FIVB EXPRESSED: Key milestones ahead for Men’s World Championship

The FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Russia 2022 is set to take the sport to new heights next year and will take place from August 26 to September 11 in 10 Russian cities. Key milestones in the build-up to the event were presented at a press conference hosted by international media group «Rossiya Segodnya» on Thursday.

Organizing Committee General Director Roman Stanislavov summed up the results of the year, pointing to the «One Year to Go» and the Drawing of Lots ceremony, which determined the pools and venues of the first phase, as key events in 2021, which also included a vote to name the mascot of the World Championship, Tigrosha the tiger.

«An important stage in the preparation for the World Championship was the inspection visits that the Organizing Committee held together with the FIVB,” said Stanislavov. “During three sessions, sports venues and accommodation facilities in all host cities were inspected, meetings with regional organizing committees were held. The result of these visits was the official approval by the FIVB of all the objects of the World Championship.»

Next year, the organizers of the World Championship will focus on holding test events. The first test match will take place on December 25-26 at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg as part of the Russian Volleyball Cup final. General Secretary of the Volleyball Federation of Russia Alexander Yaremenko shared his expectations for this event.

“For the first time, a major volleyball tournament will be held at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, which means that more spectators will be able to see this event live. The city authorities allowed 50% occupancy of the venue. Tickets for the tournament are already on sale, the event will be held in covid-free mode and we invite all residents and guests of the country’s northern capital to join this event.

“The Russian Cup will be a test event for the team of organizers of the World Championship. The Volleyball Federation of Russia is working closely with the Organizing Committee and I am sure the organization of the event will be at a very high level.”

As part of promotion of the World Championship, many events will take place to popularise volleyball in Russia and increase interest in the upcoming tournament. One of them will be the Trophy Tour – the journey of the World Championship trophy across Russian cities and regions. The arrival of the trophy in each city on the tour will be a great event for local fans. During the tour, the trophy will travel twelve and a half thousand kilometers across the territory of Russia.

During the press conference, the first official ambassadors for the World Championship were announced. They are renowned Russian volleyball players, whose names are known to fans all over the world – Sergey Tetyukhin and Ekaterina Gamova.

It was also announced that the venues of the FIVB Volleyball World Championship 2022 had been approved, namely:

1. VTB Arena in Moscow.

2. Two venues in St. Petersburg:

• Ice Palace

• Sibur Arena

3. Yantarny Sport Palace in Kaliningrad.

4. Arena 2000 in Yaroslavl.

5. Volleyball Center in Kazan.

6. Ufa-Arena in Ufa.

7. Playing Sports Palace in Yekaterinburg.

8. Lokomotiv Arena in Novosibirsk.

9. Kuzbass-Arena in Kemerovo.

10. Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace in Krasnoyarsk.