Iran Women's Hockey Coach: Equipment and Ticket Costs Covered Personally

Azam Sanaei, captain and coach of the Iranian women's ice hockey team, told Shargh newspaper on Thursday that "due to the high cost of this sport, a free training ground was provided by a benefactor, and the equipment and travel expenses were covered by the team members themselves." The Iranian women's ice hockey team secured the second place in the Asian championships. The players dedicated their silver medal to the girls of Iran. According to Ms. Sanaei, "It has been arranged that the ticket and visa costs, along with the bonuses for this competition, will be paid by the Ministry of Sports after their return." In another part of this conversation, she mentioned to Shargh that "they did not rest for even a day to prepare strongly for these competitions and did not have any friendly matches with many of the teams present in the Asian hockey competition." The national women's ice hockey players of Iran achieved the runner-up position in Asia while having had no facilities for training until three years ago, and according to the coach, due to the lack of ice rinks for practice, the players trained with 'inline hockey' known as roller skating. Kaveh Sedghi, head of the Iranian Ice Hockey Association, also mentioned in an interview with Ham-Mihan that "the hotel expenses for players and coaching staff were paid by the International Federation, but the ticket and visa costs were covered by the players themselves." Mr. Sedghi stated, "We hoped a sponsor would come forward to cover part of these costs and effectively act as the main sponsor of the Iranian women's national ice hockey team. We held 30 sessions at the National Olympic Committee, but they did not provide us with any funding." As a result, he said, "50 percent of the costs were covered by the players themselves, and we borrowed the remaining 50 percent from Iran Mall to be able to participate in the competitions. If it weren't for the determination of the players and this borrowed money, our trip to the competitions would have been canceled." On the other hand, Hamid Sajjadi, Minister of Sports and Youth, commented on why the team members paid for their travel expenses to the Asian competitions by saying to ISNA, "The hockey team used to do this when it was outside the Ski Federation and voluntarily covered the costs. In this case, these dear ones had paid for their tickets months in advance." He added, "In terms of structure, this team was under the association and not part of the Ski Federation. I wanted this sport to gain identity and for the Ice Hockey Association to enter the Ski Federation, but previously, since they were paying for their tickets, they acted to secure their tickets again this time to not miss the competitions." Hamid Sajjadi said, "When the funds reached us, we at the Ministry of Sports paid these costs in the last couple of days. Even if they had not won a medal, we would have covered this expense. They made us proud."