National Team Coach: Nahid Kiani Will Come Out of Slump / The Story Behind the Removal of a Prominent Taekwondo Referee by Saei

The national taekwondo team coach says that, contrary to some controversies, Iranian taekwondo is on a successful path.

According to "Verzeh Se", the national taekwondo team is going through stressful months. In their latest experience, they went to Paris and by participating in the third Grand Prix in 2026, they were able to win two gold medals and rank higher than all the countries present in the tournament. Although the path of the Iranian representatives was such that it was possible to increase the number of medals, but some events such as all-Iranian confrontations prevented this from happening. It goes without saying that the elimination of Nahid Kiani was one of the bitter moments for the Iranian caravan in this Grand Prix.

All these events happened in a situation where after the taekwondo players finished their work in Nagoya and before they were sent to Paris, news about the cancellation of the elections of this federation was raised. Although the Minister of Sports said that there is nothing to worry about, but the sidelines of this news were one of the most controversial issues in the attention of sports people.

To better examine the performance of the national taekwondo team in the last two prestigious tournaments, our reporter went to Masoud Hajizavareh, the former captain and current coach of the national team, and had a conversation with him, in which the words of this taekwondo expert began as follows:

"For the recent results, I must congratulate the Taekwondo family and Hadi Sai, the head of the federation. I don't want to enter his record. His management in technical and operational matters is quite clear. In fact, what is obvious is what needs to be said. This managerial stability shows its effects in the results.

Regarding the performance of the Iranian taekwondo team in the Nagoya Asian Games, he said:

"Winning gold in four Olympic weights, in the men's and women's divisions, is a great honor. We did not have any gold medals in the previous Asian Games. Besides, by reducing the weights from 5 to 4 weights, winning these medals shows the improvement of the technical level. Especially in the women's section, for the first time in the history of this field, we saw a gold medal. This honor is a great strength for taekwondo in the country."

Hajizavareh was asked why winning two golds in the Paris Grand Prix was called a "great honor", he said:

"In this grand prix period, all the countries that own the style were present and we won two gold medals out of four Olympic weights. Winning two golds out of four weights shows the leap of our technical level. Even in direct competition with Brazil, who are very strong, we had only one loss. Of course, Amirsina Bakhtiari's loss to the Brazilian opponent was also a lesson; An opponent who is the world champion. Besides, Amirsina went from 5 to 6 in weight; These are issues to consider and this assessment shows that Taekwondo has taken a successful path."

The elimination of some taekwondo stars in Nagoya was the next question. First, there was a question about Zandi, who had an early elimination in Nagoya, but was able to win gold in France. Haji Zawarah explained about this:

"Regarding the results of Nagoya, I have to say something that maybe few people know about; The story of the loss of Abolfazl Zandi as the first rank in the world against the Kazakh opponent was a pure injustice. The Uzbek referee denied Zandi at least 6 definite points. That mistake of the Uzbek referee was completely intentional. If it wasn't for Hadi Sa'i's strong protest, that referee would have judged the matches until the last day, but his follow-up made him to be removed from judging. The power of influence and the position of Hadi Sai as the most honored Olympic athlete of Iran among the members of the organizing and judging committee of Asia is the main strength of our federation, which makes it possible to defend the rights of our taekwondo athletes.

He was also asked the reason for Nahid Kiani's failure in these two tournaments and he said:

"Yes, I agree that Nahid Kiani was unbelievably eliminated both in Nagoya and in the Grand Prix, but the technical reason is clear; He has been in the heavy championship course for a long time and has experienced a period of decline. "This issue can be completely compensated and by giving him time and the support of the technical staff, I have no doubt that Nahid Kiani will return to his peak days."

"Despite all the stone-throwing that some friends do, we have achieved all possible honors during Mr. Sai's tenure. Of course, we should not neglect the efforts of the technical staff; Payam Khanlarkhani has many honors and Mehrooz Saee has also been able to revolutionize women's taekwondo, an example of which is winning the World Championships and the participation of two female taekwondo players in the Grand Prix Finals. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about at the Los Angeles Olympics."

In the end, Masoud Hajizavare had a short reaction to the recent scandals surrounding the cancellation of the election of the Taekwondo Federation and said very briefly:

"I don't want to get into the complaint game right now, but be sure to reflect that I have a lot to say to the loved ones who pursued their personal interests and started complaining, and I will take action to expose them at the right time. For now, our priority is the national team's path to success."