CANDON CITY, ILOCOS SUR — The Philippines has formally submitted its bid to host the 2026 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup in the cities of Candon and Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The tournament, slated for June 6 to 13, 2026, will feature 12 of Asia’s top women’s national volleyball teams — including the home crowd favorite, Alas Pilipinas Women.
Coming off a historic silver-medal finish in the 2025 edition of the AVC Nations Cup, Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and AVC president Tats Suzara confirmed that the country has officially filed its proposal to become the focal point of Asian volleyball next year.
The announcement follows Candon’s hosting of the opening leg of the 5th Southeast Asian (SEA) Men’s V.League, which runs from July 9 to 13 — marking the city’s second time to stage an international volleyball event.
Under the current proposal, Vigan will join Candon in the potential hosting of the preliminary phase of the continental tournament, while Candon — spearheaded by Mayor Eric Singson — will solely host the final and playoff stage of the 2026 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup.
“The [Candon City] arena is not for a local event. It’s for an international event. Hindi ‘to pang local. It has to be an international event. We have to bring foreign guests, foreign teams here. I didn’t expect this to be really big and I offered him last night to host the 2026 AVC Women’s Nations Cup next year,” said Suzara during a press conference held at Hotel Van Gogh here.
“Men ngayon, women naman next year and this will be 12 women’s national teams in Asia and sabi ko kay Mayor, so ikaw ang bida dito. Ikaw ang main.”
(C) PVL Images
The AVC board is set to meet on September 5 in Bangkok, Thailand, where they will finalize and approve hosting duties for several major tournaments, including the Women’s Nations Cup, the Men’s Nations Cup, the Asian Continental Championships, and the AVC Champions Leagues.
“Hindi ko alam na magbibid ang Pilipinas talaga, pero idadaan na ito sa PNVF. I have three hats, but PNVF will send the official bid for this and by September 5, we have a board meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, to approve all the hosting requests for next year,” Suzara shared.
“The men’s continental championship will be in Japan, and the women’s will be in China. We have to finish all the hosting next year. We already received the bid for the Men’s Champion’s League to be in Indonesia, and the Women’s Champions League will be in Korea. Nations Cup, I have received from Marina Tsui from Hong Kong to host the Men’s Nations Cup naman. Pag nakumpleto ‘yan lahat by September 5, kumpleto na ang hosting natin next year, including Candon and Vigan,” he added.
In preparation for potentially hosting the prestigious tournament, Mayor Singson assured that the local government of Candon is ready to make the necessary improvements to meet international standards.
He shared that the city will expedite the construction of the regional airport and improve the dugout facilities at the Candon City Arena to accommodate all participating teams.
“Yung dugout ng teams; we need to improve that to accommodate teams. Of course, nasabi kanina ni Mr. Suzara na if we can have the airplanes bringing down the teams to here, it will be easier for all the teams that will be coming in. We will try our best to rush our airport. It’s under construction, but I will try to ask the DOTR to help me out and do our part also as the LGU to manage the airport construction para mabilis yung pagkagawa,” said Singson.
“This will be a big opportunity on our part. We are learning the ropes. This stint of SEA V.League ang umpisa on how to handle and host an international game. With Mr. Suzara with me, I’m confident we can do our part.”
#WATCH: PNVF President Tats Suzara reveals that Candon, along with another Ilocos Sur city, has been offered to host the 2026 AVC Women’s Nations Cup from June 6-13! 🇵🇭
Twelve of Asia’s best national teams could be battling it out right here in the North 🏐
🎥 @ernesttuazon… pic.twitter.com/DmaOMD0K8z
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) July 12, 2025
