FIVB announces adaptation of Beach Volleyball Olympic
Qualification
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 13, 2020 – The FIVB today announced
the adaptation of the Beach Volleyball Qualification System for
the rescheduled Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to 2021 following the
approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive
Board and the FIVB Board of Administration.
Working together with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission and
the FIVB Athletes’ Commission, and in alignment with the updated
Qualification System principles provided by the IOC on 30 March
2020, the following key updates have been agreed upon:
1.The new Olympic Ranking qualification deadline has been
extended to 13 June 2021 (mirroring the previous deadline of 14
June 2020), and the Olympic Ranking list will be published on 14
June 2021.
2. The new Continental Cup qualification deadline has been
extended to 27 June 2021 (mirroring the previous deadline of 28
June 2020), and the Continental Cup Finals will be held in the
same week of 21-27 June 2021.
Additionally, except for the updates mentioned above, no further
changes will apply. The eligibility criteria will remain the
same, with teams being required to participate in a minimum of
12 qualifying events in all qualification pathways. As before, a
team’s best 12 results will count towards their Olympic Ranking.
The adaptation is based on a forecast of the future World Tour
calendar featuring a minimum number of 3-star, 4-star and 5-star
events scheduled until 13 June 2021. It also realises the FIVB’s
priority of reflecting the allocation method and pathways of the
original Qualification System that were in place before the
postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Following the announcement, the FIVB President, Dr Ary S. Graça
F° said:
“We believe that these changes to the Beach Volleyball
Qualification System for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 represent
a balanced, fair and universal approach which will ensure that
top performing athletes have the opportunity to qualify for the
Games. With this announcement, we are giving beach volleyball
players certainty of the roadmap for the lead up to Tokyo 2020,
and so they continue to focus on maintaining their health and
wellbeing at this time.”
The breakdown of 24 quota places per gender, as previously
approved by the IOC Executive Board, remains unchanged.
Moreover, all quota places that have already been allocated to
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will not be affected by the
postponement of the Games and the subsequent adaptations to the
Qualification System. Quota places that have already been
allocated include the Japan men’s and women’s national beach
volleyball teams as the host country of the Games; the Canada
women’s national team and the Russia men’s national team as the
winners of the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships;
and the women’s national teams from Spain and Latvia and men’s
national teams from Italy and Latvia as the winners of the 2019
Tokyo Qualification Tournament.
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is currently suspended
until July 2020 with many events postponed or cancelled due to
the global coronavirus pandemic, and the Beach Volleyball
Olympic qualification will only restart when it is safe to do so
and allows all potential eligible athletes to participate.
Meanwhile, the FIVB continues to work closely with National
Federations and event organisers to develop the 2020-2021 beach
volleyball calendar, and further details will be communicated at
a later stage. |