TEHRAN - In the latest episode of a chaotic situation of the Iran football national team, Dragan Skocic, the Croatian head coach, returned to his position just six days after being fired from Iran's hot seat.

Last week the Technical Committee of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) found Skocic ineligible to lead Iran at the 2022 World Cup and announced that the federation dismissed him.

However, the football federation's officials, including the acting president of FFIRI, Mirshad Majedi, and the board of directors, reacted and announced that the federation's technical committee did not have the right to make decisions and only had an advisory role for the FFIRI.

They expressed their displeasure at the announcement of Skocic's dismissal by the technical committee without consulting the federation. Also, they announced that the final decision would be made in a joint meeting.

Finally, On Sunday, the federation board members decided to cooperate with Skocic in the World Cup.

Ehsan Osouli, the spokesman of the FFIRI, said: “The outcome of the meeting is that Dragan Skocic is the head coach of Iran's national team and will continue his job. He has a contract until the end of the 2023 Asian Cup.”

Carlos Queiroz, former Iran national team head coach, was among the candidates to replace Skocic.

However, the Portuguese coach has serious critics both among Iranian football experts and fans. The differences and tensions in the last years of his eight-year tenure as a former coach of Iran caused him to lose his popularity to a large extent among Iranian football fans.

The technical committee disagreed with the idea of appointing Queiroz or any foreign coach and announced if Skocic was fired, the National Team should be led by an Iranian coach in the World Cup.

Local coaches such as Ali Daei, Javad Nekounam, and Amir Ghalenoi had been shortlisted to lead Iran in its sixth World Cup appearance.

With Skocic now remaining in the job, the federation issued a statement appealing for unity.

The FFIRI also warned that from now on, it would deal with any indiscipline and behavior that creates divisions and differences in the national team in accordance with the rules and regulations.