In case you didn’t know, Ivan Zaytsev, Dragan Travica, Giulio Sabbi and Luigi Randazzo are NO LONGER with the Italian Team who are in Brazil for the FIVB World League Final 6 due to disciplinary reasons.
Click HERE to read the full report.
These players are back in Italy and no one really knows the details on their expulsion since none of the players involved nor the Italian Federation have publicly addressed the issue which erupted yesterday.
In regards to this drama, Volleywood has received EXCLUSIVE revelations that Coach Berruto and the Men’s National Team have been having internal issues since the legendary Cristian Savani left the squad after winning bronze at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 European Championship.
Insider says…
“Coach Berruto, the Italian Federation and the players had so much to celebrate right after winning the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics. Everyone was over the moon. On top of that, they also won a silver medal at the European Championship the year after.
The Federation extended Berruto’s coaching contract for the next Olympic cycle until the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Coach Berruto started his Road To Rio Project in November 2012.”
The source also adds that the “healthy” atmosphere remained until Italy played a disastrous and forgettable 2014 FIVB World Championship. The Italian team finished 13th – Italy’s worst finish in any major FIVB tournament.
“Italy won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2014 FIVB World League but the relationship started to get sour during and right after the World Champs in Poland.
Some veterans and Berruto were no longer on the same page. The level of respect some of the players had for Mauro started to deteriorate. The Federation was panicking if they should fire him or keep him.
So many issues started to rise after Poland. Players started to become complete divas on the team. Some pressure Mauro to exclude some players.
It was a complete mess.”
Perhaps one of the most important REVELATION from the insider would have to be the lack of leadership.
“Since Savani retired, Italia did NOT have, NEVER had & does NOT have a true CAPTAIN.
No one was there to glue the team together. Back in the days, there was Giani then Papi and then Savani but no one after that.
Zaytsev is perhaps the superstar on the team but he has a full plate on and off the court. He got married, became a dad, moved to Russia to play for Moscow and had injuries to deal with. He may be the team’s best player and scorer but he never gets the chance to build his leadership skills.
Travica is perhaps the diva on the team. I’m not sure if this is true but he reportedly threatened to quit the team if Berruto would include Baranowicz and put him as a bench player.
If you look at the team now after Savani, no one out there can really be a leader.”
We asked the source on the current issue and the reply is…
“Only time will tell.”
So let’s wait and see…
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