Reason for scheduling the derby in the middle of the week
Reason for scheduling the derby in the middle of the week
The league organization has announced that the derby between Esteghlal and Persepolis is set to be held on Tuesday, while in recent weeks, league matches have been held on Thursdays and Fridays.
The scheduling of the highly anticipated derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal at an unusual time in the middle of the week has raised many questions. However, Soheil Mehdi, the official in charge of organizing the matches, has cited two main reasons for choosing this date: the transfer window and the mourning period.
In response to why this date was chosen for the derby, he said that because there are martyrdom days after this date, we couldn’t schedule the game for another day. We wanted it to be on Thursday or Friday, but the circumstances didn’t allow for an end-of-week match. On the other hand, we also have to consider the transfer window period. This limitation also exists.
The official in charge of organizing the Premier League matches responded to the concern that holding one of the most critical league matches in the middle of the week would create significant challenges for the fans of both teams. He said that the criticism is valid, but there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s why we chose 5:30 PM as the time since it’s winter, and holding the match later wasn’t possible. We scheduled it so that people could watch it considering their work conditions. However, the match time can be changed with the Security Council’s approval.
Soheil Mehdi, in response to whether the clubs were informed of the January 2nd date beforehand, said that nothing was communicated to the clubs, and the official derby date is the one that has been announced.