Italian volleyball coach Alberto Giuliani has been appointed at the helm of the Turkish men’s national team with a very important season ahead for the squad, currently ranked 14th in the men’s FIVB Volleyball World Ranking.

The first challenge will be the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) European Golden League in May and June, through which they will try to qualify for the Volleyball Challenger Cup 2023, where, on the other hand, they will seek promotion to the Volleyball Nations League 2024. In late August, Türkiye will start their participation in EuroVolley 2023, and then compete at one of the Olympic qualification tournaments for a spot at next year’s Games in Paris.

It will be the third time the 58-year-old Italian expert has taken over a national team, after he was in charge of Slovakia in 2015 and 2016, and of Slovenia from 2019 to 2021. At the helm of the latter, he won the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in 2019 and back-to-back silver medals at EuroVolley 2019 and 2021.

It is not the first time Giuliani will work in Türkiye. After years of coaching club teams in his native Italy and winning the 2010 CEV Cup with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo and a number of domestic trophies between Cuneo and Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata, he took charge of his first foreign club team, Halkbank Ankara, in 2018-2019. He then coached Poland’s Asseco Resovia Rzeszow for two seasons and he is now in his second season at the helm of Greece’s Olympiacos Piraeus.

Giuliani is taking on the role of Türkiye’s head coach from Nedim Ozbey, who had steered the team since 2018 and most recently led them to the 2022 Challenger Cup final and 11th place at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022.

“A new era begins for our national men's volleyball team,” stated Turkish Volleyball Federation President Mehmet Akif Ustundag. “We appointed the Italian head coach Alberto Giuliani, who had served successfully in our country before. Giuliani is a coach who has proven himself with his achievements. We think we made the right choice for our men's national team. I wish him success in his new position and wish him good luck for Turkish volleyball.”

“Back to Türkiye after a few years, but this time with the great honour of training the national team!” Giuliani posted. “Thanks to the president and the entire federation for giving me this great opportunity!”