The phenomenon of buying and selling sports clubs and changing the name of clubs after the transfer of their ownership, especially football clubs, has grown increasingly in recent years; But this is not unprecedented in Iranian football and has been prevalent in recent years. For the first time in 1366, an advertisement was published in one of the sports publications, which was new to everyone. In this advertisement it was stated: “Kian club will start its activity with the new name of Pura on 22 Bahman 66.” According to this ad, the rooted Kian team (with the presence of prominent footballers such as Parviz Qalich Khani, Ali Parveen, Amir Haj Rezaei, Faramarz Zoli, Behrouz Soltani, etc.) changed its name to Pura after transferring its ownership to Abdullah Sofiani. Called. This happened in the following years with the transfer of teams such as Ekbatan, Meat Organization, etc.
The phenomenon of buying and selling football teams, in the early years of its popularity, was limited to buying and selling football teams in the first and lower categories. Generally, the buyers would buy the points of these first division teams and change their names after transferring it to their city. For example, Esteghlal Rasht team was transferred to another person and sold after it was relegated to the first division, and then it was called Pegah.
After a few years, Premier League teams were also exposed to sales. Its historical example was the sale and handing over of the franchise of the proud and well-established Pas Tehran team with a history of forty-four years and a history of championships in Asia in 1986. The senior managers of this team left this team to Hamedan due to their lack of interest in continuing to work in the football field. This assignment was the beginning of the decline of the brilliant performance of this club.
Are the new owners able to change the name of the clubs after the transfer of ownership?
It was on the 18th of January 1969 that the Islamic Council passed a law entitled “The Law of Allowing the Establishment of Sports Clubs and Stadiums by the People under Government Supervision”. The single article of this law states: “According to this law, Iran’s Physical Education Organization is allowed to issue a license to establish a gym and an activity license for sports clubs to qualified applicants and provide them with the following facilities if necessary.
1- The physical education organization can lease the land it owns to the people under the same article for the purpose of establishing a gym, in coordination with the relevant authorities.
2- Lands that are determined by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Lands Organization to be used for sports are provided to the Physical Education Organization. If the land does not belong to the government and the said organization is not able to acquire it, natural or legal persons who have the permission to establish a stadium or activity license for the club can acquire the said land with the consent of the physical training organization and obtaining the consent of the owner.
3- Note 3 of this article refers to the necessary conditions for the applicants to establish a sports club (buyers of its concessions) and stipulates: “The applicants for the establishment of a sports club must be religious and believe in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Constitution and have no political history. be religious and moral”.
Necessary conditions to obtain a name change permit
The requirements for obtaining a license to change the name of the purchased club are not limited to the above note. Note 4 of the above law specifies the necessity of approving the executive regulations of the said law.
On January 15, 2019, the executive regulations of the above law, with the proposal of the Physical Education Organization, were approved by the Council of Ministers. Article 3 of this regulation is about the necessary conditions for the applicants for the establishment of sports clubs (buyers of its concessions), which must meet conditions such as following the religion of Islam or one of the official religions of Iran, believing in the Islamic Republic and the Constitution of Iran, not having a bad record in affairs It refers to political, religious, moral and effective convictions, having the ability to provide the necessary space and facilities in accordance with the relevant sports field, technical standards and necessary equipment and tools for sports activities and having noble ownership of a property where club activities are prescribed. slow
Anyone who is applying for the establishment of a sports club or buying its franchise is required to submit his application along with the relevant documents and complete the application form to the General Department of Physical Education of the relevant province and receive a receipt (Comment on Article 3).
These documents will be reviewed by the general departments of physical education of the provinces within two weeks from the date of submission of the request, and a detailed report of the applicant’s request and the characteristics of the property and its facilities will be submitted to the commission subject to Article 5 of this regulation. to be
The aforementioned commission, which consists of the deputy legal and parliamentary affairs (head of the board), the general director of legal and parliamentary affairs, the director of the office of evaluation, supervision and inspection, and the general director of the planning office of the physical training organization and two elected heads of the physical training organization, regarding the report presented by the general departments of physical education of the respective province, it will carry out the necessary investigations and if they approve, it will issue the sports club license (its activity under the ownership of the new owner) and this license after the approval of the supervisor of the physical education organization, will be enforced.
Of course, this article was amended in 1981 and according to the regulation “Amendment of Article 5 of the Executive Regulations of the Law on Permitting the Establishment of Sports Clubs and Stadiums by the People under Government Supervision” (approved by the Council of Ministers), a note was added to it.
The above note stipulates: “In line with the basic policy of delegating the authority of the headquarters to the executive units of the institutions, and also in order to speed up the process of affairs, the board subject to this article can transfer all or part of its authority to the departments after the approval of the head of the physical education organization. to delegate the entire physical education of the provinces”.
Article 16 of the regulation clearly mentions the issue of changing the owner of the club and stipulates that in case the club’s property is transferred to another, the re-operation of the club is postponed until the acquisition of a new license, according to the opinion of the physical education organization; In other words, the new owner must have all the conditions that are necessary for the founder of a club (these conditions must also be approved by the same commission as the subject of Article 5).
One of the provisions in clause (c) of the regulation “Regulations related to the Article 5 Clubs Commission” also confirms the above point and points out: the founder does not have the right to transfer the club under any circumstances; Except by submitting a written request and affidavit regarding the cancellation of the establishment, in which case the issued license is invalid and the new applicant must receive the establishment license in his name according to the conditions and standards of the day and during the administrative procedures.
One of the last cases of Changing the name of the clubs after the transfer of ownership can be seen in changing the name of Padideh club to Shahr Khodro. The new owner of this club (Shahr Khodro Iranian Farda Company) requested to change the name of this club to “Shahr Khodro” after buying Padideh team from Padideh Shandiz Group. At the beginning of the 21st league (1401-1400) between Shahr Khodro club managers and Khorasan Razavi football board, there were controversial disputes and football lawsuits regarding the name of this Mashhad club.
According to the fact that the commission of Article 5 related to the club was issued under the name of “Padideh”, the Iranian Football League announced that it recognizes this club under the name of Padideh. After that, Farhad Hamidawi (CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shahr Khodro Company) managed to submit the necessary documents to the relevant authorities in Razavi Khorasan Province with many efforts and consultations. After these measures, the Article 5 Commission convened a meeting and issued the club’s activity license under the name “Shahr Khodro”.
Conclusion:
According to what has been said, it seems that the feasibility process of changing the name of the club in Iran is possible, according to the “Law on Permitting the Establishment of Sports Clubs and Stadiums by the People with the Supervision of the Government” and its Executive Regulations; Therefore, it is mandatory for anyone who intends to change the name of the club he bought to follow these rules.
It should be noted that if a buyer wants to keep the former name of the club he bought, he must agree with the previous owner of the club. If the previous owner allows, the survival of the club name is fine. If the former name of the club remains without the consent of the previous owner, the right to sue and pursue legal action is reserved for the former owner or owners (based on the commercial law) to resolve disputes. In case of such cases, you can trust the specialized clients of Dadista Law Institute in the field of sports.