The European Men’s Volleyball Championship is being played for the 34th time, and once again, following the successful experiments of recent years, it was conceived and built as a travelling tournament, with the idea of bringing the Old Continent closer together. This time the competition is being played across Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland, with the opening match taking place on 10 September in Naples, in the unique setting of Piazza del Plebiscito. There, the Azzurri, the reigning world champions who have already qualified for the round of 16, beat Sweden 3-0. Another ten days of matches now lie ahead, all the way to the final at Milan’s Assago Forum on 26 September. Between sold-out arenas and strong television audiences, the success of EuroVolley also carries the Eni name, as national sponsor of the tournament for its Italian stages. It is another renewal of the partnership between FIPAV, Italy’s volleyball federation, and the global energy tech company, built around sporting events that are increasingly attentive to the connections between people, and between people from different places.
This is an important point: as mentioned, this is now the fourth consecutive edition of the European Volleyball Championship to be staged across four different countries. It is a formula that has proved successful, capable of drawing increasingly large audiences and adding to the appeal of a sport that is growing rapidly, on both the men’s and women’s sides. And not only in Italy. Then, of course, there are the results of Fefè De Giorgi’s team, coming off a first and a second place, which have made Italy one of the leading teams of this era. The run has not stopped: in the tournament now under way, Italy remain unbeaten and are among the leading contenders for the title.
Eni is alongside the Azzurri at courtside, promoting values that sport carries with it, from respect for others to respect for the environment around us. The partnership is built on a series of shared ideals that reach beyond any one field. Starting with team spirit, which is fundamental to De Giorgi’s national side: only by building and preserving a strong group can the victories come, the run of results achieved in recent years — from the European title in 2021 to the two world championships won in 2022 and 2025. That emotional bond between players, between players and coach, between the team and the crowd, connects naturally with some of the pillars of Eni’s ecosystem: attention to personal health, social integration, a sense of belonging. Inevitably, these elements extend beyond the boundaries of the national team, becoming part of the men’s European Championship too, not only as a sporting event but as a place where people come together in the stands.
Eni’s partnerships in sport, naturally, go beyond its experience with EuroVolley and form part of the company’s wider energy transition. Eni’s objective is to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, through the decarbonisation of its processes and of the products it sells to customers. The company also invests in research and development into technologies that can help speed up the transition towards increasingly sustainable energy, from renewable sources to biofuels. Major sporting events provide another way of bringing this work closer to people, creating a more immediate, and therefore more direct, connection between the brand and its audience. Among Eni’s partnerships are those with Serie A and the Italian national football teams, the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games and FIPAV, for which Eni is premium partner of both the men’s and women’s national teams. Then there is the company’s involvement in this year’s European Volleyball Championship, a tournament that has already made a major impact. And it is not over yet.