“The sooner a head coach is appointed the better for Team Melli because he would have more time to get acquainted with players,” Shafiei told Mehr News Agency on Sunday as the national team has been without a coach since the federation parted ways with Igor Kolakovic in late March.
“I hope any appointed coach would be at least familiar with the style and system of Iran’s volleyball,” he said, adding, “Iranian players do not have a very strong physical might but enjoy a combination of physical and technical capabilities individually and in the team.”
The 29-year-old player said it would be better for the Volleyball Federation to appoint the coach till at least March 2021 so that he can closely watch the Iranian volleyball league’s play-off stage.
In one of the latest comments regarding the next coach, Head of Iran's Volleyball Federation Mohammad Reza Davarzani said in mid-September that three coaches would be shortlisted from the already list of five coaches for the next stages of appointing the National Volleyball Team coach.
“The technical committee of the Federation concluded that a world-class coach should lead the national team and negotiations have been carried out in this regard,” he said. “We have chosen five coaches from among nearly 15 ones and have conducted negotiations with them.” The names of the shortlisted coaches have not been revealed due to legal issues.
Experts believe that the Tokyo Olympics is the last opportunity for the golden generation of Iranian volleyball to stand on an international podium hence the Federation is seeking to hire a world-class coach to help the team in the process.
Iran is in Pool A of the Olympics along with Japan, Poland, Italy, Canada, and Venezuela.
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