The Serbia men's national volleyball team is the national team of Serbia. FIVB and CEV considers Serbia the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia (1948–1991) and Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006).[1] Serbia won gold at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and bronze at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
The Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared the national volleyball team to be the best male team of the year in 2000, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia did the same in 2010 and 2013.[2]
Serbia's most proud moment came at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when under the name Yugoslavia it won Olympic gold. A heavy favourite was team Italy, who won the last three World Championships and the European title in 1995 and 1999, but they had yet to win an Olympic gold medal. They swept through Group B undefeated and won their quarter-final match over Australia. In the semifinals, Serbia & Montenegro (Yugoslavia), runners-up at the 1998 Worlds, and bronze medalists at the 1999 Europeans, triumphed in straight sets, again denying Italy an Olympic gold medal. Serbia & Montenegro had struggled in the pools, finishing only third behind Italy and Russia, but they defeated Russia in straight sets in the final to win the gold medal. As in 1996, all medalists came from the same pool, this time Group B.[3]
Volleyball was brought to Serbia by g. William Viland, a professor of folklore and folk sports from Oakland, California, when the Red Cross held a series of lectures and demonstrations of American sports in Belgrade and Novi Sad. It is believed that his arrival marked the beginning of volleyball in this area, and in 1924 is considered the year when the first volleyball ball came to Serbia. During the period of occupation, between 1941 and 1944, volleyball was played very actively, numerous competitions were held, and more sports clubs/society's had established its volleyball section. The Serbian/Yugoslav Volleyball Federation was founded in 1946 by the Alliance for Physical Education of Yugoslavia. A year later, in 1947, the World Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was founded and the former Yugoslavia was one of the 14 founders. From 13 February 1949, the Volleyball Federation became an independent sports organization. Two years later, at the European Championships held in Paris, the women's volleyball team of Yugoslavia won the bronze medal for the first time. This success was repeated with the men's event in 1975, when Serbia for the first time in history hosted the biggest European competition, both the men's and women's events. The Serbian team in the last match of the final group defeated Bulgaria in the crowded hall of "Pioneer" in Belgrade and won the bronze medal.[4]
In 2011 Serbia became European champion and in 2016 the champion of FIVB World League for the first time, with Marko Ivovic being crowned MVP of the tournament and Srecko Lisinac being chosen as the Best Middle Blocker.[5]
The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Serbia national volleyball team.
Period
Kit provider
2000–
Asics DAcapo
2017–
Peak Sport Products
Sponsorship[]
Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like Poštanska štedionica. other sponsors: Škoda Auto, Radio Television of Serbia, Žurnal, Srbijagas, Posta, EPS and Blic.
1992 Barcelona
1996 Atlanta
2000 Sydney
2004 Athens
2008 Beijing
2012 London
2016 Rio de Janeiro
2020 Tokyo
2024 Paris
1998
2002
2010
2014
2018
2022
2003 Japan – 
Bronze medal
1996
2004
2005
2009
2015 Rio de Janeiro – 
Silver medal
2016 Kraków – 
Gold medal
1993
1999
2001
2003
2009
1995 – 
1997 – 
1999 – 
2001 – 
2005 – 
2007 – 
2015 Baku
2019 Minsk
2001
2022
Iran 
SCM Zalău
Igor Kolaković (2006–2014)
Nikola Grbić (2015–2019)
Summer Olympics men's volleyball tournament winners
