After a two-day meeting in Marrakesh, a proposed qualification process has been drawn up and discussed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The proposed system for qualification is designed to enhance the universality of participating teams at the Olympic Games. This being, under the proposed system, world and international tournaments will provide countries with their first opportunity to write their place at the Olympic Games. Continental Championships and teams world rankings would secure the remaining spots. The qualification process will be confirmed following the approval and ratification by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
At the Tokyo 1964 Games, volleyball was first introduced as an official sport to the Olympic Programme. The Games will start on Friday, July 24, 2020, while concluding on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Both the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games will be held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
Men’s and women’s volleyball will be held at the to-be-built Ariake Arena, which is designed to hold up to 12,000 spectators.
Indoor Volleyball Process
Japan is already guaranteed a place at the Olympic Games as the host country. The World Olympic Qualification tournament will provide three countries with their tickets to the Olympic Games. The tournament will feature 12 teams including the 2018 World Champions, the tournament host country and the top two teams from each of the five confederations.
An additional three spots to the Olympics will be determined through the International Olympic Qualification tournament. This tournament will be comprised of the top-12 teams in the FIVB World Rankings.
Finally, the final five positions will be selected through the Continental Championships.
The FIVB World Cup will take place in 2019 as a part of that year’s schedule, however, it will no longer serve as a qualification tournament to advance to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Beach Volleyball Process
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will feature 24 pairs of each gender for beach volleyball. Qualification places are allocated to national federations and not teams, with each national federation allowed to have a maximum of two teams representing them per gender.
Japan is guaranteed at least on qualification berth per gender.
The World Olympic Qualification tournament will feature 16 teams competing for two places to the Olympic Games. The teams participating in the tournament will be based off the World Tour rankings as of December 31, 2018. The 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships will allow one team to qualify.
The 15 highest ranked teams on the Olympic Ranking List will earn one quota place for their national federation. The remaining five places will be allotted to the national federations that win the Continental Cup Finals.
Leave a Reply