Bulgaria and Italy will host the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Men, according to a decision of the Board of Administration of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV).

The joint bid of Bulgaria and Italy eventually beat the rival bid of Finland/Estonia and the Championship will take place in five venues, including Varna, Plovdiv and Sofia in Bulgaria plus Messina and Catania in Italy, according to CEV's website.

The finals of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Men will be held at the Arena Armeets sports hall in Sofia, which hosted the finals of the FIVB World League in July.

The Black Sea city of Varna is to complete the overhaul of the Congress Hall at the Palace of Culture and Sports, while the southern city of Plovdiv is to open a new sports hall with a capacity of 10 000, according to Stefan Avgustinov, who is in charge of the Bulgarian application, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Avgustinov explains that the expenses of the two countries are expected to spend a total of around EUR 5.2 M on the volleyball championship.

Under preliminary estimates, Bulgaria will have to cover around 50% of the sum, despite the fact that it will also host the finals.

Bulgaria will host men's European volleyball championships for the third time, the past tournaments being the one in Sofia in 1950 and the one in Varna in 1981.

In 2001, Bulgaria hosted the Women's European Volleyball Championship, which took place in Sofia and Varna from September 22 to September 30.

The Men's European Volleyball Championship is organized by two countries for the fourth time.