Bulgaria will allocate EUR 5 M for co-hosting the 2018 Men's World Volleyball Championship together with Italy.

Bulgarian Sports Minister Krasen Kralev explained that any additional expenses would have to be met by the Bulgarian volleyball federation.

Italy made a commitment to provide the remaining EUR 10 M, which have to be paid to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).

Italy will meet the the larger share of the fee paid to FIVB as it will host the final matches of the tournament.

Bulgaria and Italy were selected as co-hosts of the 19th edition of the championship last week.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, it will be co-hosted by two countries.

The two countries demonstrated good cooperation by co-hosting this year's edition of the Men's European Volleyball Championship, which took place in two Bulgarian (Sofia and Varna) and two Italian cities (Turin and Busto Arsizio) between October 9 and 18.

Both countries also have experience in hosting the world championship, with Bulgaria having hosted the men's and women's competitions in 1970, while Italy has done so on three occasions - hosting the men's 1978 and 2010 editions and the women's championship in 2014.

Immediately after the choice of the co-hosts, the president of the Italian volleyball federation estimated that the tournament is likely to cost EUR 20 M.

Bulgaria will host the matches from two groups, each composed of six teams, with the encounters most likely to take place in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Ruse.

Kralev noted that the allocations will be made in tranches in order to avoid burdening the budget in a particular year.

The minister pointed that 2018 will be a challenging one for Bulgaria in terms of sport events, as the country will also host the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship and the World Rowing Championship.

This year, the sports ministry allocated slightly over BGN 800 000 for co-hosting the Men's European Volleyball Championship.