We’ll try to sum up what happened at the 2010 Men’s World Championship which Italy hosted…
Some volleyball critics and fans thought that the competition formula gave too much advantage for Italy to play against easier teams which allowed them to qualify for the Final 4. Unfortunately, Italia’s chances of winning the crown ended in the Semifinal Round when they lost to Brazil. They faced Serbia for the bronze but failed to win the medal.
Despite not winning any metal, Italy still hosted a drama-filled successful tourney. As a side note, Italy won the men’s world title 3 consecutive times in the 90s, ie 1990, 1994 and 1998.
Brazil was also heavily criticized during the tournament with reports stating that Rezende’s team purposely lost their match versus Bulgaria to advance to an easier pool. Remember this? Theo, an opposite hitter, became a setter because Bruno was ill.
It was UGLY! Fans were booing Brazil and some of them wanted to get their money back.
Looks like future organizers have learned valuable lessons, ie Polska. In case you didn’t know, Poland will host the 2014 Men’s World Championship. Polish Volleyball President Mirosław Przedpełski has clearly stated that they will NOT use the same formula Italy used but will instead apply a different format which will make the quadrennial tournament even more dramatic exciting.
Siatkowka.przegladsportowy.pl originally released the article in Polish but inside-volley.com has posted the English translation:
WCH 2014: No More Wheeling and Dealing
It is going to take a little longer, but there will be no speculations and tactical failures. We know the competition system which will be in force during 2014 World Championships in Poland.
It is supposed to be a Polish response to the 2010 World Championships in Italy – a tournament which ended in total embarrassment. The organizers prepared a peculiar competition formula, encouraging teams to lose games. Absurd, unjust, demotivating – that’s how the then head coach of Poland, Daniel Castellani, spoke of this regulation monster. Castellani refused to speculate in Italy, which led to Poland’s defeat. He later paid for that decision with his job.
Polish patent…
The only team who could have seen any advantages of the Italian system were the hosts, who had treated themselves with an indecently easy path to the semifinal. They eagerly took advantage of it during the tourney, risking being ostracised by other participants. – This system is a dud. I have no idea how on earth FIVB could have agreed on something like that – president of the Polish Volleyball Federation, Miroslaw Przedpełski, said after the tournament was over. And so yesterday, with no hidden satisfaction, he introduced us to the regulations which will apply during the championships in Poland. – There is no perfect game system, but I am convinced that this one will prove itself good. It is our own idea and the world federation has already accepted it.
Polish scheme is largely based on a formula that was in force in Japan in 2006. There are only two novelties – first one is a group draw before the second phase of the tournament; second – an increase in the number of matches from 96 to 100 by adding the quarterfinals. The competition is going to look as follows: 24 teams will be divided into four groups (Poles will play in Wroclaw), which means that each squad is going to take on at least five opponents in the tournament. – It is a nod to the weaker teams that are going to drop out after the first phase of the competition. In Italy they played only three matches; here, they will stay a little longer – explains Przedpełski. The top four teams from each group will advance to the second phase, and they will retain their results achieved in matches against all other teams that still remain in the tourney. – This means that each and every game is important. You cannot afford to slip in the first stage of the tournament, because then your team may fail to collect enough points to advance to the quarterfinals – says former coach, Ireneusz Mazur.
In the second phase, two eight-team groups will be created (Poles are to play in Łódź), but there’s a surprise. Before the World Championships, it will not be known in advance which groups are going to be joined together. The whole thing will be resolved by a draw. This idea was introduced in order to avoid accusations that the hosts had arranged themselves a route to the podium long before the tournament.
Close to the ideal…
Four teams will advance to the quarterfinals, where they are later to face each other according to the key: E1 – F4, E2 – F3, E3 – F2 and E4 – F1. So at that point there will be no draw, unlike during the Olympic Games in London. Then, everything will go downhill – straight to semifinals and finals.
In total, medalists will have to play up to 12 matches, which is more than during the murderous World Cup. – It is going to be a very long tournament, so coach Andrea Anastasi must perfectly prepare the team for all difficulties of the event – says Mazur. He adds that this formula should minimize the risk of so-called “tactical defeats”.
– We really do not need to worry about a replay from the Italian World Championships. It looks like there will be no need to face the dilemma of whether it is worth to win a game. Still, in the second phase of the tournament, some teams may want to choose a rival. But this cannot be avoided in any system. Even during the Olympic Games in London, where a draw before the quarterfinals was introduced, the Italians clearly wanted to “run into” Team USA. There is no such thing as a perfect formula. I hope ours is at least close to the ideal – Mazur ends.”
We strongly and totally support this new formula!
We hope the women’s competition will also adopt this format.