FIVB Olympic Qualifying Tournament:
Iran to pin hopes on a world-class coach after Rio fiasco
Iranian volleyball will lean towards bringing in a high-profile foreign coach for the national team after hitting rock bottom at the FIVB Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Rio de Janeiro.
The Asian powerhouse finished second from bottom in the eight-team table of Pool A – registering a single victory over Qatar – as the country’s aspirations for a place in next year’s Paris Olympics now appears to be fading away.
Germany was the surprise package of the group, making a clean sweep of seven wins to finish above Brazil, with reigning world champion Italy in third.
Poland, Canada, USA, and Japan also secured an Olympic berth as the top two finishers in Pools B and C.
The other five quotas will be decided through the FIVB Men’s World Ranking by the end of the preliminary phase of 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
Egypt will likely take the African slot for the Games, while the other four spots will go to the four highest-ranked teams, which have not qualified yet.
As it stands in the FIVB Ranking, Italy (third), Argentina (sixth), Slovenia (seventh), and Serbia (ninth) are the favorites to qualify for the Olympics, with Iran lagging behind in the 15th place.
Iran’s qualification campaign was the latest episode in a disastrous five months under Behrouz Ataei – featuring a disappointing VNL run followed by a straight-set defeat against Japan on home soil in the Asian Championship final – which eventually led to the Iranian head coach stepping down from his role after a 3-1 defeat against the Czech Republic midway through the tournament in Brazil.
His resignation came two years after he had become the first domestic coach on Iran’s bench in more than a decade by taking over from Russian Vladimir Alekno following a group stage exit at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ataei’s rejuvenated side got off to a flying start in the new era as it defeated host Japan for the Asian crown in 2021 and then went on to progress to VNL quarterfinals a year later.
Ataei was faced with the flip side of his job when the below-par results in the summer saw the pundits and former players in the country question his credentials for the rest of the way, urging the Iranian Volleyball Federation to make drastic changes in the coaching staff.
Mohammadreza Davarzani, the chairman of the federation, said at the time that he would avoid an “impulsive decision-making”, as a hectic fixtures list – including an untimely participation at the Asian Games right before the Olympic qualifiers – was coming Iran’s way.
However, in a statement after Sunday’s five-set defeat against Cuba, the head of the federation conceded to the “failed strategy [over the past two years]”, while he vowed to “hire a world-class coach and put in all our efforts to succeed in next year’s Volleyball Nations League and qualify for the Paris Olympics.”
Several high-profile names have been brought up in the Iranian media in recent days – most notably Frenchman Stéphane Antiga, Italian Andrea Anastasi, and Belgian Vital Heynen, who led Poland to the world title in 2018 – though it might take a while for the Iranian volleyball governing body to mull over who will be in charge of the team next.