The Iran Men are going to the Tokyo Olympics volleyball tournament in a terrible atmosphere. One long-time member said goodbye to the national team after being left out of the roster, while another, also a long-time member, spoke badly about the head coach Vladimir Alekno for the same reason.
The Iranian federation (IRIVF) hired Vladimir Alekno to lead the men’s national team to a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the atmosphere in the team is terrible, and the Russian expert is under fire from the player who failed to survive the roster cut. Farhad Ghaemi, who has been in the national team for 10 years, has spoken badly about Alekno after not seeing his name on the 12-man squad for the event in the Japanese capital.
Even though IRIVF asked him to return to the national team (Ghaemi retired internationally prior to this season), to which the 31-year-old outside hitter responded positively, he will not play in Tokyo. In an interview for ISNA, Ghaemi stressed the federation assured him that he would be 100 % percent in the squad for the Games so he agreed to help the staff and appeared at the training camp. However, Alekno immediately renounced his services. It triggered Ghamei, who said that the volleyball mafia spread its tentacles in this case.
“There’s a mafia involved here, planning everything. From the day I joined the squad, I felt that there was a group that didn’t accept me. I must clearly emphasize that a coach in the national team is nobody; In my opinion, Alekno is the most exploited volleyball coach in Iran’s history. He plays the role of a puppet, and the players are unknown to him. He doesn’t even know the names of some players, he doesn’t know what positions they play. Alekno doesn’t know Iranian volleyball and is just looking for money! He has little to say in the national team. He’s just a puppet,” stated the new player of the bronze medalists in his home country’s league, Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan.
According to Ghaemi, Iranian volleyball has been going astray for several years, but the players have remained silent for a long time. Alekno has not yet responded to the allegations but it is expected to do so in the coming days during an official press conference.
Recall that Pourya Fayazi, another player with a decade-long experience in the Iran National Team, said goodbye to playing for it after not surviving a roster cut.
