The Italian Volleyball Federation (Fipav) issued an official note regarding the problem with Ivan Zaytsev and his footwear, which was solved only temporarily, announcing a withdrawal of its call to the athlete for the Men’s national team preparations for the 2017 EuroVolley in Poland.
“Mr. Zaytsev, in spite of Fipav’s engagement with its coaching and medical staff and the sponsor (Mizuno) that provides particular materials and models of shoes, no solution has been identified to meet your personal requirements. We notify you of the immediate withdrawal of the call to the (Italian National team) gathering in Cavalese (training center) which is currently in progress,” Italian VF published on their website.
In the continuation of a note, Fipav explained this outcome, which came out of the blue.
After finding out that Zaytsev signed a contract with a footwear supplier (Adidas) other than the one with which Fipav has the contract (Mizuno), Italian VF proposed several solutions to the situation through meetings and concrete actions with the athlete and its representatives because, according to the rules, all national team members must wear the shoes of the official sponsor of the national team. Due to physical problems, as Zaytsev said, he was not able to wear the shoes provided by the Fipav sponsor. After holding a meeting with Zaytsev and his representatives last week, the solution came up for the player to wear the shoes which were custom made for him by Mizuno and he instantly returned to national team preparations.
“Mizuno has provided three volleyball models that have never been tested by the player because they were considered unsuitable. At Zaytsev’s explicit request, two models of basketball shoes arrived from Japan, which were tested during workouts on July 15 and July 16, 2017. The athlete was still experiencing functional difficulties. For one of the two models, he reported problems with the midsole. Italian NT staff, therefore, proposed a player the possibility to put on a plantar support, which other athletes in the national team wear. This was also dismissed by Ivan Zaytsev,” Fipav revealed.
“Finally, in agreement with Mizuno, Fipav proposed to the athlete the possibility of letting him use his shoes (Adidas) by covering the brand logo for the time needed for the company Mizuno to find a model to meet the needs of the player. This was also discarded by Ivan Zaytsev due to contractual obligations with his sponsor. Fipav believes it has offered all possible solutions to make use of Mizuno product suitable for the needs of the player in line with regulations and contracts signed by Fipav,” Italian federation concluded.
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