BEILUN, China, Aug. 2 -- Turkey women's volleyball coach Giovanni Guidetti issued an angry tirade on social media after one of his key players failed to get permission to play in the Olympic Pool B qualification matches starting here on Friday.
VakifBank star Meliha Ismailoglu was a surprising absence as Turkey registered only 13 players for the tournament, having been forced to leave out the Bosnian-born spiker due to documentation problems.
"Meli is training all summer for one dream: going to Olympics! But Meli cannot play at the Olympic qualification tournament because someone, somewhere, many years ago, made a paper mistake," Guidetti tweeted, saying it's "ruining the dream of a player".
According to the Italian coach, Ismailoglu, who was born Meliha Smajlovic in Bosnia and Herzegovina, began playing for Turkey in 2017 and had done so since then with dual citizenship.
The 25-year-old was awarded Best Sportswoman in the 5th edition of the Turkey Youth Awards last April.
"I THINK THIS IS NOT CORRECT!" Guidetti wrote after expressing his anger at Meliha's absence.
The Tokyo 2020 qualification tournament sees 24 teams across the world divided into six pools of four, with each pool's top team securing a place at the Olympic Games next year.
Guidetti's side has been drawn into Pool B alongside with China, Germany and the Czech Republic. They play Germany on Friday, the Czechs on Saturday and hosts China on Sunday.