The German Volleyball Association (DVV) has to look around for a new national coach at short notice.

Andrea Giani leaves the association with immediate effect and takes over the care of Olympic champion France.

The association announced this on Tuesday.

The 51-year-old Italian extended his contract with the DVV by a year until 2023 in January.

As the DVV announced, Giani asked "at short notice for a contract termination".

He will “immediately” coach the Olympic champion.

As the host, France is also directly qualified for the next games in Paris 2024.

The "Equipe tricolore" needed a new coach after the Brazilian Bernardo Rezende left the team at short notice for personal reasons.

“It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Andrea Giani from his contract.

The task in France is very appealing and a great opportunity for him,” explained DVV sports director Christian Dünnes.

The search for a successor to the former world-class player is now in full swing.

"As a volleyball expert but also as a person, we will miss him and wish him all the best.

We are very grateful to Andrea for his work over the past five years”.

EM silver 2017 as the greatest success

Giani became German national coach in 2017.

He sensationally led the team around star Georg Grozer to silver at the European Championships.

Recently, however, the development has stagnated.

The 2018 World Cup took place without the participation of the German men, as did the Olympic Games.

The DVV team only missed participation in Tokyo because of a defeat in the decisive qualifier against France of all places.

At the European Championships in 2019 and 2021, the German team was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The next big event is the World Cup at the end of August, which was originally supposed to take place in Russia.

The world association FIVB is currently looking for a new host due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the preliminary round there will be a reunion with Giani, Germany's opponents are Slovenia and Cameroon as well as France.