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COROZAL, Puerto Rico, August 21, 2009 – The
Puerto Rico’s Plataneros of Corozal will
participate in the FIVB Men’s Club World
Volleyball Championship in Doha, Qatar on next
November 3-8.
Egypt’s Zamalek, Dinamo from Russia, Puerto
Rico’s Corozal and Trentino Volley from Italy
have been drawn in Pool A while Iran’s Payakan,
Poland’s PGE Skra Belchatow, hosts Qatar’s Al
Arabi Doha and one more club from South America
are in Pool B.
The teams in each pool will play each other in a
Round Robin format to determine the overall
ranking and classification from 1st to 4th
before the Semi-finals (1st in Pool A v 2nd in
Pool B and 1st in Pool B v 2nd in Pool A) and
Finals (the winners of the two semi-finals).
The FIVB Men's Club World Championship, which is
back on the international Volleyball calendar
after last featuring in 1992, will consist of a
total of two rounds with 16 matches in total,
including 12 Preliminary Round matches and four
matches in the Final Round with a total prize
money pool of US$750, 000 on offer.
The Plataneros of Corozal Team has participated
in the Puerto Rican National League for the past
45 years and has won a total of eight titles. In
2009 they took home the crown by defeating
Patriotas of Lares in five matches.
Corozal, a beautiful town city in the mountains
of Puerto Rico, has the most enthusiastic fans
around the local league.
“The fans are excited about the first
participation of a Puerto Rican team in the
prestigious FIVB World Club Championship,” said
club’s president Miguel Gonzalez. “Many of them
will accompany the team to Qatar to support the
team.”
The Puerto Rican officials are taking very
seriously this participation as it is noticed in
the statement of Mr. Nelson Perez, the President
of the Puerto Rican National Volleyball
Federation.
“We are taking a strong team to Qatar for the
World Championship,” he says. “We are not going
there just for traveling. We are going to
compete against the best clubs of the world and
to show them our competition level and the
quality of our players.”
Both Gonzalez and Perez praised the efforts and
support of Mr. Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, President
of Norceca Confederation, to make it possible
the participation of a Puerto Rican club in that
important competition.
“Our team is a strong one and we expect to be in
the finals in the competition in Qatar,” said
Gonzalez.
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