Iran

Iran is a country in Western Asia. Tehran is the capital and largest city.
==Overview==
===National Teams===
===Competitions===
Competition 	Founded	Folded	Notes
Iranian Championship 	2019 	- 	National championship
Iranian Women's Championship	2021 	- 	National women's championship
==History of hockey in Iran==
Back in the 1970s, ice hockey was played as a recreational sport by the general public at "Ice Palace" (Persian: قصر یخ) which was located in Pahlavi Street before Vanak Square,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJXmgbAeU0 there was also another ice rink located in Aryamehr Sport Complex which was only used for ice skating. As a result of Iranian Revolution, ice hockey and ice skating became banned, hence ice rinks got closed down.
There are currently three ice rinks which are Aramis Sports Complex (Tehran),http://www.sportaramis.com/%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B2%D8%B4%DB%8C/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%A7%DA%98.html Damoon Shopping Center (Kish Island)http://www.damoonicerink.com/ and Padide Shandiz Shopping Center (Mashhad),http://تورکیش-تورمشهد.com/mashhad-tour/pist-eskeit-ru-yakh-padide-shandiz-mashhad/http://www.boxnewsbox.com/opening-ceremony-for-the-first-ice-skating-center-in-mashhad/ which were respectively opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015. There is a standard Ice Rink underconstruction in Tehran.http://www.eurohockey.com/article/4219-warning-to-the-world-iran-hockey-is-coming.html
Officials from the Turkish Ice Hockey Federation gauged Iran's interest in joining the proposed Caucasus Ice Hockey League in 2011.Caucasus Ice Hockey League getting set for puck drop
In July 2015 Taylan Aytac from Turkey,http://varzeshzanan.blogfa.com/post/38http://www.eurohockey.com/player/575962-taylan-ayta.html together with Iranian trainee-instructors Pooya Ghandali and Saman Goodarzi,http://sepantaskate.rzb.ir/post/27 taught in Iran's first Ice Hockey workshop which was held in Aramis Sports Complex in Tehran.
On October 1, 2016, the first ice hockey match was played between two Iranian teams in a friendly in Padide Ice Rink in Mashhad, Padide defeated Khorasan Razavi 5-4.. The inaugural Iranian Championship was held in 2019. The Icebox Knights won the title.
From 26 to 28 June 2016 Iran's first national team camp was held in Asiago, Italy which was headed by Christian Muller in the absence of head coach Kaveh Sedghi. In order to fast track the creation of a national team, the coaching staff decided that it would be best to include the entire Iran men's national inline hockey team powered by hockey players of Iranian-origin from abroad.https://www.instagram.com/p/BD7_cJYPJ02/
The second national team camp held in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 20–27 August 2016, headed by Saman Goodarzi. Head coach Kaveh Sedghi and his assistants Christian Muller and Ramin Atighechi were unable to attend the camp. As part of the camp Iran team has been attending courses by Kazakh instructor Sergei Shavernev.https://www.instagram.com/p/BJW14J4j3QJ/?taken-by=iranhockey Two further camps were held in December 2016 in Dubai and January 2017 in Tehran.
On August 23, 2016, the Iranian National Team played its first international against Kazakh team HC Almaty winning 5-4 in Almaty. Iran was to participate at the 2017 Asian Winter Games, but was disqualified after a number of Iranian players were deemed ineligible to compete in the regional games. Reported concerns leading to the disqualification includes some players failing to reside in Iran for at least three years despite having Iranian heritage, and claims of some players having represented other countries. The games was supposed to be the team's first tournament. They still competed, but the games they played were not counted in the standings.
==References==
Category:Countries