The sunset of volleyball in the last month of the presidency of the referee/substitute Atai for later – Mehr News Agency | Iran and world’s news
According to the reporter of Mehr, it has not been a few years since the days when the games of the national volleyball team created national hunger in the hearts of Iranian fans and riveted everyone to the TV, but these days the popularity of volleyball in this field is declining day by day. Fans and those interested in this field no longer follow the national team’s games with the same enthusiasm as before, and the national team’s results in every match are weaker than before.
The decline of Iranian volleyball started in June this year in the League of Nations. Where Atai’s students recorded 10 defeats against the teams of Japan, Poland, America, Italy, Argentina, Slovenia, France, Holland, Cuba and Bulgaria out of 12 games in the League of Nations and only won 2 against the teams of Germany and China. Iran’s national team ranked 10th in the League of Nations thanks to the freezing of the results.
After that, the Asian Championship was hosted by Urmia; The Volleyball Federation made every effort to make the national team win the championship in Iran. But the strength of Iranian volleyball did not reach Japan. Cheshbadami, who had a rocket growth in the last few years and placed on the third platform in the League of Nations for the first time, dictated their superiority to Iranian volleyball in the Asian Championship.
Of course, the spectators from Urmia and the municipal officials of this city left every stone to host, but you cannot win the championship of Asia with a trumpet! The Iranian national volleyball team presented the championship to the Japanese team in front of 6,000 Urmia fans to show that they are no longer men in Asia. Japan has become a long-standing and traditional rival of Iran’s volleyball team, and the national team must put in a lot of effort to defeat this team.
After finishing 10th in the League of Nations and being the runner-up in Asia, the national volleyball team was looking for a championship dream that could only be achieved in the Hangzhou Asian Games without the presence of the strong Japanese team. Attending the Asian Games in Hangzhou and immediately participating in the Olympic qualifiers caused a lot of fatigue for the national volleyball players, that’s why the volleyball people were against the participation of the national team in the Asian Games in Hangzhou and considered the Olympic qualifiers more preferable, but the staff and the federation, who were looking for results They didn’t see participation in the Hangzhou Asian Games as an obstacle for Olympic selection and the team left for these competitions.
Winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou was predictable in the absence of Japan’s main team. According to Behrooz Atai, this championship gave the players of the national team morale, of course, they left for Brazil immediately after the final of the Asian Games and reached this country in a long and tiring journey to participate in the Olympic qualifiers. The loss against Germany ended with the justification of the players’ fatigue. But after that, the defeat of the national team against Ukraine and the Czech Republic, which recorded its first victory in this tournament against Iran, put the finishing touches on the national team.
After Iran’s loss against the Czech Republic, Behrouz Atai, who could no longer bear the criticisms and consecutive defeats, resigned from the national team leadership and the referee immediately accepted it. After that, Alireza Tolokian was chosen as the head coach for the national team. Of course, the team led by Tolokian did nothing and suffered a defeat against Italy; Of course, the team against Italy had a better performance than the game against the Czech Republic, but defeat is still the constant companion of the Iranian national team.
The work of the national team in the Olympic qualifiers is over, the national team is going to the field today against the Olympic champion Brazil and has a difficult task ahead of it. Iran’s last game is against Cuba, in the League of Nations, the Iranian players were defeated by this, and now we have to see if this out of breath team can make up for the previous defeat or, like the League of Nations, it will end its work in the Olympic qualifiers with a defeat against Cuba.
After the failure of the national team against the teams of Germany, Ukraine and the Czech Republic in the Olympic qualifiers and the resignation of Behrouz Atai, the federation has quickly started looking for a replacement for the resigned head coach of the national team, but what is the reality? Is the selection of a head coach the priority of Iranian volleyball now?
Will the referee stay or go?
In almost a month, the four-year refereeing period in the Volleyball Federation will end; Although he has registered in the elections to re-appear in the volleyball federation, his retention as the head of the federation is unpredictable.
Maybe it is better to hold the volleyball federation elections in the first place and after that the selection of the head coach is on the agenda. If the referee cannot get the vote of confidence from the members of the assembly and another person is elected as the president, his thoughts may not be in line with the referee in choosing the head coach, and then the national team will face serious challenges again in the year leading up to the Olympics.
Therefore, within one month before the federation elections, the task of the federation president should be determined first, and after that, he should look for a replacement for the resigned head coach.