Record-breaking figures as 45 European national federations register for 2014 FIVB World Champs

A record number of 295 teams – including 83 from Europe – have registered to enter the qualification process for the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championships. Europe’s contribution to this figure is the most impressive among all continental confederations, with a total of 45 national federations that have registered for the 2014 World Championships, more than from any other continent.

A record number of 295 teams – including 83 from Europe – have registered to enter the qualification process for the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championships. Europe’s contribution to this figure is the most impressive among all continental confederations, with a total of 45 national federations that have registered for the 2014 World Championships, more than from any other continent. 

“We are literally thrilled by the figures resulting from the registration process” says CEV President André Meyer, “especially as we see even some of the so-called small countries have decided to register for the World Championships. By looking back at the past editions, we see that Europe’s contribution has never been that good but also that the involvement showed by our national federations has steadily progressed throughout the past decade. I especially welcome the teams that will be celebrating their debut at the World Championships; their participation is the best way to show to their respective national authorities that Volleyball in their countries is more than alive and that they play an important role in our efforts devoted to the development and promotion of the sport from grassroots up to elite level” he continues. “We look forward to some exciting months of great Volleyball actions whereby the vacancies attributed to Europe will be eventually filled up”.      

The figures recently released by the FIVB do not simply confirm the unique appeal of the World Championships but also that Europe’s national federations are more and more active on the international stage since back in 2006 and 2010 “only” 36 had registered for what is the finest Volleyball competition after the Olympics. Europe has actually gone through a massive improvement as that same figure had stood at 32 and 30 in 2002 and 1998 respectively. The most relevant development is to be seen in women’s Volleyball where the number of national federations registered for the World Champs has almost doubled in 15 years (from 24 in 1998 up to 42 for the 2014 edition).   

The breakdown by gender is very impressive. The FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 has 154 countries registered (including 41 from Europe) while the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 features 141 countries in the qualification process (with 42 representing national federations affiliated to the CEV). This means that about 75% of the 55 national federations placed under the authority of the CEV are involved in the qualification for next year’s World Championships.    

2014 Volleyball World Championships – NFs registered per Confederation (Men/Women) 
Africa: 40 (39/38) 
Asia: 30 (28/16) 
Europe: 45 (41/42) 
NORCECA: 40 (39/38) 
South America: 7 (7/7)    

The qualification process will see countries compete within their confederation to determine the 23 participants who will join the hosts at the FIVB Volleyball World Championships next year. The qualification process in Europe is set to start this coming May and will come to a close in 2014 by eventually attributing the 8 and 9 vacancies available for the men’s and women’s Championship respectively. Poland and Italy are pre-qualified as hosts of the men’s and women’s competition. 

The number of vacancies/continent for each tournament is the following: 
Men 
Organizer: Poland 
Asia: 4 
Africa: 3 
Europe: 8 + Poland (host) 
South America: 3 
NORCECA: 5   

Women 
Organizer: Italy 
Asia: 4 
Africa: 2 
Europe: 9 + Italy (host) 
South America: 2 
NORCECA: 6   

The winner of the World Championships will qualify for the FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2015, which is the first Olympic qualification event for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 
Russia is the most successful nation in the FIVB Volleyball World Championships having won the men’s title six times (all as Soviet Union) and the women’s crown five times, including the last two editions (see picture from the 2010 Worlds in Japan). Brazil has won the last three consecutive men’s Championships.