The Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) confirmed Dal Zotto, who won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, was on a ventilator after his condition deteriorated. 

He had been taken to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro late last week.

The CBV said Dal Zotto, head coach of the men's team since 2017, needed the ventilator "to maintain the highest oxygen saturation level".

"The expectation is that the coach will remain in this state for 48 to 72 hours and before the ventilator is removed," the CBV added in a statement.

CBV vice-president Radames Lattari was also placed in intensive care last week because of COVD-19 as Brazil deals with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Lattari was "making good clinical progress", the CBV said.

Brazil has become the epicentre of the pandemic and the country is recording an average of 3,000 daily deaths.

There have also been reports of hospitals and medical facilities struggling to cope with the volume of new patients.

Brazil has recorded more than 13.9 million cases of COVID-19, resulting in at least 375,000 deaths.