Persepolis chief executive Abbas Ansarifard has promised not to extend the contract of legendary striker Ali Karimi.

"Persepolis will not extend Ali Karimi's contract because the club's list is full," Fars news agency quoted Ansarifard as saying on Tuesday.

"Persepolis officials were waiting for Karimi and his agent last night to extend the contract but they didn't show up," he added.

The former AFC Player of the Year, Karimi, expressed his anguish at the late announcement of the decision.

"The club kept me waiting for four weeks for nothing. Now, I will leave it to the fans to make the right judgment," the AFC quoted Karimi as saying.

"This club belongs to players like Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Karim Bagheri, Mehdi Mahdavikia… who played their part in its history," the soccer star added.

"Persepolis is my first and last home. I am confident that I can come back to Persepolis to hang my boots," he noted.

On June 23, the thirty-year-old Karimi announced his retirement from the Iranian national soccer squad after Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

A number of foreign media outlets, spearheaded by CNN, claimed that four footballers -- Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hossein Ka'abi, and Vahid Hashemian -- were banned for life over wearing green wrist bands in support of presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi in the Iran-South Korea match in Seoul.

Iran's Football Federation (IFF) Vice President Mehdi Taj, however, said the players bade farewell to the national team of their own volition.

HRF/JG