TEHRAN – Iran’s men’s goalball team head coach Bahman Doosti Vala is unhappy with his team’s fifth place in the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Doosti Vala had previously said they would return to the country with a medal but failed to advance to semifinals after losing to eventual runners-up Ukraine.

“I am satisfied with our performance but not with our result. In the match against Ukraine, we played well but one of our players showed a poor performance and his mistakes cost us medal,” Doosti Vala said in an interview with Tehran Times.

“We could have won a medal if we had qualified for the semifinals but as I told you our player’s blunder prevented us from the podium. Team Melli were well-prepared for the Games and I believe that we did good job in Paris and I am satisfied with the way my team played,” he added.

“Also, I think the atmosphere of the Games was a reason to impact our players. They would compete in the noisy field for the first time and their performance were affected by large number of the spectators attending the matches,” Doosti Vala concluded.