Roman Yakovlev, a long-time former member of the Russian Men’s Volleyball National Team, became the head coach of Fakel.
After the resignation of the head coach Mikhail Nikolaev, the Russian top division side Fakel promoted his assistant Roman Yakovlev to his position. The 45-year-old long-time opposite hitter of ’Zbornaya’, who marked an era in the Russian National Team in the early 2000s, has been a part of the staff of the Novy Urengoy club since 2017, but as an assistant coach all that time.