All Four AVC Age-group Championships Cancelled amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Bangkok, Thailand, December 14, 2020 – Following the AVC Board of Administration’s decision, all AVC Age Group Championships due to be held in early 2021 have been cancelled in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

AVC has initially planned to host four Age Group Championships this year, which will serve as qualification tournaments for the 2021 FIVB Age Group World Championships. However, due to grave concerns about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, AVC had decided to postpone the mentioned four championships until next year.

According to the tentative draft of the 2021 AVC Competition Calendar, the 13th Asian Men’s U19 Championship is due to take place in Shiraz, Iran between January 9 and 16, with top four teams qualified for the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship to be held later next year in Iran.

The 13th Asian Women’s U18 Championship will be hosted by Nakhon Pathom, Thailand from January 17 to 24, with top four teams eligible for the 2021 FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship to take place in Mexico.

Top two teams from the 20th Asian Women’s U20 Championship due to be held between January 30 and February 6 in Chongqing, China will represent Asia in the 2021 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship in Netherlands and Belgium, while top two teams from the 20th Asian Men’s U21 Championship from February 20 to 27 in Tehran, Iran will make the cut for the 2021 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship in Italy and Bulgaria.

Nevertheless, since the number of global coronavirus cases continues to rise, while the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak is considerably unstable for now and it is likely that the lockdown restrictions including the temporary suspension of international flights will be extended later on, AVC Board of Administration has unanimously decided to cancel the afore-mentioned postponed four AVC Age Group Championships.

On December 14, AVC Secretary-General Mr Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai has circulated the letter via email to all AVC Affiliated National Federations, informing them about the cancellation of all four AVC Age Group Championships. In the letter, he also explained that as AVC has decided to cancel all four Age Group Championships, the previous Asian Age Group Ranking of each championship has been taken into consideration to determine the qualified teams to participate in 2021 FIVB Age Group World Championships.

Following the AVC’s consideration and decision, Japan (1st), China (2nd), Thailand (3rd) and Korea (4th) now make the cut for the 2021 FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship in Mexico, while Japan (1st), Korea (2nd), Iran (3rd and hosts), Chinese Taipei (4th) and Thailand (5th) are eligible for the 2021 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Iran.

Japan (1st) and China (2nd) are qualified for the 2021 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship in Netherlands and Belgium, with Iran (1st) and Korea (2nd) securing their berths for the 2021 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship in Italy and Bulgaria.

However, Asian teams among top 4 of Age Group world ranking for the women’s U20 and Men’s U21 as of March 1, 2021 will also be qualified for respective World Championships next year.