Official Bulletin no. 63 May 2011 World Volley Edition in English F É D É R AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L E DE VOLLEYBALL News Board of administration convenes in lausanne ■ a new competition format for the four intercontinental qualification tour- Board helps drive 2014 fiVB Volleyball World champion- nament winners. game forward ships and amendments to the way vol- The major changes include a reduction in leyball teams can qualify for the 2016 the number of vacancies at the 2015 edi- Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games were two tion of the World Cup from three to two of the key decisions made by the fiVB and the introduction of four interconti- Board of administration following their nental qualification tournaments on four meeting at the fiVB headquarters in separate continents. lausanne, Switzerland from april 6 to 9. “This Board meeting was very successful because we took all the decisions with The leading issues on the agenda includ- consensus,” FIVB President Jizhong Wei ed the implementation of decisions from said. Mr Jizhong Wei, FIVB President lthough the beach volleyball season has only begun, with Athe volleyball season just around the corner with the 2011 FIVB Volleyball World League, the FIVB still managed to take the time to reflect on the past year as we welcomed the Executive Committee and Board of Administration to the FIVB head- quarters in Lausanne during May. In a rewarding week full of deci- sions and discussion the Board made changes that we hope will improve FIVB President Jizhong Wei addresses the Board of Administration during the meeting the game further as we look to con- tinue as one of the world’s top sports. the FIVB Congress held in Rome last year, The world continues to change, and while new proposals from recent FIVB in this issue we as a sport need to change with it Commissions and Councils were evalu- Volleyball in order to make sure we provide eve- ated and scrutinised for approval. • World League squads officially ryone involved in volleyball the best Additionally, it was decided that Anaheim, announced USA would host the next edition of the • World Grand Prix pools unveiled product we can possibly create. Every • Girls’ and Boys’ World Championship decision made is done so in the best FIVB Congress in 2012 after beating Zu- berths filling up interests of the sport and we need to rich, Switzerland to the honour. • Kenya Prisons reclaim African crown stick to this mantra if we are to pro- The new formula for both the FIVB Volley- to book Qatar trip vide solid footing for the future. ball Women’s and Men’s World Champi- Beach Volleyball Sport is constantly changing and onships, due to be held in Italy and Poland • Poland to host 2013 Beach Volleyball growing and, likewise, we as an or- respectively, will see 23 of the 24 teams go Swatch World Championships ganisation are constantly expanding. through the qualifying process with the • Brazil and US strike first on World Tour I am glad to say that this expansion host country the only confirmed side (the • Beijing confirmed as first Grand Slam defending champions were previously of 2011 is always built on solid foundations • Women’s Challenger event confirmed because of the measures we have out- also guaranteed a qualification spot). for Seoul lined in the past and continue to lay The 24 teams will be divided into four • Continental catch up down now. pools of six, with the top four sides from technical & Development I am extremely happy with the deci- each advancing to a second round of pre- • FIVB launches Cool Volley web page sions made at both meetings and ex- liminary matches featuring two pools of confederations eight. The top four from each section will cited to see how they fold out over the • China unveil women’s squad for 2011 coming months and years. I have no then advance to the quarterfinal phase. • Morocco hosts CAVB high doubt that they will further enhance The updated qualification system for vol- performance seminar the sport and help it stretch to new leyball at the 2016 Olympic Games means • South America prepares for three World Championships heights, both in the near and distant that the tournament in Rio de Janeiro will feature the host country, five continental • Groshev Memorial spreads volleyball future. champions or continental qualification fever in Siberia Mr Jizhong Wei, FIVB President • Baja California International Cup tournament winners, two top finishers held in Mexico from the FIVB Volleyball World Cup and www.fivb.org Volleyball World Volley News World league squads officially announced The preliminary squads for the FIVB Brazil approach the tournament on Volleyball World League 2011 were re- the back of their FIVB Volleyball Men’s vealed by the FIVB on April 4 as prepa- World Championship win last October rations for the premier men’s annual in Italy and will be aiming to add a 10th volleyball tournament begin to pick World League title to their collection. up pace around the world. But there will be a number of countries eager to bring the Brazilians back down gold and silver medals respectively at to earth including the 2009 CEV European Champion- Russia and Serbia ship. who finished second and third respectively Japan are returning after missing out in last year’s edition. in 2010, when they finished 15th, but they will not be able to play in front of Not every team will be their home fans. Following extensive at full strength, with discussions between the FIVB and the Poland and France Japan Volleyball Association (JVA), it leaving out a number was agreed that Japan would play all of the players who of their World League matches out- helped them earn the side of the country. The decision, an- nounced on April 12, was taken in view of the ongoing earthquake and nuclear radiation concerns. Brazil’s Giba is again The World League will run between included and will be May 27 and July 10 with the final looking to add a ninth round taking place in Gdansk-Sopot, World League title to his Poland. You can find all news relating already impressive tally to the event on the FIVB website. World Grand Prix pools unveiled Poland, China, Japan and Thailand will The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is all host two pool stages in the FIVB Vol- the premier annual women’s global vol- leyball World Grand Prix 2011 prelimi- leyball tournament and is featuring 16 nary round after the groups were un- teams for the first time in its 19-year veiled by the FIVB on April 21. history. The preliminary round will run from Au- Week 1 | 5 - 7 august 2011 gust 5 to 21 before the event culminates in the final round, taking place in Macau, Pool a - Bydgoszcz, Poland Pool B - nakhonpathom, Pool c - Busan, Korea Pool D - luohe, china thailand China for the first time since 2001, and Poland Korea China Thailand running from August 24 to 28. Italy Brazil USa Defending champions USA will face Cuba Serbia and their Pool D hosts China on Dominican Rep. Peru Japan Serbia the opening weekend in Luohe as well Argentina Russia Germany / KaZ/ALG as either Kazakhstan or Algeria, pend- ing the result of the World Grand Prix Week 2 | 12 - 14 august 2011 Playoffs taking place on May 12 and 14. Pool e - Zielona Gora, Poland Pool f - almaty, Kazakhstan Pool G - Quanzhou, china Pool H - tbc, Japan World champions Russia take on Cuba, Poland / KaZ/ALG China Japan Peru and Pool B hosts Thailand in Na- khonpathom City in the same week Cuba Italy Russia USa while world No.1 Brazil will face Japan, Korea Brazil Germany Serbia Germany and Korea in Busan in Pool Argentina Thailand Peru Dominican Rep. C. Last year’s bronze medallists Italy will take on Argentina, the Dominican Republic and home team Poland in By- Week 3 | 19 - 21 august 2011 dgoszs in Pool A. Pool i - Hong Kong Pool J - chinese taipei Pool K - Bangkok, thailand Pool l - tbc, Japan The top seven ranked teams from the preliminary round will qualify for the fi- China USa Thailand Japan nal round alongside hosts China. Poland Italy Cuba Russia The cities for Japan and a detailed Dominican Rep. Germany Brazil Serbia match time schedule are expected to be confirmed in May. / KaZ/ALG Peru Argentina Korea 2 fiVB World Volley news no. 63 May 2011 Volleyball/Beach Volleyball Girls’ and Boys’ World championship berths filling up Egypt and Algeria confirmed their spots at the FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship, taking place in Turkey from August 12 to 21, while Serbia, France, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece secured their spots at the boys’ edition in Argentina from August 19 to 28. Egypt’s girls earned qualification by clinching top spot at the African Na- tional Girls’ Youth World Championship on April 5 and were joined by Algeria who finished in second place. On April 23 the top six finishers at the CEV Youth Volleyball Boys’ Champion- ship sealed their progress to the boys’ event. Serbia saw off France 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 15-6) in a pulsating Serbia won the CEV Youth Volleyball Boys’ European Championship in April, earning a spot at the final to clinch their first title. FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship later this year Kenya Prisons reclaim african crown to book Qatar trip Kenya Prisons captured their second consecutive African vent a repeat of last year’s final loss to the same opponents in Women’s Club Championship by defeating arch-rivals Kenya front of a capacity crowd of 3,000 spectators.