FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship
The Thirteenth edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship will be held from December 12-17, 2017 in Poland.
The competition will feature eight teams. Host club will welcome teams from all over the world in three cities of Lodz, Krakow, and Opole.
The teams will be split into two pools of four with teams playing each other in a round robin system to determine the overall ranking and classification. Pool play will be played in two cities and will be followed by the Semifinals and finals, held in another city.
A total of eight club teams from around the world will compete at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship.
Pool A:
ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (Hosts (2017 Polish Champions))
Cucine Lube Civitanova (2017 National Champions from the top 2 countries in the FIVB World Ranking as of 31 December 2016 from not yet qualified countries)
Sada Cruzeiro (2017 South American Champions)
Sarmayeh Bank (2016 Asian Champions)
Pool B:
PGE Skra Bełchatów (Wild Card)
Zenit Kazan (2017 European Champions)
Personal Bolívar (2017 National Champions from the top 2 countries in the FIVB World Ranking as of 31 December 2016 from not yet qualified countries)
Shanghai Golden Age (Wild Card)
The top two of each pool will head to another city for the semifinals and finals. The team ranked first in Pool A after the Preliminary Round will play against the team ranked second in Pool B. The team ranked first in Pool B after the Preliminary Round will play against the team ranked second in Pool A.
The losers of the semifinal matches will play off for the bronze medal. The winners of the semifinal matches will contest the final.
Host Cities
Opole: 3500 Seats
It will be the first time Opole hosts an international competition organized by the FIVB. It was built in 1968 and has a rich volleyball tradition. At the beginning of the 21st century, the team of Mostostal-Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle was playing there in the Champions League. Additionally, the qualifications for the World and European Championships with the participation of Poland national men’s and women’s volleyball teams took place in Opole. The first volleyball event in Opole Arena took place on June 24, 1983, when Polish volleyball team won against United States 3-0 in a friendly match. The arena underwent a general renovation that was completed in September 2017.
Łódź: 12100 Seats
The Atlas Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Łódź, Poland. It opened on June 26, 2009 at al. Bandurskiego. It is one of the largest Polish venues with seating 10,400, with an optional extra 3,000. The arena hosts conferences, concerts and sports events. It hosted several European volleyball tournament; in 2014, it hosted some of the FIVB World Championships matches and in 2016, it was host for the World League preliminary round.
Krakow: 14752 seats
The Tauron Arena Kraków is the largest sports venue of its type in Poland and one of the most modern sports facilities in Europe. The hall can house some 15000 fans in its setup for volleyball and many more can view the action outside, on the state-of-the-art giant screen which encompasses a section of the stadium.
The arena has been linked to volleyball from the very start. The Poland v Brazil 2014 World League match was the first sporting event hosted by the hall, followed, 2 years later, by the 2016 World League Finals.
History
FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship commenced in 1989 and was held for four consecutive years. After a 16-year interruption (from 1993 to 2008), it resumed running in 2009 and it is performed annually since then. In terms of area, European teams with 9 championship, 8 vice-championship, and 8 bronze medals are the most glorious teams. South American teams with 9 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze medals are on the 2nd place. Asian teams took the podium only for two times with Iran Paykan team reached the bronze medal in 2010 and Qatar Al Rayan earned the silver medal in 2014.
In the past 12 editions, Brazil with five hosting had the most opportunity as a home side while Qatar hosted the tournament four times (2009-2012) and Italy went to the next place with three hosting. It has been the first time that Poland is taking the hosting advantage in this tournament.
Previous Honors
1989: Italy, Russia, Brazil
1990: Italy, Brazil, Italy
1991: Italy, Brazil, Italy
1992: Italy, Italy, Greece
No Club Championship from 1993 to 2008
2009: Italy, Poland, Russia
2010: Italy, Poland, Iran (Paykan)
2011: Italy, Poland, Russia
2012: Italy, Brazil, Poland
2013: Brazil, Russia, Italy
2014: Russia, Qatar, Argentina
2015: Brazil, Russia, Argentina
2016: Brazil, Russia, Italy
2017: Russia, Italy, Brazil
