Al-Monitor | Rohollah Faghihi: Adel Ferdosipour, one of Iran's most popular sports hosts, has flexed his muscles against Iran's hard-liner-controlled state TV by launching a new show on the internet.

Ferdosipour, chosen as one of �the 20 most powerful people in Iran� by Newsweek in 2009, had been a permanent fixture on Iran�s state TV for two decades. Twenty years ago, he kicked off his career with a soccer show called �Navad� ("90," in reference to the length of a soccer match) on state TV�s Channel 3. Armed with a creaky voice, a mop of curly hair and a wicked sense of humor, he relentlessly questioned the Iranian soccer clubs� managers, focusing on the longtime troubles and corruption scandals surrounding Iran�s soccer. Ferdosipour gradually turned into the most popular host with big enemies but mass appeal with the viewers. According to a survey conducted by ISPA, a polling institute affiliated with the semi-official ISNA news agency, in 2019, 51% of Iranians watched �Navad."

Despite his popularity, his acid tongue � which targeted social and political issues as well as soccer � earned him the ire of the country�s hard-liners. His special �soccer interview� with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was stopped from being aired by the channel�s new hard-line management. Though the popularity of his Monday show made him impossible to fire, particularly in the last two years as the hard-liners successfully tightened their grip on state TV, his job was made more difficult.

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