TEHRAN - There has been a long-held conspiracy theory that the ‘boys in the backroom’ to determine the champions of Iran football.

All Iranian clubs used to write statement before and after a game in the recent years while there are lots of reasons why they have not won a single Asian award for about 30 years.

Iranian most popular teams Persepolis and Esteghlal sit on top of the list. The Public Relations of these clubs start the day with the statement and end the day with that.

The coaches also share their protest on their social media accounts. All the clubs say the same thing: “They don’t want us to win the title.”

Ridiculous. Really ridiculous.

Sunday night, Manchester City and Liverpool football teams shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw and Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp shared a warm hug at the final whistle. It was a EPL decider.

At the same time, Persepolis were playing Aluminum in Hazfi Cup quarterfinals in Tehran. There were so many moments that the players from both teams got involved in an on-field brawl.

Monday night, the scenes were repeated in Esteghlal and Nassaji match in Tehran. The coaching staff of both teams, especially Esteghlal, protested the referee’s decisions in most of the match.

Esteghlal coach Farhad Majidi said he would quit coaching if his striker made a foul and TV reply showed that the striker pushed the Nassaji defender in the area.

One month ago, Persepolis coach Yahya Golmohammadi attacked the officials in Tehran derby. It’s usual in Iran football.

There is conspiracy theory in Iranian football and the coaches want to make excuse instead of accepting responsibility for what they do in the match.

It’s disappointing.