TEHRAN – Iran’s sitting volleyball coach Hadi Rezaei has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Iran’s National Paralympic Committee for a four-year term.

The 59-year-old had been previously named as Chef de Mission for next year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Rezaei fulfilled the same role at last year's Asian Para Games in Jakarta where Iran finished third overall in the medals table, ahead of Tokyo 2020 hosts Japan.  

Rezaei is one of the Iranian most decorated para athletes and coaches.

He won three consecutive Paralympic Games gold medals in 1988 (Seoul), 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta) as a player.

As a coach, Rezaei also led Iran sitting volleyball team to three Paralympics gold medals in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 and two silvers in Athens 2004 and London 2012.

Iran's best performance at the Paralympic Games since they made their debut at Seoul in 1988 was at London 2012 when they finished 11th with a total of 24 medals, including 10 gold.

They won the same number of medals at Rio 2016 but only eight of them were gold, meaning they slipped to 15th.

Iran sent a record number of competitors to Rio 2016, being represented by 110 athletes in 12 sports.

Iran won a total of 136 medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, including 51 gold, finishing behind China and South Korea, who won 319 and 144 medals respectively.

They finished ahead of Tokyo 2020 hosts Japan, who won more medals than Iran - 198 - but fewer gold - 45.

Reporting by Masoud Hossein