Bad news for the defending World Champions (Brazil & Russia)…
The FIVB has revised the qualification format for the 2014 World Championship. They’ve decided that only the hosting team gets direct qualification and the defending champion will no longer receive the same privilege.
The hosts Poland (men’s tournament) & Italy (women’s tournament) are the only qualified teams.
According to this article, 23 of the 24 teams go through the qualifying process. The 24 teams will be spread across four pools of six teams playing in a round-robin system with the top four teams advancing to a second round of preliminary matches featuring two pools of eight teams. The top four from each pool will then advance to the quarterfinal phase.
We like this formula! We think this new formula will avoid the drama and the forgettable moments during the 2010 Men’s World Championship. Remember?
Anyways, the FIVB board has also decided to maintain the # of vacancies for both genders:
Continent Men Women
Asia 4 & 4
Africa 3 & 2
Europe 9 & 10 (including hosts)
South America 3 & 2
NORCECA 5 & 6
Note: The criteria of vacancies is based on the number of teams participating in the qualification phase and percentage of teams placed in the top 12 at previous World Championships.
Regardless of the changes, we’re still very excited to watch this tournament. 3 years to go!
(images: FIVB)