Hamed Kavianpour

Iranian footballer

Hamed Kavianpour (حامد کاویانپور; born December 1, 1978) is an Iranian retired professional football player.

He has played most of his career for Persepolis FC where he had several good seasons, playing in the midfield with his great skill and dribbling. His critics however claim his dribbling delays the speed of the game. During 2001 and 2002 some English clubs showed interest in him and he had trials with clubs such as Bolton Wanderers, Ipswich Town F. C., Newcastle United F. C., and Reading F. C., but Persepolis preferred that he sign a one year contract with UAE club Al Wasl in July 2002. In May 2006 he signed a two year contract to play for Turkish club Kayserispor in Süper Lig. On September 22, 2006 the Turkish club announced that they will release the Iranian midfielder as he was allegedly tested positive for doping after the match against Erciyesspor. The Turkish Football Federation banned Kavianpour from playing in Turkey for 2 years, however Kavianpour planned to appeal to the Turkish Football Federation in order to reduce the ban. The ban was later reduced to 1 year. He was backed in Tehran, Iran, played for Steel Azin from 2007 to 2010 amongst a series of big signings of the club such as Ali Karimi and Ferydoon Zandi. In an interview with Iranian TV Channel 3, he mentioned that he plans to play for a division 1 club in 2012.

He made his debut for the Iranian national team in March 2000 against Cyprus. He was one of Iran's main players in 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended with a dramatic 2 1 aggregate defeat against the Republic of Ireland. Until 2004 he was a regular starter for the team and earned 50 caps.