Teams

Eczacibasi Istanbul

Overview

Team profile

Eczacibasi Istanbul

In their third ever appearance at the FIVB Club World Championship Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul will be looking a repeat of their successes in 2015 and 2016 for their third straight gold medal.

No other club in the history of the competion had won back-to-back gold medals when Eczacibasi outlasted Pomi Casalmaggiore 3-2 in last year's final in Manila. A year earlier in Zurich Eczacibasi had claimed their first gold with a 3-1 win over Dinamo Krasnodar.

Founded in 1966, the club celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Eczacibasi have won the Turkish league title a record 28 times - though not since 2012. After a silver medal in 1980 (losing to Czechoslovakia's Red Star Prague in the final) and a bronze in 2000, Eczacibasi won the ultimate European club title in 2015, defeating Italy's Yamamay Busto Arsizio in straight sets in the Champions League final in Szczecin. They also won the European CEV Cup in 1999.

Coach

Massimo Barbolini

Massimo Barbolini

Fifty-two-year-old Massimo Barbolini will lead defending champions Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship after having guided the club to triumph in 2016.

After a few years coaching men's teams at the beginning of his career, Modena-born Barbolini first worked with a women's team in 1993 and led Parmalat Matera to the European Champions Cup title in 1996. In 2016 he was in charge of Pomi Casalmaggiore when they won the European Champions League, before moving to Eczacibasi.

He has done stints with the women's national teams of Italy (fourth place in the 2006 FIVB Volleyball World Championship, gold in the 2007 and 2011 FIVB Volleyball World Cups, fifth place in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and gold in the 2007 and 2009 European Championships) and Turkey.

  • Team Manager Nalan Ural
  • Assistant coach Alper Hamurcu
  • Second Assistant Coach Yunus Öçal
  • Doctor Ali Demircan

Photos