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Iran finished the 2021 VNL in 12th place after winning five out of 15 matches. Alekno’s side stood just above Germany, Netherlands, Bulgaria, and Australia with 18 points.

Alekno said that his plan for the national team in the Olympic Games is to move forward step by step.

“I don’t like to take big steps in my life and also don’t like to predict about future. But, I can say that in the 2020 Olympics we have been drawn in a difficult group. However, in this group, except Poland and Italy, who are relatively better than us, we can hope to play well and get results against the other teams,” Alekno said.

“My strategy is to move forward step by step. It is not right that when, for example, we are going to face Venezuela, we think about playing against Japan. Instead, we will go ahead game by game. Our matches in the 2021 VNL have been analyzed carefully. Now, we have valuable materials that we can work on. I hope we can benefit from our analysis in the Olympics,” he added.

When asked about the federation’s pressure on him to achieve good results and place the team on the Olympic podium, Alkeno replied: “There is no pressure on me neither from the federation nor from anyone else to win a medal. There is no guarantee in sports, and I cannot guarantee to climb the podium in Tokyo. I ask you who could guarantee Italian football team would win the 2020 Euro. Did you know Italy would win the title in penalty shootout?

“To climb the Olympic podium is not only the dream of the president of the volleyball federation, but it is also the dream of me, you, and all the Iranian people. We cannot criticize or condemn anyone for such a hope or dream. But It’s too early to guarantee that Iran national volleyball team will be on the podium. Before we have such an expectation, we must look at the general level of the Iranian volleyball league and compare it with the leagues of other teams that also hope to climb the podium in the Olympics.” Alekno said.

The Persians will start their 2020 Olympic Games journey with the game against Poland on 24 July.

Iran are in Pool A along with Italy, Poland, Japan, Canada and Venezuela.

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Sports and Youths Minister Masoud Soltanifar, Tehran mayor Pirouz Hanachi and Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the Vice President of Iran and Head of the Budget and Planning Organization attended the unveiling ceremony held at the Iran’s National Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Reza Salehi Amiri, head of National Olympic Committee (NOC), and Mahmoud Khosravai Vafa, head of Paralympic Committee were among the attendees.

The busts of a Paralympic medal winner Mohammadreza Mirzaei Jaberi and eight Olympic medalists Mahmoud Namjoo, Mohammadali Khojastehpour, Esmaeil Elmkhah, Aboutaleb Talebi, Ali Mirzaei, Parviz Jalayer, Shamseddin Seyed-Abbasi and Mansour Barzegar were unveiled.

Javelin thrower Mohammadreza Mirzaei Jaberi claimed four gold medals in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Games.

Weightlifter Mahmoud Namjoo won a silver medal at 1952 Olympic Games and a bronze medal in the Games four years later. He also claimed three gold medals in world championships.

Mohammadali Khojastehpour seized a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1956 Olympic Games.

Esmaeil Elmkhah claimed a bronze medal in weightlifting at the 1960 Olympic Games.

Freestyle wrestler Aboutaleb Talebi took a bronze at the 19868 Olympic Games.

Ali Mirzaei won a bronze medal in weightlifting in 1952 Olympic Games.

Parviz Jalayer snatches a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Wrestler Shamseddin Seyed-Abbasi won a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympic Games. He also claimed a gold medal at the 1970 world championships.

Mansour Barzegar took a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and a gold medal at the 1973 world championships.

A statue of legendary wrestler Gholamreza Takhti was also unveiled at the Hall of Fame.

Popularly nicknamed Jahān Pahlevān – “The World Champion” – because of his chivalrous behavior and sportsmanship, he was the most popular athlete of Iran in the 20th century, although dozens of Iranian athletes have won more international medals than he did.

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Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organizers are not considering canceling the Olympics, which start on July 24.

“We in Japan, will keep in close contact with everybody, including the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization, to take appropriate steps and keep the virus from affecting the Olympics,” Abe told a parliamentary committee, Reuters reported.

The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 on Monday and a growing number of countries are reporting cases. Japan has 20 confirmed cases, 17 of which were people who had been to China or are Chinese.

On the other hand, the Philippines Department of Health said a 44-year-old man from Wuhan city in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, had died after developing severe pneumonia. It was the first death out of more than 130 cases reported in around two dozen other countries and regions outside of mainland China.

The man who died was a companion of a 38-year-old Chinese woman, also from Wuhan, who was the first and only other person to test positive for the virus in the Philippines. Both patients arrived in the Philippines via Hong Kong on Jan. 21.

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