With a red carpet, a guard of honour, and applause from relatives and journalists, the Bulgarian national volleyball team was welcomed upon their return from the World Championship in the Philippines. The silver medalists landed at 'Vasil Levski' Airport in Sofia with the government plane 'Airbus A319', after having been welcomed earlier that morning by the Minister of Youth and Sports Ivan Peshev in Istanbul.

First to disembark from the plane were the President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BFV) Lubomir Ganev, head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini, and captain Alex Grozdanov. Among the officials who came to greet them were Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov and the coordinator of the national teams Nikolay Ivanov.

Each of the players received a white rose, a wreath, and a check with a bonus of 520,000 BGN from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Approximately 100 people were allowed at the VIP exit of Terminal 1 – mainly relatives and media representatives.

photo: BFV