Ljubljana, Slovenia, March 3, 2017 - The Volleyball Federation of Slovenia has appointed Slobodan Kovac to lead the country's men's team after Italian volleyball legend Andrea Giani stepped down from the role at the end of January. Among other challenges, Slovenia will play in FIVB Volleyball World League Group 2 this year after defeating Germany in the Group 3 Final in 2016 to gain promotion to the second tier of the competition.
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB Volleyball World League 2017FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia Guides The 49-year-old Serbian, who applied for the job through the public tender, has signed a two-year contract with the possibility of a further extension.
“We were surprised by the number of candidates, who were mostly foreigners and all highly respected names in European and world volleyball. The decision was not an easy one, and it took some time. But now we are really satisfied we managed to bring Kovač to our team. We could say we signed probably one of the hottest names currently available on the market,” said Volleyball Federation of Slovenia President Metod Ropret.
Kovač can boast an impressive career as a volleyball player, including an Olympic gold medal with the former Yugoslavia at Sydney 2000; he started his coaching career in 2008 in Kragujevac, Serbia. Just two years later he was at the helm of the Italian A1 side Perugia Volley and was voted the best coach in Italy in 2013 and 2014. He is now working with Turkish top team Halkbank Ankara.
Under Kovac’s guidance, the Iran men's national team claimed an Asian Championship title and finished sixth at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championship in Poland, but now his next challenge will be with the up-and-coming European team.