TEHRAN – Milad Taghavi, head of the Iran Volleyball Federation, announced that Roberto Piazza will remain as Iran’s head coach.

Despite reports suggesting that the Italian coach might step down due to the Iran-Israel conflict, Taghavi dismissed these speculations.

He also expressed satisfaction with the national team’s performance during the first two weeks of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

“We are progressing game by game. I’ve repeatedly emphasized that our goal is not to achieve all our objectives in the first year, but rather to reverse the downward trend of recent years — which saw our ranking fall from eighth to 15th and 16th in the world — and to bring it back to around 10th to 12th,” Taghavi stated.

“I believe we have achieved our initial goals. Of course, Week 3 will be very challenging, and the results we saw in Week 2 may not be repeated in the third. While I hope they will be, we need to stay realistic. Our players still require more coordination. We’ve planned good training camps in Serbia and Poland, and I hope the friendly matches we’ve organized will positively impact their preparation and help foster greater team cohesion,” he added.

Regarding rumors about the possible termination of Piazza’s contract, Taghavi said: “There has been no discussion about this at all, and Mr. Piazza has not even mentioned such a thing. He is truly dedicated to the Iranian volleyball team. I don’t see him as just a foreign coach; he is a member of the team, and he has not spoken about or considered any of this.”