The opening match of the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Betim, Brazil, started with a controversial detail regarding one of the participants.
Brazilian champions Funvic debuted in the 2021 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship with a comeback win over Argentina’s UPCN San Juan in Pool A – they trailed 0-2 in sets. However, on the eve of the match, the Funvic head coach Javier Weber was dismissed by the club officials and watched the match from the stands so his assistant João Gomes commanded the team. After the win, all the players of the Natal side went to hug the Argentine expert. According to Globo Esporte, the removal of Weber from his post is linked to his dissatisfaction for not being paid, but also because his players were not paid, according to the agreement. Also, Funvic refused to pay the transfer fee for Luis Estrada which further triggered the internal situation to worsen. The Cuban player was not registered for the Club World Champ and just like Weber, remained on the stands. Gabriel Santos top-scored Funvic with 22 points, but the display of American Patrick Gasman has to be stressed too. He set up as many as seven blocks.
In Pool B, Funvic’s fellow countrymen Sada Cruzeiro swept Iran’s Sirjan Foolad 3-0 thanks to 20 points from Cuban Miguel Ángel López (20 points, including four blocks). Otávio Pinto made six blocks. The commotion Saber Kazemi has risen accusing the Asian club champions of forcing him to play in the event in Betim even though he is injured bore fruits and Sirjan didn’t take him to Brazil. Instead, Serbian Aleksandar Blagojević, who spent the last season in Vojvodina NS seme Novi Sad was hired and performed as an opposite hitter against Cruzeiro.
2021 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship – group stage, Round 1:
