TEHRAN – Ali Daei has been sacked as Saipa head coach, the Iranian football club announced on Thursday.

Saipa fired Daei following the coach’s comments after Zob Ahan match, criticizing the club’s officials for not paying the players’ wages.

Daei’s assistant Ebrahim Sadeghi will lead the team in remaining three matches in Iran Professional League.

Daei was named as Saipa coach in May 2017 as a replacement for Hossein Faraki and helped the team qualify for the 2019 AFC Champions League Qualifying Play-offs, where they lost to Al-Rayyan of Qatar 3-1.

Saipa sit seventh in IPL table.