Argentine men’s volleyball head coach Julio Velasco, coaching in his last tournament with the team before leaving to take over the same role for Modena in Italy, has been suspended by the FIVB after he was the protagonist of the tournament’s most vehement celebration so far. After Argentina’s controversial tie break win against current defending world champs Poland, in which Los Hermanos came back from behind 14-11 in the match’s final frame, Velasco exploded with anger and started running around the court flipping everyone at the arena off. Here is how the FIVB reacted to it:
“Video footage of your celebration after Argentina’s victory last night shows that you made an offensive gesture four times, which was caught by the television broadcast of the Event and which was insulting and detrimental to the image of the Event and the FIVB.”
As was expected, Velasco’s outburst was panned by critics all over the world, including in his home-country. Regardless, the Argentinian game announcers didn’t think anything of it, as can be clearly heard from the game’s Argentinian feed. This is the kind of passion that South Americans are accustomed to in soccer games. In volleyball, it is probably a first:
“The World Champions have fallen! They have treid to rob us, but couldn’t, and we beat them. It is an unexpected miracle, it is to cry for, the way these players defended Argentina’s jersey.”
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