Tabatabaei elected president of Iran Blind Sports Federation

TEHRAN – Hassan Tabatabaei has been elected as the new president of the Iran Blind and Visually Impaired Sports Federation, securing a four-year mandate after a two-round voting process at the federation’s electoral assembly on Monday.

A total of 15 candidates initially registered for the election, but six withdrew before the start of the assembly. As a result, nine candidates officially entered the race and presented their programs to the voting members.

The first round of voting failed to produce an outright winner. Aliasghar Hassanzadeh led the opening ballot with 15 votes, closely followed by Tabatabaei on 14. Hamed Afrasiabi received eight votes, Vahid Ansari collected six, while Jalal Karami and Sadegh Mirei each earned two votes.

With no candidate securing the required majority, the election proceeded to a runoff between the top two contenders.

In the decisive second round, Tabatabaei overturned the first-round deficit to claim victory with 28 votes, defeating Hassanzadeh, who received 20 votes.

Tabatabaei succeeds Mohammadreza Mazloumi, whose third consecutive term as federation president concluded in February this year. Mazloumi oversaw one of the most successful periods in the federation’s history, with Iranian athletes producing strong performances in international blind and visually impaired sports, particularly at the Paralympic and world championship levels.

The newly elected president brings considerable experience in Iranian sports administration, having previously served as president of the Iran Karate Federation.

Tabatabaei now faces the task of building on the federation’s recent achievements while preparing Iran’s blind and visually impaired athletes for upcoming regional, continental and international competitions, including the next Paralympic.