November 14-2014
The international volleyball federation voted Sunday not to allow any of its international events to be held in Iran as long as women are barred from attending volleyball matches.
A week earlier, the federation’s 210 national volleyball organizations attending a world congress stood and gave a two-minute round of applause to a call for Iran to release Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, imprisoned for trying to attend a volleyball match in Tehran in June.
President Ary S. Graca of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) spoke at the group’s World Congress in Cagliari, Italy, of Ghavami’s plight and the need to show unified support to secure her release.
“She was detained for attending the Iranian men’s volleyball team match against Italy in Tehran,” the Brazilian said. “We never normally seek to interfere with the laws of any country. But in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the FIVB is committed to inclusivity and the right of women to participate in sport on an equal basis.”
Graca said he had already written to President Rohani and he lauded the Iranian National Volleyball Federation for working to secure her release.
“However, she remains detained. So, dear friends, I am sure that you will join me today in continuing to state the FIVB’s strongest wish that Ghoncheh Ghavami should be released immediately, and that women throughout the world should be allowed to watch and participate in volleyball on an equal basis.”
All the delegations then rose to their feet and gave a two-minute standing ovation in support of Graca’s call.
After eight days and no response from Iran of any kind, an FIVB spokesman announced that the federation will “not give Iran the right to host any future FIVB directly controlled events such as World Championships, especially under age, until the ban on women attending volleyball matches is lifted.”
However, the federation said, “This does not include other volleyball tournaments or next year’s World League tournament because the fixtures are already confirmed.” the spokesman added.
That somewhat dented the impact of the announcement.
Furthermore, the Inside-TheGames website reported November 2 that the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) selected Iran to co-host the 2015 Asian Men’s Volleyball Championships.
The secretary general of the Iranian federation, Mahmud Afshardoost, told Agence France Press (AFP) that the FIVB had already informed Iran it would not be able to organize the under-19 championships in 2015. “We received an email from the FIVB announcing a change of plan,” he said. Argentina has been asked to take over sponsorship of that event, AFP said.
The FIVB spokesman said the decision to sanction Iran was taken after the federation held a meeting in October with a delegation from Human Rights Watch.
Iran’s volleyball team is one of the best and very popular at home. It finished sixth in this year’s World Championships held in Poland and fourth at the World League.
Ghavami, a British-Iranian dual national, was detained June 20 after she tried to attend a World League volleyball match between Iran and Italy. She was recently sentenced to one year in prison with an additional two-year ban on her leaving Iran.
According to her brother, Iman, Ghoncheh began a hunger strike November 2 to protest her conviction and imprisonment. He says she is refusing both food and liquids, unlike an earlier hunger strike in which she continued to take liquids.
Her lawyer, Mahmud Alizadeh Tabatabai, was told last week about her sentence, but he says he still has not received the written document on the sentence that he needs to appeal her case. Her trial was held October 11 and her lawyer says the law requires that the written verdict and sentence be issued within one week’s of a trial’s conclusion.
But Gholam-Hossain Mohseni-Ejai, the spokesman for the Judiciary, told reporters Monday that no verdict has yet been issued and the case is not yet complete. He didn’t explain why he waited eight days after Tabatabai had spoken to say Tabatabai was wrong.
Tabatabai said he has only been allowed to meet with Ghavami once—on the day of her trial last month.
She was convicted of spreading anti-regime propaganda, a catchall charge that indicates little. A Judiciary spokesman earlier said the charges against her had nothing to do with the volleyball game she tried to attend. This week, Hadi Sadeqi, the deputy chairman of the Judiciary for Cultural Affairs, said Ghavami was being tried for her anti-Iran propaganda actions and interactions with counter-revolutionaries, which he did not further explain.
