Bangkok, Thailand, October 11, 2017 - FIVB New Events Business Director Angelo Squeo met with representatives of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) and Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA) in Bangkok last week to discuss the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour's new event structure, marketing rights, and to build on the close ties between the two organisations to ensure beach volleyball continues to thrive across the AVC territories.
The meeting was organised as part of the FIVB’s goal to implement an improved beach volleyball calendar. Its agenda set out to explain the opportunities offered by the new World Tour structure which features five different categories, where 1- and 2-star events serve to develop young athletes around the world and 3-star, 4-star and 5-star events are aimed at professional athletes and organisers with an established reputation.
Opportunities linked to the organization of other events in the period up to 2020, including the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, World Olympic qualification tournaments and Age Group World Championships were also discussed, as well as the tentative 2017/2018 Beach Volleyball Calendar and the Olympic qualification system.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour features the best professional athletes in the world and the competition’s 5-star event structure ensures the continued promotion of beach volleyball across a growing number of countries, by bringing the sport closer to its fans. The competition’s new framework also offers stakeholders a great business opportunity built on flexible commercial rights and a sustainable business model.
In the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the development of beach volleyball across Asia is an ongoing priority and discussions focused on extending the World Tour competition to new and existing tournaments in countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The FIVB is also seeking to partner with national volleyball federations and promoters to implement 4- and 5-star events in 2019 and beyond. Marketing rights were also reviewed in the light of the FIVB’s requirements for the competition.
Representatives of the AVC and TVA present at the meetings included AVC Secretary General Shanrit Wongprasert, AVC General Manager Rueangsak Siriphol, AVC Referee Committee Chairman Songsak Chareonpong, AVC Beach Volleyball Director Kritsada Panaseri, TVA President Somporn Chaibangyang and TVA Secretary General Jaksuwan Tocharoen.
The 2018 World Tour schedule will be reviewed on November 7 at a meeting of the World Tour Council at the FIVB headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Asia is a key market for beach volleyball and has welcomed numerous World Tour events in the past. At this stage, events in different categories are planned in the following countries in 2017/2018: Iran, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Qatar, Oman and South Korea. Other events are expected to be added to the schedule in the near future across the AVC’s 65 member federations.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Qinzhou Open is currently taking place in China and runs until Sunday, October 15.
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