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Finnish head coach of Russian volleyball squad Sammelvuo says ‘glad to be in Russia’

The specialist refused to comment whether he had been planning to apply for Russian citizenship

Tuomas Sammelvuo EPA-EFE/ADAM WARZAWA

Tuomas Sammelvuo

© EPA-EFE/ADAM WARZAWA

ST. PETERSBURG, August 12. /TASS/. Finland’s Tuomas Sammelvuo, who currently works as the head coach of the Russian men’s national volleyball team, said he did not feel as a foreigner living and working in Russia.

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"I never start musing whether I am a foreigner or a Russian," Sammelvuo, who is fluent in Russian, said in an interview with TASS. "I am very glad to be here in Russia."

Led by Sammelvuo, the Russian men’s national volleyball team earned on Sunday its direct path to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan’s Tokyo. At the FIVB Volleyball Olympic Qualification tournament in St. Petersburg last week the Russian squad defeated the national teams from Mexico, Cuba and Iran.

The 43-year-old Finnish expert declined to comment whether he had been planning to apply for Russian citizenship.

Sammelvuo took charge of the Russian men’s national volleyball team as the head coach earlier this year and led the squad to win the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League in July.

Finland’s former professional volleyball player Sammelvuo appeared in 296 matches with his national Finnish team, recording the second-largest number of games played for the national squad in the history of Finland.

He also served as the head coach of the men’s national volleyball team of Finland. In 2016 he signed a contract taking over Russian volleyball club Kuzbass Kemerovo as the head coach and guided it to win the 2018/2019 Russian Volleyball Championship.

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