TEHRAN - Iranian volleyball pundit, Behnam Mahmoudi, says that the performance of the Iran volleyball national team in the 2022 FIVB World Championship needs comprehensive analysis.

Iran failed to book their place in the 2022 FIVB World Championship quarterfinals after losing 3-0 to Brazil in Gliwice, Poland.

“The truth must be told even if it upsets some people,” said Mahmoudi in his exclusive interview with Tehran Times. “Iran's volleyball set some ideal goals for itself from 14, 15 years ago, but It has not yet been able to achieve these goals,” he added.

“During all these years, we have made great progress in the level of our volleyball. The point is that these successes did not belong to one person and many people worked hard for it,"

Mahmoudi implicitly criticized the president of the Iranian Volleyball Federation,

“The ideal goal of Iranian volleyball was to be among the top four at Olympics. However, we are moving away from our goal instead of closing to it,” said Mahmoudi.

The former Iran volleyball team opposite also talked about the performance of the national team in the 2022 FIVB World Championship.

“There was a generational change in the national team. With a new generation eager to shine, we expected better results, but Behrouz Ataei's team were knocked out of the competition and failed to meet the expectations.

“We didn't do well in the 2020 Olympics. In the 2022 Volleyball Nations League, we had a poor start, then we got a little better and finished in seventh place. So, it was expected that Iran would be better in the FIVB World Championship and show more eye-catching performance, but it didn't happen.

“In terms of quality and quantity (statistics), the Iranian volleyball team were far from good in the tournament. The results and the performance of the team, technical staff, and the federation require an accurate and comprehensive analysis. I've always supported Ataei and still believe that the main problem is not related to the technical staff,” he said.

"Iranian volleyball has a lot of talents all over the country, and the employment of young and expert managers can pave the way for volleyball's progress,” concluded Mahmoudi.