The Bosnia and Herzegovina men's national sitting volleyball team ( Bosnian: ''Reprezentacija BiH u sjedećoj odbojci'') represents

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

in international

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game. History Sitting volleyball was inv ...

competitions and friendly matches. Bosnia is one of the dominant forces in sitting volleyball worldwide, alongside

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The team won a bronze medal, during ECVD European Championships in 1997 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. It took nearly two decades later for the nation to win a medal outside the sport of sitting volleyball when

Amel Tuka Amel Tuka (born 9 January 1991) is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. His achievements include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Tuka holds na ...

won bronze during

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

. The team is the most decorated in Bosnia and Herzegovina sport having won 2

paralympic volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game. History Sitting volleyball was inv ...

gold medals, 3 paralympic silver medals, 3 World Cup titles, and 9 won European Championships straight. The team won World titles and European titles either side of winning

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

in 2004 Athens. The team is a member of the world (WOVD) and European (ECVD) sitting volleyball governing bodies. It is governed by the Association of sitting volleyball of Bosnia and Herzegovina (''Savez sjedeće odbojke BiH''). Until 1992, Bosnian players like Ševko Nuhanović were part of the Yugoslav national sitting volleyball team.

History

Prior to 1992, during the

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

days, the beginnings of the team started to take its form. Players were part of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

based ''Uporni Sitting Volleyball Club'' which were champions of Yugoslavia three times in a row. Bosnia and Herzegovina men's sitting volleyball team includes athletes who were deeply affected by the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

(6 April 1992 – 14 December 1995). Due to the large number of people injured in the conflict, the country started to invest more in Paralympic sports. Captain

Sabahudin Delalić Sabahudin Delalić (born 17 August 1972, in Sarajevo) is a sitting volleyball player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is the current captain of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team – ASOBiH. He has won four medals at Summer Paralymp ...

fought for the

Bosnian army The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine, OSBiH, Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине, ОСБИХ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herz ...

and lost part of his right leg after a wall fell on him. Safet Alibašić lost one of his legs when he stepped on a

landmine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

. The first major tournament participation came in during 1995 European championship. During its qualification phase in early December 1994, the team (all players from Sarajevo club SDI Spid), traveled to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

on a bus riddled with bullet holes in temperatures of 17 degrees below zero. Bosnia along with Austria were the only nations to travel to play Croatia in the qualification tournament (out of 11 invited). Croatia finished undefeated with victories over Austria 3:0 (15:5, 15:8, 16:14) and Bosnia (15:6, 15:8, 15:11). Bosnia beat Austria, however all 3 nations qualified for the finals. Team made their Paralympic Games debut at

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and won silver. There were five total Paralympic podium finishes in sitting volleyball for Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are the only medals in Olympic and Paralympic Games as an

independent nation Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

(from

). The

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

distance runner

holds the only other prestigious medal for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a bronze at

in Beijing. On 21 June 2014, Edin Džeko congratulated the BiH men's national sitting volleyball team after they won ''2014 Sitting Volleyball World Championships'' title, stating "You are our pride and inspiration". On 10 September 2012, Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina congratulated the BiH sitting volleyball team upon their paralympic gold medal win at

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

in London, saying "You are a pride of our nation", as did NFSBiH (normalization committee) with

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

at the head. Success formula Height, experience and strong club league are key to success in the sitting volleyball. 80% of the Bosnian national team players come from

based and Europe's top two

club sides; SDI Spid and OKI Fantomi. Height is a critical aspect of successful team as was case with

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

national team winning gold over Bosnia at Rio 2016 Paralympics final due to height advantage of tallest

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

Morteza Mehrzadselakjani at ''2.46m (8ft 1in)'', giving his team an advantage in his ability to both block at the net and fire over returns from a much higher

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tr ...

. In the Rio final; Mehrzadselakjani was top scorer for Iran with 28 points. Safet Alibašić top scored for BIH with 16 points. Fastest serve came from Adnan Manko at 68 km/h. Sport investment, financial backing and sprint velocities are other key factors. Style of play Bosnia play an attacking style of

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. Nickname A popular nickname of all Bosnian sport players and/or teams is the ''Zmajevi'' or ''Dragons'' in English alluding to the famous Bosnian general

Husein Gradaščević Husein Gradaščević (''Husein-kapetan'') (31 August 1802 – 17 August 1834) was a Bosnian military commander who later led a rebellion against the Ottoman government, seeking autonomy for Bosnia. Born into a Bosnian noble family, Gradaš� ...

who fought for Bosnian independence and who was known as the "Dragon of Bosnia". In foreign media, they are sometimes referred to as the ''Golden Lilies'', in reference to the golden lily featured on the coat of arms of the influential Bosnian medieval

Kotromanić dynasty The Kotromanić ( sr-cyrl, Котроманић, Kotromanići / Котроманићи) were members of a late medieval Bosnian noble and later royal dynasty. Rising to power in the middle of the 13th century as bans of Bosnia, with control ov ...

. Sponsorship Team is sponsored by

based telecommunication company BH Telecom d.d. since 1996.

Honours

Seniors Competitive record

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

World Para Volleyball Championship World Para Volleyball Championship, was played first time at 1983. WOVD World Championships Sitting volleyball Men's Sitting - Past winners * Ranking Women's Sitting - Past winners * Ranking Standing Beach Ranking Men # 1985 (10) Iran Y ...

European Championships

* Bosnia played 1 extra opponent in group stage of 2017 championship while Russia/Ukraine/Croatia (other semi-final sides) played 1 less.

Minor tournaments

Note: WOVD Intercontinental Cup tournaments serve as Paralympic qualifiers.
In 2005 Sarajevo competition; club ''Sdi Spid'' faced Iran in the final.

Juniors Competitive record

Junior World Championships

Junior European Championships

Coaches

Coaching staff

Players

Players called up for 2016 Summer Paralympics: Head coach: Mirza Hrustemović Players called up for 2015 European Championships:

(captain), Dževad Hamzić, Asim Medić, Safet Alibašić, Beniz Kadrić, Ermin Jusufović, Muhamed Kapetanović, Nizam Čančar, Ismet Godinjak, Adnan Manko, Mirzet Duran, Adnan Kešmer, Edin Džino, Armin Šehić, Jasmin Brkić, Adin Likić, Damir Grbić. Players called up for

: Players called up for 2008 Summer Paralympics: Safet Alibašić,

(captain), Mirzet Duran, Esad Durmišević, Ismet Godinjak, Dževad Hamzić, Ermin Jusufović, Hidaet Jusufović (libero), Zikret Mahmić, Adnan Manko, Asim Medić, Ejub Mehmedović. Players called up for 2004 Summer Paralympics: Dževad Hamzić, Nedzad Salkić, Safet Alibašić,

, Ermin Jusufović, Zikret Mahmić, Fikret Causević, Asim Medić, Esad Durmisević, Ejub Mehmedović, Adnan Manko, Ismet Godinjak. Players called up for 2000 Summer Paralympics: Dževad Hamzić, Nedžad Salkić, Abid Čišija,

, Nevzet Alić, Zikret Mahmić, Fikret Čausević, Asim Medić, Edin Ibraković, Ševko Nuhanović, Adnan Manko, Ismet Godinjak. The players in the B&H national side predominantly are selected from two biggest clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina:KSO Spid Sarajevo and OKI Fantomi Sarajevo ''(Volleyball Club Invalids Phantoms)''. The sitting volleyball clubs started by gathering mostly war veterans handicapped during

. Both clubs are multiple league champions at home.

KSO Spid

KSO Spid was founded on 5 April 1994. * Bosnia and Herzegovina Sitting Volleyball Championship: **Winners (16): ''1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.'' **Runners-Up (4): ''2002, 2006, 2008, 2009.'' * Bosnia and Herzegovina Sitting Volleyball National Cup: **Winners (2): ''1999, 2000.'' * Sitting Volleyball Champions League: **Winners (7): ''2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010'' **Runners-Up (4): ''1998, 1999, 2004, 2007.'' **3rd Place (1): ''2008.'' * Sitting Volleyball World Club Championship: **Runners-Up (2): ''2003, 2005.'' * Sitting Volleyball Sarajevo Open: **Winners (1): ''2004''.

OKI Fantomi

OKI "Phantom" were established in 1995 in Sarajevo. * Bosnia and Herzegovina Sitting Volleyball Championship: **Winners (5): ''1996'', ''2002'', ''2006'', ''2008'', ''2009'' **Runners-Up (8): ''1997'', ''1999'', ''2000'', ''2001'', ''2003'', ''2005'', ''2007'', ''2012''. * Bosnia and Herzegovina Sitting Volleyball National Cup: **Winners (1): ''2009'' * Sitting Volleyball Champions League: **Winners (3): ''2004'', ''2007'', ''2008''. **Runners-Up (4): ''2003'', ''2005'', ''2006'', ''2011''. **3rd Place (1): ''2001''. * Sitting Volleyball Sarajevo Open: **Winners (12): ''2002'', ''2003'', ''2006'', ''2007'', ''2008'', ''2009'', ''2010'', ''2011'', ''2012'', ''2014'', ''2015'', ''2016''. **Runners-Up (3): ''2004'', ''2005'', ''2013''.

Sarajevo Open

Organised annually by OKI Fantomi volleyball club, Sarajevo Open has grown into a tournament of prestige for national teams and elite club sides and is a highly rated calendar event by participants. International trust fund for demining and mine victims assistance (ITF) is a sponsor of OKI "FANTOMI" Sarajevo and Sarajevo Open.

Results

1994–1999 2000–2009 2010–present ''Legend''

Statistics

Most appearances – All time list

Sorted by date of birth as it is difficult to know exact number of appearances. Most appearances during career playing for Bosnia and Herz. Former Yugoslavia statistics where applicable not included.

Multiple gold medalists at Paralympics

This is a list of multiple Paralympics gold medalists for Bosnia in sitting volleyball, listing people who have won two or more gold medals (sorted by gold medal first).

Biggest wins by Bosnia

Table sorted by points conceded (scored against BiH) in straight sets win (least to most).

Biggest defeats by Bosnia

World ranking

As at 28 September 2016.
Bosnia best European rank in sitting volleyball was 1st. At 2016 Rio Paralympics, Bosnia retained Rank at No. 1 (seed No. 1) as defending Paralympic champion.

Top rivals

Rivals Bosnia predominantly meets in the finals of major competitions listed.

Bosnia–Iran rivalry

Bosnians brought an end to the Iranians' series of four Paralympic golds at

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, the two teams have met in all the finals of the Paralympic Games and world championships, except in 2014, when the Bosnians faced Brazil. Sitting volleyball is not the only men's sport these two nations faced each other at the biggest stage of a competition. Bosnia played and beat Iran at both 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2015 Handball World Championship.

Bosnia–Germany rivalry

Bosnia since team formation has been an adversary to Germany during European sitting volleyball championships as teams have met at almost every major tournament in later stages of the finals.

Bosnia–Russia rivalry

Bosnia since team formation has been an adversary to Russia during European sitting volleyball championships as teams have met several times at major tournament finals.

Sport in popular culture

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and Croatian former soccer manager

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of EFL Championship side Watford. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown c ...

played sitting volleyball during International Paralympic Day in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

on 8 September 2011. *

Sergej Barbarez Sergej Barbarez (born 17 September 1971) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Barbarez played for several clubs in the German Bundesliga and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is considered one of the ...

met the OKI Fantomi club during the friendly sitting volleyball tournament ''2006

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

Cup'' in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. ''Fantomi'' beat Germany in the final 2–0.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

SSOBiH.org – Official website
{{WOVD teams Volleyball in Bosnia and Herzegovina National sitting volleyball teams