History

Our history

Volleyball became popular in Azerbaijan in the middle of the 20th century. Especially women's volleyball was developing in the country. The first and four-time Olympic volleyball player in the world is Inna Ryskal, a student of the Azerbaijan Volleyball School. 18-year-old Azerbaijani volleyball player Inna Ryskal (USSR) participated in the 1962 World Cup with the women's national volleyball team (USSR). Only the USSR team, which lost in the final, won silver medals. This is the first success of this young Azerbaijani volleyball player in the international arena. Becoming a key player in the top six, Inna Riskal has competed in four consecutive Olympic Games and has become one of the team's leaders. He set a historical record with 4 medals won at the Summer Olympic Games. It is a matter of pride that this record has not been updated yet, and it is the name of an Azerbaijani volleyball player. Thus, along with Inna Ryskal, another Azerbaijani volleyball player, Baku volleyball player Vera Lantratova, twice won the Olympic Games as a member of the USSR national team. Another proud fact is that two Azerbaijani volleyball players played in the volleyball team, which has a great selection of volleyball players as the USSR national team, and contributed to its greatest success.

In 1966 and 1972, the Azerbaijani women's volleyball club Neftchi won bronze medals at the USSR championship. Players of the Neftchi volleyball club also won bronze medals at the USSR championships in 1967 under the name of the Azerbaijani national team. Baku's BMKZ team won the bronze medal of the USSR Championship in 1990 and then the USSR Cup in 1991. This Cup is the last cup due to the collapse of the USSR. In 1993, the BMKZ team participated in the European Cups tournament under the name of the first independent Azerbaijani volleyball club and won the silver medal of the European Cup, losing only in the final. After gaining independence, the Azerbaijani women's national volleyball team participated in the 1994 World Cup in Brazil and took ninth place. The rising national team of Azerbaijan is disqualified by the International Volleyball Federation for 3 years due to mistakes made in filling out the documents. Azerbaijani volleyball, which has very strong and promising volleyball players, has suffered incredible losses over the past three years. Thus, players such as Yelena Shabovta, Alla Hasanova, Alla Teterina, Victoria Ravva, Oksana Mammadyarova have to go to Turkey, Russia and other countries. Along with these players, well-known specialists such as Felix Mammadov and Faig Garayev also go to countries such as Turkey. It is no coincidence that as a result of their efforts, volleyball began to develop in Turkey.

Faig Garayev achieved great success by leading the Turkish national team to the European Elite. After performing in Turkey for a long time, Faig Garayev and our girls volleyball players were returned to Azerbaijani volleyball on the personal initiative of the then President of the Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, current President Ilham Aliyev. The Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation has been recognized as an independent federation by the CEV and the FIVB since 1992. During this period, the Federation has achieved many successes. Every year, national championships among women and men are held in our country. Our national teams have worthily represented our country in international competitions. AVF hosted CEV and FIVB competitions. Our women's national volleyball team has participated in the World Cup 4 times and the finals of the European Championship 8 times.