Just like the World Grand Prix, the 2011 World Cup will still take place in JAPAN!
Yehey!
FIVB President Jizhong Wei has released this statement:
The FIVB continues to support the JVA and the Japanese people to overcome the difficulties caused by the natural disaster and the unfortunate nuclear radiation,” We have always had confidence in the Japanese people and the Japanese volleyball family’s solidarity. The FIVB is working closely with the international Olympic family to provide all the necessary support to Japan’s sporting society in order to restore confidence and accelerate the recovery and they have the FIVB’s, especially the world’s volleyball players, full support in this delicate process.
This is great news for Japanese volleyball fans! After the devastating quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, it’s time for them to give themselves a break and enjoy the best volleyball matches from the world’s best teams!
Japan is the home of the World Cup since 1977 which became an Olympic qualifying event since 1991. Last year’s winners were Italy (women) and Brazil (men).
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Grand Prix Update:
Whew!
Since the tragic earthquake, tsunami and nuclear problems hit Japan, we started to get very worried if they’d still host the World League, Grand Prix and even the World Cup.
The Japanese Volleyball Federation decided a couple of months ago not to host any home matches during the World League and so their men’s team will play all its matches away from home.
As for the Women’s World Grand Prix, the JVA and the FIVB have assured the visiting teams that Japan is SAFE enough to host 2 rounds.
Yehey!
Komaki will host Japan, USA, Serbia and the Dominican Republic in week 2 while Tokyo will host Japan, Korea, Serbia and Russia during the third and final weekend of the preliminary round.
This is great news!
“Japan is a crucial host country for the World Grand Prix and we are pleased to be able to confirm two key venues for our premier annual volleyball event for women. We have been reassured of the complete safety of the athletes and officials so we’re looking forward to having Japan play a key part in the World Grand Prix has they have done for many years.” according to FIVB 2nd executive vice-president Theofanis Tsiokris said.
We totally agree with him! We are so excited to watch Takeshita, Saori, Sano and the entire Japanese squad. The World Grand Prix will take place from August 5th to 21st with the finals being held in Macau, China from August 24th to 28th.
Are you happy for Japan? We are! We are!
(images: FIVB)