Marcello Abbondanza back at the helm of Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BFV) announced Marcello Abbondanza as the new head coach of the women’s volleyball national team. The Italian expert will take over from Antonina Zetova, who stepped down after her first season at the helm of the Lionesses. Abbondanza’s contract with BFV outlines a two-year term with a one-year extension option.

It will be his second term at the helm of Bulgaria, after leading the European team from 2011 to 2014. During his first term, Abbondanza steered Bulgaria to three CEV European League podiums.

Currently, the team competes in the Volleyball Nations League, the 2026 edition of which will set the official start of Abbondanza’s second term. The objective set by BFV is avoiding relegation and keeping Bulgaria’s place in the annual world-level competition, while the long-term goal for the Lionesses is qualification for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.

“First of all, we need to keep our place in the Volleyball Nations League and finish among the top 10 at the 2026 CEV European Championship,” BFV President Lyubomir Ganev told bvf.bg. “In 2027, our goal will be to be in the top 12 of the VNL and the top 12 of the FIVB World Championship. The following year, we aim to qualify for the VNL Finals and the top eight of the European Championship. The important thing is to create a team that can compete for the Olympics in 2032. Then, we need to be in the top 15 of the world."

At the start of the 2025 national team season, Bulgaria was ranked 20^th in the world. They took 13^th place in the new VNL format with 18 teams, but after an unsuccessful FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Thailand (27^th place), the southern European team dropped to number 25 in the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian youth national team achieved a historic result by claiming the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls U19 World Championship title, a year after their triumph as U18 European champions.

“Obviously, a talented new generation is growing, which is already showing solid results at European and World Championships,” 55-year-old Abbondanza said. “Evaluating the qualities that these athletes have at this stage, as well as the prospectives ahead of them, it was completely natural for me to send in my application. I believe that we can grow together - both me as a coach and the team as such. The potential is there, but it will take time, perseverance and work. I am convinced that this team can grow to compete with the leading powers of Europe.”

“We have a great generation that became European and world champions," Ganev added. "Our U21 team reached fourth place in the world. As a federation, we are obliged to provide them with the best conditions.”

Marcello Abbondanza will keep his current club job as the head coach of Turkiye’s Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul, with whom he has already won the CEV Cup once, the national title twice, the national cup three times and the national super cup three times. In his club career, Abbondanza has coached teams from Italy, Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Poland and Korea and has collected a wide array of international and national trophies and medals, including an FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship silver with Rabita Baku, two CEV Champions League titles with Foppapedretti Bergamo and the CEV Challenge Cup trophy with Scavolini Pesaro. He has also head coached the national teams of Canada and Greece.

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