By Sports Reporter/Doha


The Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) has named Argentinian Juan Manuel Cichello as the new national coach.
Cichello has worked with clubs in Italy and Spain in addition to coaching the Argentinian Under-17 and Under-19 national teams.
Cichello was also an assistant coach with Iran national team, which won the 2013 Asian Volleyball Championship and finished ninth in the World Volleyball League.
His first assignment as Qatar coach will be the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in September followed by the Arab Championship in UAE in October.
The 38-year-old Cichello succeeds the 39-year-old Croatian Igor Arbutina, whose contract was not extended after Qatar’s defeat to Bahrain in the GCC Championship final in Doha in November last year. Qatar had produced good results during the first stint of Arbutina including the 2009 Gulf Cup triumph in Oman.
The Canadian spiker Dallas Soonias, who is currently playing for Chinese team Fujian, may also join Qatar club Al Arabi.
Soonias, a member of the Canada squad, who ended up in seventh place at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, is likely to move to Arabi and will play for them till the end of the season.
The 29-year-old Canadian recently played in Poland, France, Russia, Spain and South Korea.