Series of Volleyball Losses and Dismissal of Iran's National Team Coach

The Brazilian head coach of Iran's national volleyball team has been dismissed from his position. Mehdi Taghavi, the president of the Iranian Volleyball Federation, has replaced Mauricio Motta Paez with Peyman Akbari until the end of the Nations League. Including three friendly matches against Brazil, Iran has lost all 10 of its games under Paez's coaching. Mr. Taghavi stated to ISNA news agency: 'Unfortunately, the team did not achieve results. Our view was that Paez's presence would motivate the players and bring them back to a time when they fought with all their might for the national team and regained their confidence. However, we did not witness a significant change.' Paez, who was dismissed after the seventh consecutive loss of Iran's national volleyball team in the Nations League, said: 'After a meeting with my manager, I will explain everything in a statement.' In the Volleyball Federation's statement, 'poor results, lack of appropriate management and leadership, failure to optimally utilize players' potential, and the importance of maintaining the credibility of Iranian volleyball' were cited as reasons for the dismissal of the Brazilian coach. Meysam Salehi, a power receiver for the national team, commented on the series of defeats: 'I really don't know what to say. It feels like we are cursed. We are ashamed. We try and fight, but things happen on the court that confuse us.' Iran's last opponent in the second week will be Turkey, which has also lost all its matches and is at the bottom of the table alongside Iran.