FIVB Announces Beach Olympic Qualification Process

USA Volleyball Beach Contact:
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org 

Release Copy Courtesy of the FIVB

Lausanne, SWITZERLAND (March 10, 2010) – The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced a major change to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup, with the competition splitting in two and changing names - the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification - in an effort to facilitate the implementation of a more universal Olympic qualifying system and better illustrate the nature of the tournament.

With the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup launched in 2009 as an Olympic qualifying event for continents, the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup will now represent the subzone, zone and continental finals while the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament will be a stand-alone event staged from June 25-July 1, 2012.

“The change in name better illustrates what the event is all about,” FIVB Executive Vice-President and Beach Volleyball Commission President Dr. Ary Graça said. “Countries at the confederation level competing against one another for the right to earn a berth for their respective countries in the Olympic Games hasn’t changed but the change in title will better distinguish the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament.”

While the FIVB will be fully responsible for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament implementation, the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup will be run by each Confederation, who will be responsible for the organization of their respective subzone, zone and continental finals (although Mikasa balls and nets will be supplied). The 25-month-long tournament (May, 2010 to June, 2012) is a country versus country competition and will usher in landmark changes to the Beach Volleyball Olympic qualification system – the five Olympic berths for men and women available through the tournament (one from each continent) will be designated to national federations for the first time ever instead of an eligible team.

The five winners of the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup (or the next best in the event’s ranking if a country has already two vacancies qualified through the SWATCH FIVB World Tour rankings) will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games. In addition, the two winners of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament - which includes the two best teams from each continent who have yet to qualify for London 2012 via the SWATCH FIVB World Tour rankings or the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup - will also obtain 2012 Olympic Games qualification.

To further honor the five winning countries of the Continental Beach Volleyball World Cup, each country will compete in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Final, tentatively scheduled for the second week of July in 2012, to determine the overall winner. The FIVB will soon launch a bidding process to decide the host country.

Meanwhile, the deadline for entry into the FIVB Continental Beach Volleyball Cup has been extended to provide the opportunity for as many teams as possible to experience the dream of a lifetime and participate in the Olympic Games qualification process. Each Confederation will then send a proposal to the FIVB to compete with the enrolled countries in the three phases. The first events will start as of May 2010 upon the potential receipt of the official IOC approval of the 2012 Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualification system at the end of April 2010.

A total of 24 teams will participate in each of the men’s and women’s 2012 Olympic Beach Volleyball tournaments with 16 teams/countries coming from the SWATCH FIVB World Tour rankings, five from the Continental Beach Volleyball World Cup, two from the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification and one berth granted to the host country (if yet to qualify). The country quota to compose the Olympic roster will be a maximum of two teams per gender.

Tags: beach volleyball, FIVB, Olympic Games