Ali Kafashian, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, has refuted reports which claimed that Pele was about to visit Iran.

The fact that the football legend was due to visit Iran made headlines in all of Tehran's many sports newspapers.

Last week, Hadi Ayatollahi, a member of the IFF, was quoted in the Iranian media saying that: "an agreement in this respect (Pele's visit) was signed after a meeting between Brazilian ambassador to Tehran and members of Iran's Football Federation." Kafashian, elected to the chief position of the IFF earlier this year, was quick to pour cold water on the reports.

"I discussed the issue with Ayatollahi and he told me that he has never said that Pele is going to pay a visit to Iran," Kafashian told ISNA.

"In a meeting with the Brazilian ambassador to Tehran, he simply called for expansion of football ties between Iran and Brazil."