According to Tasnim news agency, Aref Gholami said after Esteghlal advanced to the final of the elimination cup: Thank God, we played a good game and we deserved to win and we reached the final. God willing, we will reach the desired result in the final as well.
He stated about the financial situation of Esteghlal: Our situation has passed from discomfort and ruin. We have heard that a contract has been signed with a sponsor, but we have not seen anything new. If I want to talk, it will be the same repeated words that we have been saying for the past seven months. I don’t think anything happened.
The defender of Esteghlal football team continued: I have received 50% of my contract. I sold my car a long time ago. Not me, but all the kids. Several of the children had so many problems, they had trouble sleeping last night, which is due to stress and many problems. They have promised 10 times, but nothing has happened. In my opinion, copy and play the same previous conversations.
Gholami said about the possibility of holding a derby in the final of the Turkish Cup: “Nothing has been written and is not known in football.” Last year, we were in the semi-finals with Nasaji, but we were faced with refereeing problems and could not advance. God willing, there will be no refereeing mistakes in the final this time.
He mentioned about Esteghlal’s chances of winning the FA Cup: The efforts of the children and many other issues are influential, which are not football related.
Gholami said about the choice of a foreign referee for the probable derby referee in the final: “Friends don’t like for the players what they like for themselves.” The quota of foreign players has been increased to seven in order to improve the quality of the league, but the quality of referees is not important. This is despite the fact that they themselves admitted to the problems of arbitration.
In the end, he noted: Art wanted a club with 78 years of history to be plagued by these events, and we, its players, to come to this day and want to raise these conversations about a club that was founded 78 years ago. A club with assets that are all gone.