LAUSANNE, Switzerland, December 3, 2003 – The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) confirmed the schedule for the 2004 Swatch-FIVB World Tour on Wednesday with an increase of five events on last year.
The season is expected to be a landmark for Beach Volleyball, having scheduled an unprecedented 27 tournaments (15 men and 12 women), with US$5,480,000 in Prize Money and Bonus Pool, plus the year’s highlight being
the final assignment of 24 men and 24 women vacancies for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece from August 14-25. The 2004 calendar still has the potential to be further enhanced as negotiations continue with countries such as Cyprus, France (Open event) and others.
‘This definitively represents the best calendar ever in the young history of Beach Volleyball,’ said FIVB President and IOC member Dr. Rubén Acosta H. ‘It confirms the positive decisions made by the FIVB and its partners and creates a solid platform to further promote Beach Volleyball at all levels and all over the world’.
For the first time the Swatch-FIVB World Tour, which will include a three-leg Grand Slam starting in Germany in June, followed by legs in France and Austria in July, will be scheduled over seven months starting in March and will explore new territories over five continents.
Men’s and women’s Open Events will be contested on some of the world’s most famous beaches in Greece, South Africa, France, Portugal, Puerto Rico and Spain and in the glamorous cities of Shanghai, Lianyungang, Osaka, Berlin,
Stavanger, Montreal, Klagenfurt, Milan, and Stare Jablonki while a high point will be the Gstaad Open in the enchanting mountains of Switzerland in Gstaad.
World Tour events organized before July 13, 2004 will be part of the Olympic qualification process, which started in June, 2003. The best eight results of each pair based on World Ranking points including the results of the recognized Continental finals will be used to determine the best 24 teams per gender (with a maximum of two teams per country) at the Olympic Games in Athens.
‘The FIVB has confirmed its commitment to further develop the commercial value of the Beach Volleyball properties worldwide through the successful partnership with Swatch, Mikasa, Credit Suisse, organizers, hosting cities,
international broadcasters, and the best athletes’ stated Mr. Angelo Squeo, FIVB Beach Volleyball Coordinator.
A double elimination playing format will be implemented for the 2004 Swatch-FIVB World Tour, Challenger, and Satellite events, whereas the pool play format followed by single elimination, which had been used for the past two years, will be used again at the Olympics Games in Athens to better
accommodate the needs of broadcasters and media.
For more details contact:
Marcia Hill
Tel: +41 21 345 3535
Fax: +41 21 345 3545
Email: press@fivb.org