At the Volleyball Men's World Championships Poland 2014 the hosts deservingly won the title. The Bulgarian national team was also a participant in the three-week tournament but it did not have success. The Bulgarian players placed 14th and thus stirred discussions about the future of professional sports in this country. The disappointing performance of Bulgaria at the tournament was actually expected. Nobody would have made a drama out of it if only Bulgaria didn’t have long traditions in this sport. The men’s volleyball team was close to grabbing the bronze medals at the Olympic Games in London in 2012. For years the team was among the leaders in the commercial World League. The volleyball victories made a number of young Bulgarians interested in this sport that actually enjoys great popularity in this country. However, successes were characteristic of the performance of the national side while the local championship did not manage to keep the momentum and games remained unimpressive. People who know about sports would tell you that in order to keep one’s good results, a long-term strategy and lots of work with the young players is needed. The crisis that has hit Bulgarian volleyball is caused by the same reason that has been affecting all sports in Bulgaria – severe lack of money. However, this is not all.

In times of crisis it is normal to look back in time and compare the situation with the times of “developed socialism.” During that time, some 25 years ago, sports were part of state policy. Much financing went to sport federations as state leaders enjoyed victories. Today, Bulgaria does not have a long-term strategy for the development of professional sports, nor for the mass and children’s sport. Experts have been calling for years for tax cuts for sponsors but their calls have not been heard so far. The results are visible.

During the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 Bulgaria won ten titles and placed at the 10th place in the medal chart. During the games in London in 2012 Bulgarian Olympic players won two medals – silver and a bronze one.

Experts say that the reason for the catastrophe is the not the lack of young talents but the lack of good managers. The inconsistent work of federations with young talents is also a reason. The best coaches have left this country and now work with foreign players in sports that used to be traditional for Bulgaria. This is true not only for volleyball but also for artistic gymnastics, weightlifting and even football. Nobody dreams of Bulgaria being the world’s leading nation in sports but is it sad to lose positions due to incompetence and lack of foresight. The chaos Bulgarians live in has obviously spread to the sphere of sports too.

English: Alexander Markov