TEHRAN - Former head coach of Iran's women's volleyball national team, Fariba Sadeghi, says that the presence of good foreign coaches will help Iranian volleyball both for women and men.

Iran volleyball federation has reached an agreement with Italian women volleyball coach Alessandra Campedelli. Before, the federation had negotiated with other international coaches as well.

“I believe that the Iranian volleyball needs to bring experienced foreign coaches. There is no doubt about it,” Sadeghi told Tehran Times. “Even in the men's volleyball, even though the men’s team are strong, there is still a need for a foreign coach.”

Sadeghi was named the head coach of the national team last May to prepare the Iranian women for the 2021 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship. Originally scheduled for Aug. 29 to Sept. 5, 2021, the tournament was postponed to Aug. 30 to Sept. 6, 2022, due to rising COVID-19 cases amidst a pandemic.

Now the Iranian women's national team will participate in the tournament with a new foreign coach, namely Campedelli. She is currently the head coach of the deaf Italian women's national team, with them she won the European title in 2019.

“Due to the fact that the Iranian women's volleyball lack enough international experiences, we need a foreign coach who has the experience of competing in different levels of international competitions,” she said.

“On the other hand, the Iranian women's volleyball league has not been dynamic in the previous years- except the current season – and the Iranian players were not able to play in big matches and big tournaments. It is another factor that proves the need for an experienced international coach who conveys her knowledge to our players,” added the current coach of the Zob Ahan volleyball team.

“There are not many female international coaches in world volleyball because men lead many women's teams. Moreover, the number of coaches who can adapt themselves to Iran's cultural and economic situation is not that much.

“So, I believe that the Iranian volleyball federation has done a great job – due to the problems and limitations - to find an excellent new coach for the national team, and it will help us a lot,” concluded Sadeghi.