Iran basketball federation weighing up candidates: official

TEHRAN – It has been more than two months since Iran’s last game in the FIBA 2025 Asia Cup Qualifiers, and the national team still don’t have a new head coach.

The Iran Basketball Federation decided not to renew the contract of the team’s previous coach, Hakan Demir, and is now looking for a replacement.

Last month, the technical committee of the federation held a five-hour meeting to discuss potential candidates for the men’s national team. Four Iranian and five foreign candidates were presented and reviewed, and ultimately two foreign and two Iranian coaches were selected for further negotiations.

The two foreign candidates are 43-year-old Marco Ramondino from Italy and 51-year-old Radovan Trifunović from Slovenia. The names of the two Iranian coaches will be also announced after the end of the Iranian Basketball Super League due to the sensitivity of the competition.

“After reviewing all the conditions, the technical committee will make the final decision,” said Iran basketball federation president Javad Davari in an exclusive interview with Tehran Times. “No individual decision will be made in the selection of the new national team coach and everything will be decided by the technical committee,” he added.

It has been rumored that Iranian coaches have a better chance than foreign coaches of leading the national team.

“This is not true,” Davari responded. “The criteria of the technical committee are the performance and track record of the coaches, and being Iranian or foreign is not a priority.”

“Among the foreign coaches, Radovan has a better chance, and the technical committee may have a meeting with him in Switzerland in the near future,” he continued.

When asked about the Iranian coaches who are candidates for Team Melli hot seat, Davari said: “As previously announced, the names of the Iranian candidates will be announced after the final match of the Iran Basketball League. However, the coaches who have been selected are among the best and definitely have the merit and ability to lead the national team at the highest level.”

“The basketball federation carefully follows its programs for all national teams and supports all men’s and women’s national teams. Of course, the Iranian men’s national team are of great importance, and therefore the selection of the coach of this team is being pursued with great care and attention in the technical committee,” Davari concluded.

Iran are currently at the top of Group E of the Asia Cup qualifiers after two games, ahead of Kazakhstan, Qatar and India. Team Melli will host Kazakhstan on Nov. 22 and travel to Qatar three days later.