Egypt hits reset button and eyes top 8 ranking through Volleyball Empowerment

Egyptian volleyball is poised for a resurgence, thanks to the support of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme which aims to empower national teams worldwide to achieve their full potential.

The FIVB is investing CHF 72,000 in a coach support project that will aim to see Egypt return to the top of world volleyball by developing talent with the help of Brazilian coaches Percy Oncken and Marco Antonio. In total, since 2018, the FIVB has invested nearly CHF 280,000 in Egyptian volleyball through a variety of coach support projects for the women’s, men’s and junior national teams.

It has been eight years since Egypt last won a continental title in volleyball with their senior men’s team. Ten years of dominance between 2005 and 2015, where the Pharaohs won six African titles, have more recently been overshadowed by Tunisia, who have claimed gold in the past three editions.

Now, Egypt is looking to regain its former glory by developing the next generation of talent with the support of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme.

Egypt Under-21 men team players train in Cairo, Egypt on June 29, 2023 for the upcoming FIVB Under 21 World Championship. (Photo credits: EVBF)

Egyptian Volleyball Federation (EVBF) President Yasser Kamar said:

“Egyptian and Brazilian volleyball have a lot in common in terms of culture, playing style, player physique and development structures. Our youth systems have been good over the years, but we want to do better and that’s why we opted for Brazilian coaches.

“In the past, we have dominated many African junior competitions, but we now want to make an impact at the global level. Percy and Marco have introduced new ways of training, and new standards of organisation and professionalism.

“They have really helped us in the selection process. In the past, you would find local coaches favouring some players because they are related. The young players are also eager to impress the foreign coaches which is a positive thing. They have done a good job with our junior players and through their work we have identified three or four players who are ready to step up to the senior team.”

Kamar was also delighted to announce that both the men's and women's U21 teams, under the guidance of Percy and Marco, have qualified for this year's FIVB U21 World Championship.

Transition from the junior to senior ranks, Kamar notes, has been Egypt’s major undoing in the last decade. In fact, Egypt has won around 25 African junior titles in the last 20 years compared to only seven at the senior level during the same period. Kamar is optimistic that Coach Flavio Gulinelli, who recently took charge of the senior men’s team through FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, is the missing piece in the jigsaw.

“It shows there is something we are not doing correctly because we have not been getting good results. Brazil dominates both junior and senior competitions and that’s why we have brought Flavio to help us with the transition of players in the senior team.

“We have also started encouraging our players to go out of Egypt and play professional volleyball in established leagues. It’s the best approach to improve the quality of the national team and we hope it will work for us,” said Kamar.

Egypt women’s team head coach Marco Antonio Queiroga gives instructions during their Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 qualifier against Kenya at Palais polyvalent des sports (Paposy) Arena in Yaounde, Cameroon on 5 January 2020 (Photo credits: SAMUEL GACHARIRA)

Gulinelli will take charge of the Pharaohs at the CAVB African Nations Championship to be held in Cairo between 1 to 14 September and the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier tournament set for 30 September to 8 October.

Egypt is in Pool B of the Paris 2024 qualifiers alongside Finland, Japan, Slovenia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye and the USA. The top two teams in Pool B, which will be played in Tokyo, Japan, will automatically qualify for Paris 2024.

“Our target is to reclaim the African title on home soil and do well at the Olympic qualifiers. We want to get as many ranking points as possible in these two competitions to become the top African country in the FIVB rankings which will assure us of a place at Paris 2024.

“The project has started very well, and we are grateful to the FIVB President Ary Graça for this noble idea. Our long-term target is to be ranked top in Africa (both men and women) and possibly top 8 in the world,” said Kamar.