Iran complains to FIVB after three players are denied US visas
The Iranian Volleyball Federation lodged a complaint to the sport’s governing body, FIVB, after the United States Embassy in Ankara refused to issue visas for five members of the national team – including three players – ahead of the upcoming Volleyball Nations League.
Integral opposite spiker Amin Esmaeilnejad, Arman Salehi, and Esmaeil Mosafer as well as technical staff’s Nima Dehpanah, and Hamzeh Fat’hi have been denied a US visa.
Iran is to visit Anaheim in the state of California for the final VNL preliminary round fixtures, starting July 4.
Behrouz Ataei’s men will take on France, Bulgaria, and Argentina, before facing Cuba on July 9.
In a letter to the FIVB on Tuesday, Mohammadreza Davarzani, the chairman of the Iranian federation, called for “transparency from the Americans” over their decision.
Citing the FIVB competitions’ regulations, Davarzani added that “every host country is bound to issue visas for all members of the participating teams without any kind of limitations.”
The top sport official insisted that would be “impossible” for Iran to take part in the competition without the services of its star players Esmaeilnejad and Salehi, while expressing his country’s readiness to host Week 3 of the event instead of the United States.
Iran will kick off its VNL campaign in Nagoya, Japan, with a game against the host on June 6.
Ataei’s team will also play Poland, China, and Slovenia in Week 1.
The top seven of the 16-team table will join Poland for the VNL Finals, starting with the quarterfinals in the Polish city of Gdańsk on July 19.