Probably the most important event of the next representative season in volleyball – qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympics – so far it looked like a ghost game, about which practically nothing is known. A date has appeared, an organizer, and the rest is guesswork and speculation.
Change of plan. FIVB confirms: key date for Polish volleyball postponed to 2023
Monday, December 19, we were to meet the rivals of the Polish volleyball players in the Olympic qualifications. At least that’s what the initial plans of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) assumed, as reported by the website of the Asian Volleyball Federation and the International Olympic Committee.
In the “near future”, it was also supposed to become clear who will host the individual qualifiers, as so far it has only been announced that one of them will be Japan for both women and men. Now we know that the announcement of the hosts and the form of the groups during the matches will not be too soon. – The composition of the groups and the hosts of the tournaments will be announced next year – informs Sport.pl Anna Manuelian from the FIVB communications department.
Here are the potential rivals of Polish volleyball players and volleyball players in the fight for the Paris Olympics
Who will be the rival Polish representations in struggle about games? In the case of women’s volleyball, the other 23 teams invited by the IOC to the Olympic qualifiers are SerbiaItaly, Brazil, United States, China, Japan, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, CanadaThailand, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico, Czech Republic, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Korea, Ukraine, Slovenia and Peru.
Potential rivals of the Polish volleyball players are Italy, Brazil, USA, Japan, Argentina, Slovenia, Iran, Serbia, Cuba, Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Portugal. Ukraine, Germany, Mexico, Tunisia, Egypt, Belgium, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Finland, Qatar and China. Both lists were created after the FIVB rankings on September 12 of this year. The only team sure to play both Olympic tournaments in Paris in 2024 are hosts France, who don’t have to make the qualifiers.
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This is how the FIVB will assign rivals to the Polish teams. serpentine
Volleyball and volleyball players will have three groups of eight teams in the qualifying tournaments. When competing in them, national teams will fight for six places guaranteeing promotion to the Olympics (only the top two teams in each group will go). The remaining five will then be distributed according to two criteria: first to the teams of the continents which do not yet have a qualified squad, then to the best ranked FIVB teams on June 24, 2024, just after the conclusion of the group stage of the League of Nations.
We also already know how the division of teams into groups that will participate in tournaments will be created. The most privileged will be their hosts. It is to these three teams, classified according to the FIVB Ranking, that the next ones will be added. And all on a serpentine basis – the 6th, 7th, 12th, 13th, 18th and 19th teams will go to Group A, in Group B there will be the 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 20th team, and the Group C composition will feature the 4th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th and 21st national seeds. Thus, the disclosure of the tournament hosts will make it clear that we already know the composition of all the groups for the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Group A of the qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympic Games:
- the highest host
- 6th ranked team.
- seeded team 7.
- 12th ranked team.
- 13th ranked team.
- 18th ranked team.
- 19th ranked team.
Group B of the qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympic Games:
- the host with the second highest seed
- 5th ranked team.
- seeded team 8.
- 11th ranked team.
- 14th ranked team.
- 17th ranked team.
- 20th ranked team.
Group C of the qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympic Games:
- third seed host
- seeded team 4.
- 9th ranked team.
- 10th ranked team.
- 15th ranked team.
- 16th ranked team.
- seeded team 21st.
In the case of the Polish national volleyball team, it is known that if it maintains its leading position in the FIVB ranking, it can only be directed to group A or C. To the first in case of organization of one of the tournaments, and to the latter as the highest ranked team outside of the tournament hosts. The Serbian team is in the same situation.
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Will Poland organize qualifying tournaments? Big chance for this volleyball player
What are the chances of the Poles organizing qualifying tournaments? The President of the Polish Volleyball Association, Sebastian Świderski, in an interview with the sport.tvp.pl portal, said that it is possible that volleyball and volleyball matches will take place. – We have expressed our desire to organize two tournaments: male and female – he revealed at the beginning of December.
According to our information in mid-November PZPS, however, was to be particularly close to hosting women’s volleyball competition in Poland, due to helping in the bid to qualify for the Olympics. Should the association reach an agreement with the FIVB regarding the organization of the qualifying tournament, the Poles would immediately become one of the three highest ranked teams when assigned to the groups. And that seems very likely. The tournament could take place in Katowice or Gliwice with the possible help of a somewhat smaller hall – for example a new hall at Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy in Sosnowiec, which will be opened at the beginning of 2023.
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The question of the separation of the rights to organize tournaments, President Świderski in an interview with sport.tvp.pl still consider it open, but in one of the most important national federations in Europe, we have heard that the hosts have to be determined and they have been informed by the world authorities. Now, that probably gives them a bit more time to iron out the details with the venues and tournament host cities in case there are issues big enough that someone has to drop their proposal. Among the hosts of the men’s tournaments, Italy and Brazil could join Japan, and among the women, unofficially outside of Poland, there is also unofficial talk of the United States. For now, however, these are just rumours.
The Paris Games indoor volleyball will take place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles exhibition center. The men’s and women’s Olympic tournament is scheduled for July 26 to August 11, 2024. The gold medals will be defended by the French and the Americans. The Polish volleyball players finished the Tokyo tournament in the quarter-finals, and if promoted, it would be their first appearance at the Olympics since Beijing in 2008. Then they were eliminated after the group stage, winning only only one of five matches.
