In an interview with the sports reporter of Tasnim news agency, Farzad Hafezi said about the 3-1 defeat of Naft Masjid Sulaiman against Esteghlal: We had very good technical quality and could have scored against Esteghlal. Esteghlal is a very good team, but the pressure we put on this team was unprecedented. Regardless of the goals we conceded, we had a great day and if the referee had given us a penalty, the course of the game would have changed.
Criticizing refereeing mistakes, he said: referees should be more careful and not have anything to do with the names and ranks of the teams. In recent weeks, we lost due to refereeing errors. The referees are not to blame and as our player makes a mistake, the referees make mistakes.
The manager of Naft Masjid Suleiman team, Reza Enayati, said about the difficult task of the students to survive in the Premier League: Our technical conditions have become better than in the past and I am sure it will be even better. We will overcome this challenge and Naft Masjid Suleiman will remain in the Premier League. There are still 33 points left until the end of the season and we are not desperate for survival.
Hafizi clarified about Naft MIS midfielder Amirhossein Karimi’s words about a leader entering the team’s locker room and threatening Naft players: I was present in the locker room and nothing special happened. No one entered the dressing room and there were a few people saying don’t be tired. Everything was in the family. Karimi must have been upset and should not have said such a thing. There were a thousand people in the corridor and they were saying things that I don’t know if they were our supporters or Esteghlal.
Stating that the security chief of Naft Club locked the doors of the team’s dressing room, he told Tasnim: A leader comes to the stadium to encourage the team and does not enter the dressing room. In this match, we did not have a single spectator who was a leader, and I strongly deny the presence of a leader in the dressing room. To enter the dressing room of Azadi Stadium, you have to go through three or four halls. This stadium is guarded and they don’t allow anyone to easily pass through the stadium tunnel!
Masjid Sulaiman, head of Naft, said about the strength of the leaders in this team and their frequent marginalization: I was a member of the Naft team’s technical staff for several years, and there has never been anything like this. There are mischiefs that will sideline the team on the eve of the game with the oil industry. The players are training with full preparation so that we can get a good result against Sanat Naft and face Persepolis with a full ball. The CEO of the club has a meeting with the representative of Masjid Suleiman in the parliament to pay part of the contract of the team members until the meeting with the oil industry.