The Russian Volleyball Federation is to organize a tournament in memory of women's national team Sergei Ovchinnikov, who was found dead last week, honorary president of the Federation Valentin Zhukov said Thursday.
Less than a month after coaching Russia's women at the Olympics, Ovchinnikov, 43, was discovered dead in his hotel room in the Croatian resort town of Porec, where he had been staying with his club Dynamo Moscow for a preseason training camp.
A lack of official information on the circumstances of Ovchinnikov's death has led to speculation he committed suicide.
“We will organize a tournament in Sergei’s memory. It will be a big children’s tournament under the auspices of the federation,” Zhukov said.
He added that Ovchinnikov had been a workaholic and that this could have taken a toll on his health.
“Sergei will be remembered by his full commitment to his activities, that may be had bad influence on his health. He was worrying a lot all the time.”
Zhukov was speaking on the day of Ovchinnikov's funeral in the city of Yaroslavl, which coincidentally took place a day before the first anniversary of an air crash that killed the city's hockey team.
