Criticism of Atai when he was leading the national volleyball team was biased – Mehr News Agency | Iran and world’s news
According to the reporter of Mehr, the Iranian national volleyball team had a good start but a bitter end with the Iranian technical staff. The quota for the Paris Olympics was supposed to be obtained with the Iranian team, but not only was no quota obtained, but Iranian volleyball with the Iranian head coach experienced an unprecedented fall in the world ranking.
The goal was to repeat the Olympic quota again, but it did not happen. Margins were rampant in the national team and the other games were not pleasant either. With these events, Mohammad Reza Davarzani again promised to recruit a first-rate foreign coach so that, according to him, volleyball will return to its peak days. For this reason, the meeting of the technical committee was held last week with the presence of volleyball experts and people.
A meeting was held with the presence of the golden generation of Iranian volleyball Sidamir Hosseini, Alireza Nadi, Farhad Nazari Afshar and Adel Gholami and other volleyball coaches and experts. In this meeting, they all said their words and also talked about their shortcomings and problems. However, everyone is optimistic that the national team will win the Olympic quota in the 2024 League of Nations despite the hard work ahead of them and go to the Olympics with a hat trick.
If Atai had done a good job, the path would not have been closed for Iranian coaches
Farhad Nazari Afshar, a former member of the national volleyball team, who was also present at the meeting of the technical committee of the volleyball federation, told Mehr reporter about the details of this meeting: The volleyball people who were present at the meeting all believed that this meeting was more fruitful than the previous meetings and in other words It was not a formality. The performance of the national team was clarified in the meeting of the technical committee. I was participating in this meeting for the first time and I was very happy to be in this group.
Stating that all the members of the technical committee were of the opinion of recruiting a foreign coach, he said: Of course, I would have liked Atai to attend this meeting, so that I would have criticized him face to face for his performance in the national team. The federation’s trust in Atai had placed a heavy responsibility on him, and if Atai’s performance was good, this path would be open for other Iranian coaches.
The head coach of the team made a biased decision for Iranian volleyball
Nazari Afshar stated: But due to his poor performance, this path will not be open for Iranian coaches and trust will be difficult. I mentioned in the meeting of the technical committee that Atai did not have good choices in the national team. He did not use all the potential of Iranian volleyball and unfortunately he made a very biased decision and choice. Javad Mananinejad was left out of the national team, but two weeks ago, he won the cup for the best receiver.
He noted: When the other players saw the weight of the staff, they did not come to help the team. When Tutolo was in the national team, I told one of my teammates what the training was like and that I would like to attend the training of the national team, and he told me that the training is like the time of Velasco, with the difference that the other players are the same as before. They are not and they do not respect the practice and the individual. In my opinion, this issue also originates from the head coach’s thoughts, who failed to create this mindset in the players that they should respect training.
If Atai was smart, he would listen to the critics
The former player of the national volleyball team said: I complained about the type of training in the meeting of the technical committee. Unfortunately, we did not have a stable composition in our national team after two years. Apart from these cases, Atai did not trust the people around him and many coaches came and went during his coaching period. The focus of the staff was very low because they were constantly looking to answer the critics. If Atai was smart, he would have listened to the critics, maybe a few of them would have been right.
Nazari Afshar emphasized: “Many times I and other volleyball people emphasized that the national team “B” should be formed. As long as the hand of the staff is open to choose the player if something unpredictable happens. Like what happened to the national team during the League of Nations and America did not grant visas to some players, in the end the head coach had to send players like Berdia Saadat and Tokhte to the field without preparation and coordination with the players. These issues showed the unplannedness of the technical staff and I raised all these issues in the technical committee.
The coach of the national team failed everywhere!
Criticizing the late formation of the “B” team, Nazari Afshar said: “B” team was formed a week before the tournament and they started training with 6 people, but a few days later, two players along with the head coach were added to the national team. A head coach who has not had any success in the Premier League and every year he has taken charge of a team, that team has fallen and failed. What does Atai have to say about these choices?! The head coach of team “B” was filming from the hall with his camera while he was with the national team. These events were unprecedented in Iranian volleyball.
He stated that he thought of attracting a first-class foreign coach and noted: Not much time has passed since I played as a player in the national team, when a first-class foreign coach came to the national team, all of us players wanted to improve ourselves. To prove, we used all our efforts to prove that we are among the best. I think it is very difficult to get quota in this short period of time, but it is not impossible. The presence of a first-rate coach may shock and motivate the players to show themselves.
The technical staff could not keep the players fit
Nazari Afshar emphasized: In the current conditions of the national team, we should decide to recruit a top-level foreign coach so that highly motivated players can qualify for the Olympics. Maintaining and controlling the national team players should be a priority because a national team player shines so well in one tournament that the best league in the world recruits him as a player, but a month later in the next tournament he is benched due to not being ready. This issue has two cases, either the player could not control himself mentally and physically, or the technical staff could not keep the player ready.
He continued: “I would like a regulation to be established so that players can be dealt with if they do not work enough.” Why doesn’t the player play with all his strength for the national team so that he is ready for his club team. If, with the progress of Iranian volleyball, this player has reached this position, but now he does not care about the national team.
A regulation should be developed for the players to work calmly
Nazari Afshar emphasized: Of course, the federation should also provide insurance to the players. For example, a player who plays for the national team and is also present in the Premier League, in case of injury, the federation is obliged to pay for his treatment and his club team pays 60% of his contract. This issue should be made into a regulation and approved by all the clubs so that the player can play in the national team with a certain peace.
The Italian coach was in my mind
Regarding the proposed options for leading the national volleyball team, he said: Several options have been proposed for leading the national team, some of them announced their readiness and others were not allowed to participate due to the regulations of their country. The technical committee meeting will be held next week and they will agree on an option to help us. If the national team does not even win the quota but plays well, people will accept it. My chosen option is not allowed to be in the national team due to the laws of his country, but still, I have to see who will be selected based on the consensus. In my opinion, a great personality should lead the national team and a one plus two contract is going to be signed with this coach. This means that if this coach can lead our team to the Olympics at this point, we will sign a contract with him again in the next 2 years, and if the process goes well, he will still sign a two-year contract with the federation.
Nazari Afshar said: I don’t think this meeting was a formality, there were many discussions and even everyone believed that an ethics committee should be formed to take care of many issues. The past is over. We all have to join hands so that good things happen for volleyball and no one sees their personal interests in national interests.