FIVB
As “Voley Plus” revealed, the FIVB will drastically change the format of the competition for both annual tournaments in 2018 compared to years back!
Starting from next season, the FIVB World League and the FIVB World Grand Prix will have only one Group (no more Groups 1, 2 and 3) of 16 national teams. It is clear that Italian Men’s NT, who lost the right to play Group 1 in 2018 as being last placed in this year’s Preliminary Round according to current regulations, will benefit the most from this. Two years ago, the governing body of the international volleyball increased the number of teams in Group 1 from 8 to 12 so, Russia avoided relegation from the elite.
The (unofficial) list of the teams that will compete in the 2018 FIVB World League might come as a surprise for many: France, Brazil, Serbia, Russia, Canada, United States, Poland, Bulgaria, Argentina, Iran, Italy (11 teams from current Group 1 – no Belgium), Australia, Japan, China, Korea (4 teams from Group 2 despite the Final Four has not been held yet) and Germany (one team from Group 3 – not the winners Estonia).
As for the FIVB World Grand Prix, this is the list of the teams that will compete in 2018: Serbia, Turkey, Russia, The Netherlands, Japan, China, United States, Brazil, Italy, Thailand, Belgium (11 teams from current Group 1 – no Dominican Republic), Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Korea and Argentina (5 teams from Group 2).
In addition, the FIVB will change the playing system of both tournaments. It is planned for each team to be the host at some point and each team will face all the rivals at least once in five Weeks of Preliminary Round (instead of three Weeks, as it is now).
Recall what are the new rules that FIVB plans to implement this year.
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