Beyond football, Khosravani emphasized infrastructure, ensuring that Taj had modern facilities, training programs, and financial stability. His ability to combine military-style discipline with cultural promotion allowed Taj to flourish as both a sports club and a social institution.
After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Taj was renamed Esteghlal and stripped of many of its assets. Khosravani’s vision of a multi-sport, well-funded cultural organization was dismantled, and the club never fully regained the institutional stability it had under his leadership.
Exile and Anti-Revolutionary Activities
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khosravani, like many loyalists to the Shah, left Iran and joined royalist networks abroad. His commitment to the monarchy remained unshaken, and he actively participated in efforts to restore the Pahlavi dynasty.
One of his most significant involvements was his collaboration with General Gholam Ali Oveisi, a former commander of the Iranian army who attempted to organize armed resistance against the Islamic Republic from exile. Khosravani served as deputy to Oveisi’s military group in Iraq for eleven months.
In his later reflections, Khosravani stated that while Saddam Hussein’s regime offered material support to Oveisi and his group, the Iraqi motives were self-serving. According to him, Baghdad sought to use Iranian royalists to undermine Ayatollah Khomeini’s legitimacy among Iraqi Shiites by portraying his version of Islam as false.
