The Death of Volleyball Coach Marks the End of the Most Controversial Sports League of the Year

Reza Ebrahimi, former player and coach of the national volleyball team, passed away on Sunday night at Atieh Hospital after suffering a heart attack during club training last week. Ebrahimi, who served as an assistant coach under Julio Velasco, had led his team, Paykan, to the finals of the Premier League and was present for two of the three final matches. In those two matches, each team won once. The third final was scheduled for Tuesday, but Paykan announced that winning the championship was more important than Ebrahimi's health, and their players were not in a condition to participate in the final. The team manager stated: 'Ebrahimi was revived three times, but he could not be revived the fourth time. We said playing under these circumstances is disrespectful; let us play after the funeral, but the federation did not accept.' When the volleyball federation rejected this request, Morteza Ahdi, the manager of Paykan, told ISNA: 'What kind of spirit do you expect us to have on the court? Our players cannot stand, let alone play.' The federation insisted that the game must go on and would pay tribute to Ebrahimi with a minute of silence and a flower presentation during the final. However, the Paykan players, who had just lost their coach, were not ready to compete. The Premier League organization named Bank Sarmayeh as the champion of the 29th season of the Premier League volleyball. Thus, only two matches were played out of a final that was supposed to consist of up to five games. The first match ended in a brawl. The second match was played without spectators due to 'inappropriate behavior, use of improper words and slogans, and throwing objects onto the court,' but it was still controversial! While Ebrahimi was in the hospital under intensive care, verbal conflicts between the coaches of the two teams continued, and ultimately the third game was canceled, allowing the championship trophy to go to Bank Sarmayeh. The secretary of the volleyball federation stated that it was not possible to hold this match at another time because the national team camp starts on the 8th of Farvardin. Previously, it was supposed to determine the champion team based on three wins out of five matches, but last week it was reduced to two wins out of three matches. The question arises: if there is no possibility of delaying the match for a few days, how did the federation expect to conduct five games? Afshardoost emphasized the need for the national team camp after the Nowruz holidays to secure an Olympic quota, a matter that seemingly did not conflict with a two-day delay in the final competition. Bank Sarmayeh, which was declared champion without holding the final game, issued a statement saying: 'The true champion is the ethical man of Iranian volleyball, the late Reza Ebrahimi.' Nevertheless, this club accepted the championship trophy and did not join their rival in calling for a postponement of the final competition. Thus, the case of the most controversial sports league of 1394 was closed. A league marked by physical and verbal altercations among players and numerous controversies in Tehran and various cities, events that were unprecedented in the history of Iranian volleyball.