We reported last Monday that Serbia’s Living Legend, VLADIMIR GRBIC, was heading to Iran to play in their professional league for Damash Volley Club after a long hiatus. Well well well…it’s not going to happen anymore.
Volleywood has learned that when Vanja arrived in Iran to meet and to practice with his club team, the team owner decided to send him home. Not because he wanted Vanja to celebrate the New Year in Serbia, but it was mainly because Nikola Grbic’s older brother did NOT meet the physical requirements of the club.
Both parties have not released any official statement.
Maybe it has something to do with his age? Vladimir is already 40.
We can’t really say much because we don’t know the club team well. But we wish Damash the best in the Iranian League. We hope they will find the player they need to beat the league’s #1 team, Paykan Tehran, who has won the title in the last 5 yrs. Paykan won the Bronze medal at the Club World Champs a couple of weeks ago.
We learned that many club teams in the Middle East, like Iran, don’t just sign up foreign players in a heartbeat. The foreign players need to fly to the Middle East to audition to get a physical assessment and a club team evaluation before sealing the contract.
Some Middle East club teams pay good $$$.
As for Vladimir, we wish you the best your majesty. We still think you have what it takes to play!
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(images from V. Grbic Facebook Page)