Report of Activities Oral History of Iran Sports Department

National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Prepared by: Oral History of Iran Sports Department December 2020

National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran Oral History 4 of Iran Sport The importance and necessity of the oral history of Iran sport

Given the lack of a mechanism in sport and the Olympic movement of Iran to register, maintain and use the legacy, achievements, honors, 5 records and … of key sports figures and considering that a great number of memories of those involved in Iran sport are on the verge of oblivion and various affairs related to sports history in both levels of staff and officials are being faded from memories, the NOC President, Dr. Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri proposed the formation of a policy-making council for the oral history of Iran sport to draw up strategies, and identify matters concerned, conduct research, compile information, interview individuals and broadcast programs, write and register achievements as such under the title “The Oral History of Sport Project” in May 2018 in the presence of a few figures expert in sport, history and media. The policy-making council of the oral history of Iran sport, whose executive activities were commenced upon its inauguration, is com- posed of a president, a vice president, secretary and 12 members. Members of the Policy-making Council of the Oral History of Iran Sport

Dr. Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, President

Mrs. Tahereh Taherian, Member Oral History Dr. Abdulhamid Ahmadi, 6 of Iran Sport Member

Dr. Nasrollah Sajjadi, Member

Dr. Reza Gharakhanlou, Vice President

Mr. Mohammad Tabe Member Dr. Gholamhosein Shabani, Member

Dr. Gholamreza Azizi, Member

Dr. Habibullah Esmaeili, Member 7

Mr. Hosein Sebti, Member

Mrs. Mahmoud Abdollahi, Member

Mrs. Shahrzad Kordbacheh, Secretary Oral History of Iran Sport Oral History of Iran Sports Department 8 Establishment of the Oral History of Iran Sports Depart- ment in 2018

- Appointment of the director of the oral history of Iran sports department - Formation of the Secretariat for the policy-making council of the oral history of Iran sport Meetings: 18 official meetings of the policy-making council of the oral history of Iran sport

- Explaining the new policies based on the decisions made by the research working group - Endorsing 132 executive approvals - Final endorsement of the approved plans in the working group of the policy-making council of the oral history of Iran sport

22 meetings of the research working group of the policy-making council of the oral history of Iran sport 9 - Exchanging views, planning, and making decisions for the department’s activities - Endorsing 82 executive approvals - Determining priorities for implementation of the research plans - Studying, amending, approving or rejecting the research plans of oral history of Iran sport - Endorsing 13 research plans of the oral history of Iran sport - Endorsing executive costs of approved plans - Appointing referees for the plans received by the oral history of Iran sports department - Assigning supervisors and advisors for the approved plans of the research working group - Drawing up and approving the executive guidelines re- quired for the research projects 47 technical meetings of the oral history of Iran sport - Convening consultancy meetings with researchers and presenters of the oral history research plans to improve the plans presented to the department - Convening consultancy meetings with the oral history of Iran sports department visitors to familiarize them with the oral history of Iran sport project - Convening a technical and specialized meeting with the Paralympic committee on Paralympic and disabled sport

4 official meetings of the policy-making council members with directors, sports federations’ presidents, directors of the physical education general offices of the ministry of sport and youth, media members and country’s armed forces 10 - Emphasizing the importance and necessity of the oral history of Iran sport project - Presenting the written and illustrative activity report of the oral history of Iran sport project - Requesting interaction and cooperation from all federations and directors of the physical education general offices of the ministry of sport and youth, media members, country’s armed forces and… for presenting research plans in the realm of the oral history of Iran sport The official meetings of the NOC President with all local and international sports bodies to seek their support and contribution

- Presenting a detailed report on necessity, importance, and role of the oral history of Iran project by the NOC President towards culture-building, identity creation, learning, documentary-making and maintaining and turning the experiences into clear organizational knowledge and its transfer to others. - Presenting a detailed report and seeking support and contribution of international sports bodies, international sports federations, Olympic council of Asia, the association of national Olympic committees and …

Oral History of Iran Sport System

- Setting up the management system of research plans and information architecture - Reinforcing and supporting the oral history system in the NOC website in English and Farsi 11 - Cooperating, interacting and producing content for the Olympic Channel - Covering the news of activities carried out in the department; preparing pictures and films and doing other affairs related to communications in the NOC website and other virtual spaces - Interacting, and cooperating with the NOC IT department to hold 17 specialized and technical meetings for the information architecture Educational Activities Organizing the Oral History Specialized Forum, February 2019 in the National Olympic and Paralympic Academy

- Presenting a detailed report on the formation of the policy-making council and activities done for organizing the workshops and holding meetings of research working groups as well as providing support and contribution to sports bodies, federations and other organs and international sports bodies - Presenting a video report for the forum participants - Giving a lecture on the necessity of the oral history of Iran sport and the impact of this project in the youth self-belief to build the Oral History future and an important platform for culture-building, identity-cre- 12 of ation and learning. Iran Sport - Giving a lecture on important experiences of the country’s senior sports directors, documentary-making and maintaining these experiences and turning them into clear organizational knowledge Organizing 2 Oral History of Iran Sport Educational Workshops - Organizing 2 educational workshops in three levels of elementary, intermediate and advanced to train researcher and assistant researchers and promote the researchers’ knowledge about Iran sports history. 13 The workshops were held under the management of the secretary of policy-making council of oral history of Iran sport with participation of a total number of 47 people from the ministry of sport and youth, national Olympic and Paralympic committees, the ministry of science, research and technology, media members, official news agencies, Is- lamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the ministry of education, and armed forces at master and PhD. levels to whom certificates were awarded at the end of these events.

1-The first oral history of Iran sport workshop in 2018 2-The second oral history of Iran sport workshop in 2018 (for media members) Cooperation Cooperation with a parent company

- Interacting, and cooperating with the legal department and contracts’ affairs: Conclusion of contracts - Interacting and cooperating with the IOC Olympic Solidarity department - Interacting and cooperating with the NOC international relations department 1-Communicating with international sports bodies 2-Sending minimal documentaries and oral history of Iran clip of activities to international bodies to introduce Olympians of Iran sport and develop the culture of chivalry with an eye to the Olympic values worldwide - Interacting and cooperating with the public relations department 1-News release and communication 2-Drawing up standard patterns for recording and filming the oral history of Iran sport projects - Interacting and cooperating with the IT department: oral history of Iran sport system 14 - Interacting and cooperating with the finance, administrative and logis- tics departments: finance and ongoing affairs - Interacting and cooperating with the national, Olympic and Paralym- pic sports museum 1-Focusing on research and education 2-Using oral history interviews and recognizing the history of sport in Iran 3-Compiling documents and works of the history of sport in Iran 4-Reproducing the culture of chivalry and sports ethics 5-Sharing knowledge of sport between veterans and the young generation 6-Presenting a live illustration of Iran sports history through receiving works and documents and compiling presents or purchasing them to pre- pare content and enrich the museum 7-presenting shorts documentaries, historical pictures and veterans’ mem- orabilia in interviews for displaying in the museum Cooperation with the local bodies

-Interacting and cooperating with the physical education and sports sciences institute on concluding approved research contracts and the affairs concerned 15 1-Organizing 15 specialized meetings with the physical education and sports sciences institute of the ministry of science, research and technology 2-Making necessary coordination to conclude contracts approved in the oral history of Iran sport with the above-mentioned institute 3-Providing a detailed report of approvals and progress processes on a contract of plans concluded with the above-mentioned institute 4-Receiving the works, documents and rushes of gathered interviews re- lating to each project from physical education and sports sciences institute 5-Making necessary coordination for termination of contracts with execu- tors of the plans approved in the council 6-Providing a detailed report and extending the contracts based on approvals of the oral history of Iran with the above-mentioned institute

- Interacting and cooperating with the National Library and Ar- chives of Iran on concluding the approved research contracts and the relevant affairs

1-Holding 5 specialized meetings with the National Library and Archives of Iran 2-Making necessary coordination to conclude the approved plans Oral in the oral history of Iran council with the National Library and History Archives of Iran of 3-Providing a detailed report of approvals and progress processes Iran Sport on contract of plans concluded 4-Receiving the works, documents and rushes of the interviews re- lating to each project from the above-mentioned sports organiza- 16 tion - Interacting and cooperating with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)

Holding 7 specialized meetings with IRIB

- Interacting and cooperating with the documentary network - Interacting and cooperating with the sports network - Interacting and cooperating with the sports radio Contact with the international bodies such as the Olympic Coun- cil of Asia (OCA), International Olympic Committee (IOC), Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and …

The contact with the international bodies has been established to rec- ognize the Olympians of Iran sport and develop the culture of chivalry with an eye to the Olympic values in the world. Registering and maintaining the history, records, honors, perfor- mances, influential people and their stakeholders in the country, not only shed light on the NOC present path and all sports bodies and their stakeholders, but also leave a remarkable effect on educating, promoting, and recognizing the Olympic values and culture of chivalry and sport locally and abroad. Moreover, patterns and models could be made available from such achievements for the future generation of Iran sport and honorable individuals of the country in sport and the Olympic Movement could always be regarded as role models through their physical presence in various events or through registering and 17 maintaining their performance and accomplishments and making them available in different situations for the youth, athletes, sports directors and sports stakeholders on the whole. This objective, however, will not be attained unless such achievements are firstly introduced and then recognized to the world over. It was with this consideration in mind that the oral history of Iran sport department sent a compre- hensive report on necessity and importance of the project “Drawing up the oral history of Iran” to the international Olympic committee (IOC), the international repercussion of which has brought abought cooperation and support for this project. -Preparing the proposal of “The data bank of Iran sports history photos (Abolghasem Farsi Archive Collection) and sending the same to the IOC Cultural Activities - Carrying out cultural, and historical activities in line with education and the objectives of the Olympic values and paying attention to culture and education of athletes, coaches, university students and other walks of life and explaining “The importance and necessity of the oral history of Iran project” within the framework of various visits - Drawing up and publishing the oral history of Iran brochure in Farsi and English and forwarding the same to all the relevant bodies - Publishing scientific articles on the oral history of Iran sport - Drawing up and publishing the oral history of Iran book of executive guidelines (ongoing) Oral History 18 of Iran Sport The Oral History of Iran Sport Projects 2018-2020

As oral history can be performed within an extensive range of activities on various areas, the implementation of projects was outsourced to expert groups and individuals. - The projects presented to the oral history of Iran department came to 57 topics - The number of projects not accepted came to 26 - The number of accepted projects came to 13

Topics of the approved projects 1-Iran Football Oral History (1921-1978); Researcher, Dr. Habibullah Esmaeili This research intends to draw up the history of this sport from the view of effects and impacts from political, urban and ethnic discourses in Iran 19 and through this approach describes the establishment procedure and performance of modern sports bodies, clubs and physical spaces, the formation process of activists’ character and their performance. These people include players, coaches, media members and spectator’s culture and sports events held in Iran since the beginning of football until 1978 as well as the role of this sport in the formation and development identity of various urban centers. 2-Oral History of Women Sports Developments in Iran; Research- er, Dr. Gholamreza Azizi This research deals with the Oral History of Women Sports Federation of Islamic Countries and tries to come up with a sports, cultural, social and political image from formation, development, activity and closure of this federation. This research does not merely elaborate on the role and function of Women Sports Federation of Islamic countries and make every effort to study and do research on a given period of women sports in Iran following the Islamic revolution through looking into the activities of this federation. 20 3-Oral History of Iran Wrestling; Researcher, Dr. Hosein Sebti This research is representing and reproducing the culture of heroism and chivalry in the Oral History of Iran Wrestling. The other part of this project is related to Gholamreza Takhti whose name doubtless is shining as one of the heroes in the history of Iran sport. 4-Oral history of Iran sports press; Researcher, Mr. Ebrahim Afshar This project tries to illustrate the dark points of Iran sports press history including newspapers, magazines and the people involved.

5-Oral history of Tehran complexes and sports venues; Researcher, Ms. Nazanin Rabieh in cooperation with Mehdi Haddadpour Lack of references and resources for the exact and scientific recognition of the history of sports venues and Tehran stadia owing to being unaware on its importance in recognition of society as well as informative and historical classification in this area and the relevant mistakes which have turned into a historical forgery due to numerous repetitions are of great concern. 21 The historical record, registration and preparation of the relevant resources are justified and necessary due to reasons raised above.

6-Oral history of disabled sport and Paralympic movement in Iran; Researcher, Dr. Fariba Mohammadi The national Paralympic committee of Iran was established following the victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a few famous individuals have always volunteered in development and promotion of disabled sport in the country, the people who are now filled with invaluable experiences. Dialogues with such people within the framework of the oral history turn their experiences into objective state and applied science from a mental state. 7-Oral history of physical education organization and the ministry of sport and youth; Researcher, Dr. Habib Honari This research attempts to provide an illustration of formation, changes, development and activities of the physical education organization and the ministry of sport and youth. It is to be mentioned that this research will not neglect the impact of this sports body on sports status in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution of Iran. 8-Oral history of Iran National Olympic Committee (NOC); Re- searcher, The National Archives and Library of Iran This research deals with the oral history of Iran national Olympic committee and tries to provide an administrative, cultural, and political illus- Oral tration of formation, development and activities of this sports body. This History research, however, does not solely come up with the role and function of of Iran NOC and seeks to study the impact of this sports body on sport of the Iran Sport country before and after the Islamic Revolution of Iran in a given period of time. 22 9-The oral history of Tehran Asian Games in the 1974; Researcher, Dr. Asghar Rahimi The youth generation must be familiarized with various aspects of the 1974 Asian Games held in Tehran given a lapse of nearly 50 years since hosting this sports event.

10-Drawing up the oral history of Iran students’ sport; Researcher, Dr.Hossein Akbari Yazdi In this research, while the researchers prepared a chronicle on important events of students’ sport, explained and analyzed the students’ achievements ever since its emergence until today, they also elaborated on the development trend of this sport and its relations with other sports, educational, university bodies at national and international levels. This research also studies the brief history of plans, programs, rules and regulations, organizational structure, human resources and credits of students’ sport. 11-A review of oral history of Iran volleyball with an emphasis on ever-increasing growth of Iran volleyball after the Islamic revolution; Researcher, Pejman Nejatpoor This research deals exclusively with the history of Iran volleyball rapid progress in the international scenes with an emphasis on participation in the Olympic Games and Asian Games. 12-A glance at Iran basketball over the past century using the experiences of influential individuals of this sport; Researcher, Reza Nik- ghadam Manesh This research probes into the development era of basketball in Iran by refer- ring to influential individuals and can be used as a reference in the future. 13-Oral history of Iran football (1978-2020); Researcher, Ms. Shadi Marefati This research intends to draw up the history of this sport from the view of effects and impacts by political, urban and ethnic discourses in Iran and describes the football developments after the revolution, and performance 23 of modern sports bodies, clubs and physical spaces, the formation of activists’ character and their performance. These people include players, coaches, media members and spectator’s culture and sports events held as well as the role of this sport in the formation process of political, social, and identity developments following the Islamic revolution. 14-Presenting the data bank project of Iran sports history photos (Abolghasem Farsi archive collection) to IOC This project was sent to the education and research department of the Olympic Solidarity in order to receive IOC support and cooperation. This project is a 60-year old collection of pictures from the camera aperture of Seyed Abulghasem Farsi, one of the pioneers in the field of sports photos who had actively attended in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, world championship and all local events. Abolghasem Farsi dealt with recording the activities of athletes, coaches, and sports officials of the country. This archive can be used as a great and valid resource in the history of country’s sport and its reflection abroad. It is the illustrative history of Iran sport. Results of the Oral History of Iran Projects Written works - Drawing up, and publishing the book of executive guidelines of the oral history of Iran sport (ongoing) - Drawing up 50 books in the field of wrestling oral history and sports press (ongoing)

Audio Visual works - Interviewing with 240 lasting and influential figures in the country’s sport, Olympians, athletes, coaches, referees, directors and...including women and men in sports domain and… - Recording and filming 800 sessions of interviews with veterans, Olympi- ans, athletes, coaches, referees, directors and ...women and men in sports domain through observing determined standards to produce television documentaries and movies - Drawing up the technical protocol of recording and filming the interviews - Producing two clips, introducing the policy-making activities of the oral 24 history of Iran sport in Farsi and English - Producing 12 short documentaries, introducing the veterans and Olym- pians of Iran sport in Farsi and English 1-Producing the minimal documentary of Ali Akbar Heidari, wrestling veteran 2-Producing the minimal documentary of Mohammad Mehdi Yaghobi, wrestling veteran 3-Producing the minimal documentary of Mohamad Ebrahim Seifpour, wrestling veteran 4-Producing the minimal documentary of Imam Ali Habibi, wrestling veteran 5-Producing the minimal documentary of Abdullah Movahed, wrestling veteran 6-Producing the minimal documentary of Ebrahim Javadi, wrestling veteran 7-Producing the minimal documentary of Rahim Ali Abadi, wrestling veteran 8-Producing the minimal documentary of Kiomars Abulmaleki, wrestling veteran 9-Producing the minimal documentary of Gholamreza Takhti, wrestling veteran 10-Producing the minimal documentary of Mahmoud Molla Ghasemi, wrestling veteran 11-Producing the minimal documentary of Mohamad Khadem Haghighat, wrestling veteran 25 12-Producing the minimal documentary of Ali Mirzaei, weightlifting veteran Other activities

- Preparing the agenda and minutes of the meetings and research working groups and pursuing and notifying the relevant approvals and preparing the local and international news - Designing the official logo of the oral history of Iran sport department - Designing the administrative papers of the oral history of Iran sport department - Designing the volume of oral history books as to printing and publishing affairs - Preparing, and forwarding communications and pursuing the matters concerned - Preparing presents for the interviewees in projects - Preparing the working calendar of the oral history of Iran sport department - Making coordination for all meetings including the research specialized sessions - Preparing, saving and processing the archives of files and - re 26 ceived reports - Saving and processing of the archive information such as documents, films, voice, film and…….. - Making coordination for the meetings of the research specialized working groups - Making coordination for the interview sessions, recording, filming of various projects of the oral history of Iran sport - Compiling pictures, documents and other items donated by the champions - Compiling objects, medals and presents donated by the champions

Oral History of Iran Sport