MVPs of the Club Worlds: Where are they now?

Lausanne, Switzerland, October 8, 2016 - The cream of volleyball stars have passed through the FIVB Club World Championships since the competition was inaugurated in 1989 after two years of test events - and the list of MVPs reads like a Who's Who of international volleyball. But where are they now?

Quick links:
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Betim 2016 - Website
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Betim 2016 - Schedule
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Betim 2016 - Teams

USA's Karch Kiraly, back in his playing days in the 1990s, was the dominant force of Il Messaggero Ravenna in their glory days of three European Champions Cup titles, two European Supercups and the 1991 FIVB Club World Championship.

Kiraly was the only non-Italian MVP in the first period of the FIVB Club World Championships, joining Italians Claudio Galli, who won the title for Mediolanum Milan in 1990 and Lorenzo Bernardi for Sisley Treviso in 1993.

Galli, who wrapped up his playing career in 2000, has turned to television commentary for volleyball in Italy.

Bernardi, a silver medallist at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games and a two-time world champion in 1990 and 1994, shifted to a coaching career as of the mid-2000s and is currently with Turkey's Halkbank Ankara.


Lorenzo Bernardi, MVP of the 1992 FIVB Club World Championship, nowadays instructing his Halkbank Ankara players as coach.

Kiraly, meanwhile, has also been pursuing a glittering coaching career, after becoming one of the most decorated players in Olympic history with gold indoors and on the beach.

The now 55-year-old led USA's women to the title at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championship in Italy and added to that a bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.


Karch Kiraly (front row, left) on the podium of the 1991 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship as MVP, together with the other recipients of the individual awards.

When the Club World Championship resumed in the new century after a 17-year hiatus, Cuban-born Osmany Juantorena's star began to rise, as his club Italy's Trentino dominated the competition for four years running.

Bulgaria's Matey Kaziyski was named MVP when the competition resumed in 2009 in Doha, but Juantorena took the title for an incredible three seasons running, in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Kaziyski, now 32, returned to Trentino this year, after a stint in Japan, and will be present to help the Italian club in their bid to retake the throne in Betim.

Juantorena, who in the meantime took Italian citizenship, is still going strong, most recently helping Italy to the silver medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and next season set to continue with Lube Treia in his adopted country's A1 League.


Matey Kaziyski (left) and Osmany Juantorena, Trentino's two FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship MVPs, celebrate together at the 2012 edition of the competition in Doha.

So who will join this elite list of players when this year's edition of the Men's Club World Championship begins on October 18? Stay tuned to find out as the competition gets ever closer.

List of FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championships MVPs:
1989 Parma: -
1990 Milan: Claudio Galli (ITA), Mediolanum Milan
1991 Sao Paulo: Karch Kiraly (USA), Il Messaggero Ravenna
1992 Treviso: Lorenzo Bernardi (ITA), Sisley Treviso
2009 Doha: Matey Kaziyski (BUL), Trentino BetClic
2010 Doha: Osmany Juantorena (CUB), Trentino BetClic
2011 Doha: Osmany Juantorena (CUB), Trentino Diatec
2012 Doha: Osmany Juantorena (ITA), Trentino Diatec
2013 Betim: Wallace de Souza (BRA), Sada Cruzeiro Contagem
2014 Belo Horizonte: Dmitriy Muserskiy (RUS), Belogorie Belgorod
2015 Betim: Yoandy Leal (CUB), Sada Cruzeiro Contagem