GREAT NEWS to all volleyball fans in Portugal!
Portugal will be the host of the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League Group 2 Finals, it was officially announced today.
The competition will be held over 9 and 10 July. The city will be confirmed at a later date.
Group 2 next year comprises of 12 teams who will compete in four-team pools over three weekends, before the top three plus hosts Portugal qualify to the Final Four.
The participating teams in Group 2 are Japan, the Netherlands, Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Korea, Portugal, Egypt, Turkey, Slovakia and China. The eight teams competing in Group 2 in 2015 (Cuba, Canada, Japan, Korea, Czech Republic, Portugal, Finland, Netherlands) have been joined by wild cards China, Turkey, Slovakia and 2015 Group 3 winners Egypt.
Venues for the Group 1 Final Six (13-17 July) and Group 3 Final Four (1-3 July) will be announced at a later date.
In case you didn’t know, Portugal finished 18th out of 24 teams in last year’s World League.
Also, Portugal’s Joao Jose, who has played 256 times with the team, has retired in 2015.
(Images: FIVB)