Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives a lecture on football at a previous team meeting. (World Cup Blog)
The Iranian Football Federation sent Israel greetings on the New Year this week.
Planet Iran reported this news from Al-Arabiya:
The Iranian Football Federation accidentally sent a New Year’s greeting to its Israeli counterpart, which responded wishing “all of the good people in Iran a happy new year,” Israeli media reported late on Thursday.
Mohammad Ali Ardebili, head of Iranian football union’s foreign relations, told Israel’s Army Radio he sent the letter to all football unions around the world but he did not intend to send it to the Israel Football Association.
Ardebili sent the greeting letter by email and the Army Radio managed to reach him for comment by phone.
“This is a greeting sent to the entire word,” he said, then he inquired quickly, “Are you speaking from Israel? I can’t speak to you. This is a mistake, this is a mistake.”
The Israeli Football Association (IFA) received the letter with surprise but did not hesitate to send a response, the union’s spokesman Gil Lebanony told the radio station.