Rasoul Khatibi

Rasoul Paki Khatibi is an Iranian football coach and former player who is the president of the Persian Gulf Pro League team Paykan. He is the younger brother of Hossein Khatibi, who is also a football manager and former professional footballer.

Club career

Khatibi began his professional football career, playing for his hometown club, Tractor, following the footsteps of his brother, Hossein Khatibi. After scoring many goals for his club, he was transferred to Pas Tehran. He remained in Tehran for over a year before he transferred to Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga along with fellow Iranian internationals Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian.
While playing in Hamburg, he did not make many appearances. He soon returned to Iran, back to his old club, Pas Tehran. He then briefly played for Esteghlal in the Asian Champions League before signing for Sepahan. Sepahan was able to win the IPL championship in 2003 and Khatibi started showing his good form again. He scored ten goals in the 2005–06 season, completing his impressive record in Sepahan with 32 goals in three seasons. In June 2006, he signed a two-year contract with United Arab Emirates club Sharjah FC, after rejecting an offer from Spanish second division side CD Tenerife. In 2007, Khatibi signed a new contract with Emirates Club for $700,000 to join his Iranian teammate Reza Enayati. The contract had a clause which stated that if a European club offered Khatibi a contract, then the existing contract with Emirates Club would be canceled. He then joined Gostaresh Foulad as player-manager. He announced his retirement on 5 August 2013.

International career

Khatibi represented Iran internationally at various age levels. He was a constant member of the Iran Olympic team during his time in Tractor Sazi and Pas, but despite the talent on the team, they were never successful. He gained his first international cap on 15 February 1999 versus football team|Kuwait]. He was called up to the Iran national football team for 2006 World Cup. He has 24 caps and five goals for the national team.

Coaching career

After he joined Machine Sazi Tabriz in summer 2011, he became player-manager on 1 July 2011, and went on to lead the team in the Azadegan league. After spending one season at Machine Sazi resulting in a third place finish and a loss in the promotion play-off on goal difference, he became head coach of fellow Tabrizi team Gostaresh Foolad. He led the club to promotion to the Iran Pro League. He renewed his contract for another three seasons on 13 May 2013 but resigned on 26 December 2013 after a run of unsuccessful results.
On 31 May 2014, Khatibi was appointed as new manager of Tractor, replacing Toni. He signed a three-year contract with the club. However, he was sacked on 8 February 2015 after a run of poor results.