FIVB Secretary General Fernando Lima Praises Iranian Organizers
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - FIVB secretary general Fernando Lima lauded the Iranian organizers of the FIVB World Tour.
The week-long men-only competition in Kish Island ended with victory for Qatar's Brazilian-born Jefferson Santos and partner Cherif Younousse, who beat Russia's Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin 21-13, 14-21, 15-12 in the final.
"We were making a stand by hosting the event, and letting people be there," the Brazilian told the BBC World Service today.
"We don’t believe in killing the process and we don’t want to isolate a country. We believe change will come if we give people an opportunity to express themselves," the Brazilian said.
The FIVB World Tour event is likely to return next year, Lima added, although they will be expecting more spectators to attend.
"As an initial step, I think they [the organizers] are probably going to get an approval from us, to keep the event in Kish Island," he added.
"What we would like to see next year is no 'misunderstandings' and maybe more people attending the event.
"This has not been a success in terms of the public attending, although it's the first time a beach volleyball event has taken place here," Lima stated.
