UAE Prevents Iran's National Volleyball Team Manager from Continuing Trip to Brazil

Following the news from Radio Farda about the absence of Iran's national volleyball team manager from accompanying the team members, the Volleyball Federation was compelled to respond. Radio Farda had previously reported that Vahid Moradi, the manager of the national volleyball team, failed to accompany the team members during their trip to Brazil and was left behind at Dubai airport. The volleyball players gathered at Imam Airport in Tehran on Sunday night to depart for Brazil via the UAE in the early hours of Monday. However, after that, there was no accurate information available regarding Vahid Moradi's status for five days. The Volleyball Federation kept Moradi's disappearance from the media until the story was revealed on Radio Farda's Instagram, forcing them to react. Iran has already played two friendly matches against Brazil, but Vahid Moradi, the former head of the Volleyball Federation and former president of the Swimming Federation, has not yet joined the team. The federation has made inquiries through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Islamic Republic's embassy in the UAE, but these efforts have not been fruitful. According to Radio Farda sources, the UAE's prevention of Mr. Moradi's travel to Brazil is due to a legal issue related to his 'family economic activities' in that country. Following the news release by Radio Farda, the president of the Volleyball Federation stated: 'Vahid Moradi, in coordination with the federation and myself, temporarily withdrew from accompanying the national team.' Milad Taghavi told Tasnim: 'Moradi has a personal issue related to one of his relatives. I allowed him to take necessary actions to resolve the issue, and Mr. Khosh-Khabar replaced him. We should not interfere in people's lives and cause them problems. This is not ethical.' Meanwhile, just hours before the departure, the Volleyball Federation's website listed Vahid Moradi as the group leader and manager of the national team, with Amir Khosh-Khabar as the camp supervisor for the 2024 Nations League. The flight path to Brazil was not supposed to be from Dubai. Moradi had stated during the departure to the federation's website: 'It had been planned for a long time to go to Doha with Qatar Airways, then to Sao Paulo, and from there to Rio.' However, at the request of the Brazilian national team's coach to reduce travel time, the Iranian national team's flight path was changed, according to Moradi, 'at the last moments.'