Upon an invitation coming directly from Mr. Dancho Lazarov, President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, CEV President André Meyer, accompanied by his wife, paid a five-day visit to the Southern European country to attend the 3rd Round Qualification tournament staged in Varna for the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship as well as the General Assembly meeting of the local Volleyball Federation.
During the first day of competition, Mr. Meyer watched the games from the VIP stands in the “Dvoretsa na kulturata i sporta” hall in the company of Bulgaria’s Head of State President Georgi Parvanov. Top officials of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, such as President Dancho Lazarov, Vice President Ivan Todorov and Executive Director Stanislav Nikolov, joined Mr. Meyer on all three days of dramatic qualification matches in Varna.
“I am surprised by the Czechs who qualified for the Worlds since we all expected that the Dutch would join the Bulgarians in earning tickets to Italy,” the CEV President said in front of the Bulgarian National Television and other national media. “Of course, I enjoyed the strong performances of the local men’s team and wish them good luck for the upcoming European Championship in Turkey. The organization of the tournament was at very high level. I am sure that when Bulgaria completes the construction of the new sports hall in Sofia, it will be ready to host even bigger competitions – why not the 2013 European Championships. I am glad that women’s volleyball in Bulgaria has also been on the upside recently. You have a strong and promising national team that showed a lot of class in the European League and finished with the bronze on the podium. Bulgaria can be proud of being one of the founders of this new competition.”
The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation held a General Assembly meeting at the Grand Hotel Varna on Saturday, where André Meyer was received as honorary guest. He was given a warm welcome by Dancho Lazarov and addressed the delegates: “First, I would like to congratulate you for the 60th anniversary of your Federation that you celebrated a few weeks ago and to thank the President of your Federation for having invited me to attend this forum. Since you are here as representatives of the clubs, I would like to encourage more Bulgarian teams to become engaged in the European Cups. I am glad that there is one Bulgarian team among those contesting our most prestigious club competition – the Champions League. This year the World Club Championship will also be renewed with three teams from Europe. I hope that in the next years a Bulgarian team will also represent Europe in this competition. I would also like to inform you that this is the last continental qualification tournament for an international competition that is being organized by the FIVB. From now on, all such qualifications, at all levels and for all competitions, such as the World Championship or the Olympics, will be staged under the CEV umbrella. The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation is one of the most dynamic and important members of the European Confederation. We need the support from the clubs, we need the support from the national Federations, we need the support from everybody who is working for volleyball, and I would like to thank you for providing it to us.”
During the first day of competition, Mr. Meyer watched the games from the VIP stands in the “Dvoretsa na kulturata i sporta” hall in the company of Bulgaria’s Head of State President Georgi Parvanov. Top officials of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, such as President Dancho Lazarov, Vice President Ivan Todorov and Executive Director Stanislav Nikolov, joined Mr. Meyer on all three days of dramatic qualification matches in Varna.
“I am surprised by the Czechs who qualified for the Worlds since we all expected that the Dutch would join the Bulgarians in earning tickets to Italy,” the CEV President said in front of the Bulgarian National Television and other national media. “Of course, I enjoyed the strong performances of the local men’s team and wish them good luck for the upcoming European Championship in Turkey. The organization of the tournament was at very high level. I am sure that when Bulgaria completes the construction of the new sports hall in Sofia, it will be ready to host even bigger competitions – why not the 2013 European Championships. I am glad that women’s volleyball in Bulgaria has also been on the upside recently. You have a strong and promising national team that showed a lot of class in the European League and finished with the bronze on the podium. Bulgaria can be proud of being one of the founders of this new competition.”
The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation held a General Assembly meeting at the Grand Hotel Varna on Saturday, where André Meyer was received as honorary guest. He was given a warm welcome by Dancho Lazarov and addressed the delegates: “First, I would like to congratulate you for the 60th anniversary of your Federation that you celebrated a few weeks ago and to thank the President of your Federation for having invited me to attend this forum. Since you are here as representatives of the clubs, I would like to encourage more Bulgarian teams to become engaged in the European Cups. I am glad that there is one Bulgarian team among those contesting our most prestigious club competition – the Champions League. This year the World Club Championship will also be renewed with three teams from Europe. I hope that in the next years a Bulgarian team will also represent Europe in this competition. I would also like to inform you that this is the last continental qualification tournament for an international competition that is being organized by the FIVB. From now on, all such qualifications, at all levels and for all competitions, such as the World Championship or the Olympics, will be staged under the CEV umbrella. The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation is one of the most dynamic and important members of the European Confederation. We need the support from the clubs, we need the support from the national Federations, we need the support from everybody who is working for volleyball, and I would like to thank you for providing it to us.”
