran's Ministry of Sports and Youth and National Olympic Committee (NOC) expressed their dissatisfaction with the way of football federation for choosing him as a coach and called it disappointing.

After a few days, the consensus was reached on him and Majidi announced his provisional squad for the AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020.

Majidi, 43, replaced Zlatko Kranjcar, who was fired as head coach of Iran U23 football team in early May after one year in charge.

The Persians earned a spot in the AFC U23 Championship 2020 Final in late March under coaching of the 62-year-old Croat.

The 2020 AFC U23 Championship will be held in Thailand from Jan. 8 to 26.

The top three teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Japan as the AFC representatives.

Iran, a powerhouse of the Asian football, have not been in the Olympics since the 1976 games in Munich.