We’re not sure what he’d get out of saying this but the Russian middle blocker has publicly questioned Italy’s chances in Rio if they didn’t have “foreign” players.

In an article by sportowefakty.pl, the 2012 Olympic Champion stated that the 2016 Olympics would’ve been different for the silver medalists if Zaytsev and Juantorena were not on the team.

“Italy won a (silver) medal because they had a team of foreigners (in Rio). Exclude Ivan Zaytsev and Osmany Juantorena from the starting lineup and start searching for the Italian players. Plus, there was Oleg Antonov among the subs.” -Volkov

In case you didn’t know, the parents of Zaytsev and Antonov are Russians while Osmany Juantorena is Cuban with Italian citizenship. Do you agree with Volkov at all?

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