One Career, One Legend: more than 9,000 celebrate Teodor Salparov in Sofia

Some matches are played to decide who wins, while others, including the one played on Saturday night in Sofia, are played simply because the people involved deserve to be together one more time.
More than 9,000 spectators filled Arena 8888 to celebrate Teodor Salparov, one of the most recognisable and beloved figures in Bulgarian volleyball, in a spectacular farewell event that brought together generations of teammates, opponents, friends and some of the biggest names the sport has produced.

The occasion was appropriately called “One Career, One Legend.”

And for one evening, the score was almost beside the point.
Salparov’s testimonial match marked the symbolic conclusion of a career that stretched across more than two decades and took the Bulgarian libero from the national team to some of the biggest clubs and competitions in world volleyball. The International Legends eventually defeated the Bulgarian Stars 3-2 (10:15, 16:14, 7:15, 15:12, 15:11), with all five sets played to 15 points, but the result was only one small part of a night built around memories, friendship and respect.

The Bulgarian team started brightly, taking the opening set 15-10 behind some energetic performances from Nikolay Penchev and Tsvetan Sokolov. The international selection responded in a fiercely contested second set, edging it 16-14 to bring the match level.
The Bulgarian Stars were not finished, however.
They stormed through the third set, winning it 15-7 and restoring their advantage.
But a farewell match involving so many great personalities was always destined to offer a few surprises.
The fourth set was won 15-12 by the International Legends, although one of its most memorable moments came from outside the traditional line-ups.
Bulgarian Volleyball Federation president Lyubomir Ganev stepped onto the court to serve, while football icon Hristo Stoichkov also joined the fun in his own unmistakable style, sending a serve over the net with his foot.

Naturally, the match had to go to a fifth set.

The International Legends eventually prevailed 15-11, with the final point coming from one of Italy’s great volleyball names, Samuele Papi. It was a fitting conclusion to a match in which the sport itself seemed to take centre stage, rather than any individual result.

The list of international guests read almost like a journey through modern volleyball history.
Samuele Papi was joined by the likes of Uroš Kovačević, Simon Tischer, Aleksandr Volkov, Rafael Pascual, Nikolay Pavlov, Serginho, Aleksandar Atanasijević, Ivan Miljković, Emanuele Birarelli, Dante Amaral, Srećko Lisinac and Marko Podraščanin, among many others who had crossed paths with Salparov during his long career.
On the Bulgarian side, several generations of national team players reunited.
Andrey Zhekov, Georgi Bratoev, Evgeni Ivanov, Hristo Tsvetanov, Boyan Yordanov, Vladimir Nikolov, Nikolay Ivanov, Viktor Yosifov, Tsvetan Sokolov, Teodor Todorov, Todor Aleksiev, Danail Milushev and Nikolay Penchev were among the familiar faces on the court.
The Bulgarian Stars were coached by an equally impressive group featuring Radostin Stoytchev, Aleksandar Popov, Nayden Naydenov and Stefan Hristov, while current Bulgaria national team coach Gianlorenzo Blengini was also among those present.

Yet perhaps the most emotional appearance of the evening came from much closer to home.
Teodor Salparov’s son, Georgi, also took part in the match.
In an arena filled with players representing different eras of Bulgarian volleyball, the image of father and son sharing the court gave the evening a particularly powerful meaning. It was not only a goodbye to the past, but also a reminder of the connection between generations.

That connection was one of the themes Salparov himself emphasised after the final point.
“This is respect for all these legends I have played with for 20 years,” he said. “I wanted them to experience the atmosphere too. I hope this continuity between generations will remain. We will keep our fingers crossed for our young volleyball players and hope they can bring us a medal at the European Championship.”

The words carried particular weight.

Salparov’s career has been deeply connected to one of the most successful modern generations of Bulgarian volleyball. With the national team, he won bronze medals at the 2006 World Championship, the 2007 World Cup and the 2009 European Championship. He also represented Bulgaria at two Olympic Games, finishing fifth in Beijing in 2008 and narrowly missing the podium with fourth place in London in 2012.

At club level, his journey was equally remarkable.

Among the highlights were three Champions League titles with Zenit Kazan, while his career also took him through clubs in Bulgaria, Russia, Türkiye and France. Only days before his farewell event, Salparov donated the Zenit Kazan jersey in which he won the Champions League to Bulgaria’s National Sports Academy, another symbolic gesture linking his sporting past with the generations that will follow.

His farewell to the Bulgarian national team had already come during EuroVolley 2023.
After Bulgaria’s elimination in Varna, Salparov said goodbye on the court where, as he recalled, his adventure with the national team had begun 20 years earlier. The packed arena had chanted his name as one of the defining figures of Bulgarian volleyball stepped away from international duty.
This time, the farewell was even bigger.
The stands at Arena 8888 were filled not only with volleyball fans but also with prominent figures from Bulgarian public life and sport. Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev, Bulgarian Olympic Committee president Vessela Lecheva, Sports Minister Encho Keryazov and Culture Minister Evtim Miloshev were among the guests.
Football legends Hristo Stoichkov, Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov were also present, while Bulgaria’s current men’s national volleyball team attended the event as well.
It was a remarkable gathering, but perhaps the strongest message of the night came from the presence of the young players watching the men who had represented Bulgaria before them.
For Salparov, this was never meant to be simply a personal celebration.
It was about the people he had played with, the opponents who had become friends, the supporters who had followed him for decades and the next generation preparing to write its own chapters in Bulgarian volleyball.

There was another important dimension to the evening, too.
Much of the revenue from the benefit event will be donated to the Sunny Children Foundation, giving the celebration a charitable purpose beyond the court.
By the end of the night, the International Legends had won the match.
But nobody had really come to Arena 8888 to see who would win.
More than 9,000 people had gathered to say thank you.
Thank you for the dives, the impossible saves and the countless hours spent defending the Bulgarian jersey.
Thank you for two decades at the highest level.
And perhaps most importantly, thank you for everything that a career in volleyball leaves behind when the final match is over: friendships, memories and a legacy capable of inspiring those who will take the court next.

One career. One legend.

And, on a memorable night in Sofia, one final standing ovation for Teodor Salparov.

__________________

👀|QUICK LINKS
• All International news 🗞️
• Multimedia
• Facebook
• Instagram

__________________