2024 Volleyball Nations League:
Iran to chase Olympic berth in Brazil, Japan, Philippines
Iran will take one last shot at a place in next summer’s Paris Olympics when visiting Brazil, Japan, and the Philippines for the preliminary round of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League – starting May 21.
The international governing body of the sport, the FIVB, on Friday unveiled the initial draw for the men’s and women’s flagship annual event, where the top 16 national teams in each category were divided into three pools apiece.
Iran will kick off its campaign in Rio de Janeiro, alongside the host and 2021 champion Brazil, Japan – which marched to last year’s Finals before finishing third – Cuba, Germany, Serbia, Italy, and Argentina.
Week 2 of the preliminary phase puts Iran in the same pool with Japan, Brazil, newcomer Turkey, reigning champion Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Germany – starting June 4 in Japan, with the host city yet to be confirmed.
The third and the final week (June 18-25) will see Iran visit Manila, where massive showpieces against Japan, Canada, USA, the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, and France could be on the cards for the Asian powerhouse.
The FIVB is yet to announce the fixtures list across the three weeks and the host country for the VNL Finals, which will be joined by the top seven of the 16-team table in the quest for the ultimate prize on June 27-30.
This year’s event will also play a crucial part in completing the lineup for the volleyball contests in Paris, as the remaining five slots will be decided through the FIVB Men’s World Ranking by the end of the preliminary round.
Egypt will likely take the African berth 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 ranking, Italy (third), Argentina (sixth), Slovenia (seventh), and Serbia (ninth) are the favorites to qualify, with Iran lagging behind in the 15th place.
Iran will be back in Rio de Janeiro after a dreadful run in September’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in the Brazilian city, in which the Asian side finished second from bottom in the eight-team standing, managing a single victory over Qatar in seven outings.
Germany, Brazil, Poland, Canada, USA, and Japan have already punched their tickets for Paris thanks to a top-two finish across the three qualification pools.
Iran’s qualification campaign was the latest episode in a disastrous five months under Behrouz Ataei – featuring a 15th-place finish in the VNL, followed by a straight-set defeat against Japan on home soil in the Asian Championship final – which ultimately saw the Iranian head coach step down from his role after a 3-1 defeat against the Czech Republic midway through the tournament in Brazil.
The future of the Iranian volleyball remains unsettled ahead of the crunch Volleyball Nations League as the national team job has been vacant since Ataei’s departure while the sport’s governing body in the country is yet to know its chairman, after Mohammadreza Davarzani’s four-year reign came to an end in late November.
Vahid Moradi, a vice-chairman to Davarzani, was appointed by the Iranian Sports Ministry as the caretaker of the federation and is tasked with holding the elections for the new president and board members.
According to several reports in recent days, Moradi is also expected to name the head coach of the national team before the end of the year.
The federation unveiled a list of six candidates for the job in November, with former skipper and world-class setter Saeed Ma’rouf as well as Italian Roberto Piazza – now in charge of Allianz Milano in his home country – reportedly leading the race to replace Ataei.