Russian volleyball officials are to postpone appointing a replacement for Sergei Ovchinnikov, the 43-year-old coach of the women's Olympic team who died in mysterious circumstances earlier this week.
Ovchinnikov was found dead Wednesday in the Croatian resort town of Porec, where he had been staying with his club Dynamo Moscow for a pre-season training camp.
There has been no official statement on the cause of Ovchinnikov's death, and repeated inquiries from R-Sport to local police have gone unanswered.
"The squad, of course, will not be left without a coach," said Vladislav Fadeev, the general manager of the Russian Volleyball Federation.
"But the probability that the coach will be appointed this year is small. The women’s team will not participate in any competitions till the end of this season. All the training camps will begin in May."
Ovchinnikov led the Russian team to the quarterfinals at the Olympics earlier this month after taking over as coach in December.
Russia was beaten 3-2 in the Olympic quarterfinals by eventual champion Brazil after missing six match points, a result widely seen as a failure back home for one of the medal favorites.
With details on the incident sparse, speculation has grown that Ovchinnikov may have committed suicide.
