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PRESS INFO Fédération Internationale de Volleyball - E-mail: press@fivb.org - Fax: +41 21 345 35 45
September 10, 2010
A total of 41 countries including Northern Mariana Islands and Tuvalu will compete in the ground breaking AVC Continental Beach Volleyball Cup, which, starting on September 23, will offer up to three 2012 Olympic Games vacancies.
The Continental Beach Volleyball Cup, which will include 154 nations across five continents, is a country versus country Olympic qualifying event for continents over a two year period broken down into subzone, zone and continental finals. The winner of which will qualify* for the 2012 Olympic Games if the country has not already qualified two berths via the world rankings**.
I am very proud of the AVC member federations who have really endorsed this new competition, AVC President and FIVB Executive Vice President Dr. Saleh Bin Nasser said. To have this new Olympic qualifying process gives all federations the chance to participate and we are delighted with the response of all the members who are thrilled to have this opportunity.
Sub-zonal tournaments will be organised from September 23, 2010 to June 30, 2011 in all five zones of the AVC, which include Eastern Asia, Southeastern Asia, Central Asia, Western Asia and Oceania. The Eastern, Southeastern, Central and Western will all have two sub-zonal tournaments while Oceania will have three. Given the religious differences in some countries, only the Eastern, Southeastern and Oceania will be double gender events. Seeding will be established through the AVC National Federation ranking points and the top two countries from each tournament will progress to the next round the zonal phase which will run from July 1, 2011 to June 17, 2012.
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will have the honour of opening the AVC Continental Beach Volleyball Cup when they play the first sub-zonal in Nagapattinam, India. Northern Mariana will host Guam, Papua New Guinea and Australia, while Tuvalu will travel to Vanuatu where they will play the hosts, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. The dates of both tournaments are to be determined.
The zonal tournament will see five competitions take place in each of the five zones, with the Eastern, Southeastern, Western and Central zones all having four teams take part while Oceania will have six teams taking part. This will again be a country v country format with the top three countries from each tournament advancing to the Continental Cup final.
The Continental Cup final will have a total of 16 teams, with the top three teams from each zonal tournament as well as the host. In the case of the host country being in the top three qualifiers, the fourth ranked country of their zonal tournament will progress. Each country will face off with each other in a five-day tournament with the champion winning a place at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The second and third placed sides will then move onto the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup for another chance at qualification.
AVC Continental Beach Volleyball Cup Schedule
Central Asia 1 (September 23-28, 2010) in Nagapattinam, India India, Sri Lanka, Maldives (participating teams) Eastern Asia 1 (October/November, 2010) in China China, Hong Kong, Korea Southeastern Asia 1 (October 2010) in Kuntan, Malaysia Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Eastern Asia 2 (October 8-10, 2010) in Gaoxiong, Chinese Taipei Japan, Chinese Taipei, Macau Southeastern Asia 2 (December 1-3, 2010) in Hua Hin Beach Resort, Thailand Thailand, Vietnam, Laos Western Asia 1 (December, 2010) in Oman Oman, Yemen, Saudi Aabia, Lebanon Central Asia 2 (March 2011) in Iran (TBC) Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan Western Asia 2 (Dec, 2010-June 2011) in UAE UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Syria Oceania Asia 1 in Northern Mariana Northern Marianna, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Australia Oceania Asia 2 in Vanuatu Fiji, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu Oceania Asia 3 in Samoa American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Tonga London 2012 Olympic Games Beach Volleyball Qualification Process in brief Total vacancies per gender = 24 Maximum number per NOC/NF = 2 No. No. of Vacancies Description Qualifying Period 1) 16 16 highest ranked NOCs/NF in World Rankings as of 18 June 2012 1/1/2011-17/6/2012 2) 5 The five winners of the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup – one from each Continent 1/6/2010-24/6/2012 3) 2 The winner’s and runner’s up of the Beach Volleyball World Cup Final Olympic Qualification tournament which is open to teams which have not yet qualified through options 1 & 2 25/6/2012-1/7/2012 4) 1 Host country * To be eligible to qualify through the Continental Beach Volleyball Cup and/or FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup, and/or Olympic Trials, athletes must have participated as an individual in at least 12 Continental Beach Volleyball Cup, National and/or Continental and/or FIVB events scheduled from June 1, 2010 until June 24, 2012. ** To be eligible for the 2012 Olympic Games from the World ranking, athletes must have participated in at least 12 FIVB official Olympic qualification tournaments as an individual (World Tour/World Championships/recognized Continental Final) scheduled from January 1, 2011 until June 17, 2012. |
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