Zabih Etemadi, (born 19 September 1982) is an Iranian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

living in the Netherlands. He currently works as a lawyer and sports agent and owns a sports management company. He holds Dutch citizenship and is the older brother of Agil Etemadi.

Biography

Zabih Etemadi was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

(

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

) and grew up in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. His family moved to The Netherlands when he was 10 years old.

Professional football player

On his 15th Etemadi was scouted by

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

. In 2001, he made his debut as a professional football player in the Dutch second division for

Cambuur Leeuwarden SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

, where he played as a back for three years. In 2004, he signed a contract with FC Groningen in the Dutch premier league. Etemadi retired from professional football in 2005 due to a knee injury. From 2005 until 2012 he played for several amateur clubs.

Lawyer

After his retirement Etemadi studied law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. In 2009, he received his master's degree in business law. After working for a commercial law firm for 5 years, Etemadi started his own law firm in Amsterdam in 2015. Together with Floris Havelaar he founded law firm LOYR in 2016. As a lawyer Etemadi specializes in dispute resolution in the field of company and contractual law. He is also a member of a practice group concerned with

sports law "Unprintworthy" redirects are redirect pages on Wikipedia that aid online navigation, but would have little or no value as pointers to target articles in a hard-copy book. The name of a redirect may be unprintworthy for a number of reasons, incl ...

, where he advises and litigates on behalf of national and international clients. He is also a member of the Dutch Association of Sports Law ( Vereniging voor Sport en Recht). In an interview with the alumni magazine of his university, Etemadi stated, "I'm hoping to become ''the'' football lawyer in The Netherlands."

Sports agent

In 2010 Etemadi founded sports management company Soccer Linked Services, where he served as an agent for professional football players. In 2015, he formed a joint venture to formSportLife Management, offering career planning, talent development and legal support for football players, athletes and managers. The football players they have under contract include Johnatan Opoku and Martijn Barto.

Football coach

Etemadi received his UEFA-B coaching degree in 2008. He has coached an under-15 youth team of amateur football club of SC Joure, which was promoted to the 3rd division. In July 2008 he was successful at the

International Children's Games The International Children's Games (ICG) is an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event held every year where children from cities around the world and between the ages of 12 and 15 participate in a variety of sports and cultural activitie ...

in San Francisco.

Football related activities

Zabih Etemadi is a member of the Dutch think tank Voetbal en Recht (football and law), affiliated with the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, which discusses legal issues related to football. He is also a board member of Favela United, a foundation that helps underprivileged children in Brasil and Mozambique through football. He currently plays for the Dutch national lawyers football team. Because of his Iranian background Etemadi is often consulted by football clubs looking for Iranian players. He is also invited by Dutch media to speak about Iranian football.

Club career

*2012–2017

WV-HEDW WV-HEDW, in the long form Wilhelmina Vooruit Hortus Eendracht Doet Winnen, is a football club in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club plays at Sportpark Middenmeer and has the most adult members and teams among Dutch football clubs. History The ...

*2011–2012

Drachtster Boys Drachtster Boys is a football club from Drachten, Netherlands. The female squads of the soccer club are extremely successful, winning national titles and cups. The male squad plays in the 2021–22 season in the Saturday Eerste Klasse (6th flig ...

*2010–2011

WKE WKE (Woonwagenkamp Emmen ( en, Emmen Trailer Park)) is a association football, football club from Emmen, Netherlands, Emmen, Netherlands. WKE was founded on June 14, 1966 by residents of the local trailer park. The club won promotion to the Hoo ...

*2009–2010 PKC'83 *2006–2009 SC Joure *2005–2006 FC Wolvega *2004–2005 FC Groningen *2001–2004 SC Cambuur Leeuwarden *1998–2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etemadi, Zabih Iranian men's footballers Iranian emigrants to the Netherlands 1982 births Living people WKE '16 players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Tehran Footballers from Dubai