Key players and coaches from Iran's national volleyball team have been denied US visas while bureaucrats continue to travel.

The US State Department mysteriously refused the visas for the latest round of the Volleyball Nations League in California, while a long list of officials accompanying the team in the US were granted the visas.

The visit has sparked controversy in Tehran, where the Iranian public are funding bureaucrats' travel at the expense of key athletes.

Iran's national team arrived in Anaheim, California, a few days ago without its head coach Behrouz Ataei and several key players including Amin Emsaeilnejad and Mohammad-Taher Vadi. Meanwhile, the federation's public relations officer, vice-president, secretary and treasurer had been granted entry.

Milad Taghavi, the secretary of the federation and one of those initially denied a visa, called for boycotting the tournament because of the issue but finally ended up in California, according to Iran's state-run Mehr News Agency.

The Iranian website Tabnak has criticized the Iranian volleyball federation for giving a list of 60 people to the US embassy in Ankara and sending several officials to California