TEHRAN - Javad Davari, president of the Iranian Basketball Federation, provided some details about the appointment of Sotirios Alex Manolopoulos as the head coach of national team.

Manolopoulos, the 54-year-old former head coach of Romanian team Dinamo București, has been appointed as the new head coach of the Iranian national basketball team. The Greek coach, with a distinguished career that includes stints at Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, and Peristeri Athens, replaced Turkish coach Hakan Demir.

“This appointment should have happened sooner, but due to the Iran league competition, we had to delay it a little bit. However, we acted very quickly after the end of the competition,” Davari said.

Expressing gratitude to outgoing coach Hakan Demir, Davari said, “When you take over a team with an average age of 32 and reduce it to 25, it means you've done a great job of rebuilding. We thank Hakan for all his efforts in the national team.”

Davari emphasized that the  experience of new coach could be helpful for Team Melli.

“He was the head coach of the Greek national team and has participated in qualifiers with good results. But these are all on paper. We need to see what he can do. We must provide him with the necessary facilities. We should judge him after he starts working. The contract of the national team coach was signed before the federation's general assembly, but due to some circumstances, we announced it with a slight delay,” he added.

When asked if the new coach could also work with club teams, Davari clarified, “No, he can only work with the Iranian national team.”

Regarding Iran's chances of winning a medal at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup with Manolopoulos at the helm, Davari stated, “If you remove the foreign players from teams like Jordan, Lebanon, Japan, and the Philippines, Iran will be the undisputed Asian champions. We are facing opponents with unequal power. If they take their foreigners, they will not be able to compete with us. Iran is the power of Asia, and they should have special respect for this team. This problem must be solved."

Davari also announced that the Iranian Basketball Federation will soon be collaborating with a coach from Montenegro for youth teams and talent development.