TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (MNA) – Mohammadreza Davarzani was elected on Wednesday as the head of the Iranian volleyball federation to regain his seat after some three years.

He had led the Iranian volleyball for some 11 years between 2006 and 2017 but served as a deputy sports minister since then.

In today’s election held in Tehran, Davarzani gained 26 votes out of 41 to win the chair. Behnam Mahmoudi, a former volleyball player, was his main rival who received 15 votes.

Before the voting process began, all candidates explained their plans for the Iranian volleyball. Davarzani said that he has felt that it’s time to return to volleyball. He noted that becoming an Asian champion was once a dream for Iran, adding, “today, I promise that Iran will be among the top four teams of the world.”

Iranian volleyball federation was being led by interim chiefs in the last year after former president Ahmad Ziaei had to leave its post due to a law barring the employment of retirees in government, state or public institutions which use state funds or facilities.

Meanwhile, Iranian men’s volleyball team didn’t show a satisfying performance in the 2019 World Cup and also in the first round of qualifiers for the 2020 Olympics which raised criticism from experts and the public. The team has another chance to book Olympics quota in January in China.

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