All eyes will be on Manila on October 18-23 when it hosts the 2016FIVB Women’s Club World Championships.
The tournament has seen tremendous growth in popularity in its past three editions. FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça is confident that organizers, Eventcourt and the Philippine Superliga, can take the tournament and the sport to unprecedented levels.
“Eventcourt proved at the last three editions in Zurich that they are a perfect organizer for tournaments of an international standing. I am convinced that Eventcourt together with the Philippine Superliga will provide a FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship tournament of epic proportions,” Graça said in a meeting with the organizers last week in Tokyo.
Graça, who already committed to attending the entire event, is banking on volleyball’s popularity in the Philippines to fill the seats of the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the biggest venue for the tournament in its history.
“The seating capacity of over 15,000 will be the biggest-ever in the history of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship,” the organizing body’s president added. “This is without doubt another big step for women’s volleyball and will usher in a new era. I am confident that the Philippine volleyball fans are going to build up a breath-taking atmosphere.”
The Philippines follows Brazil (1991, 1994), Italy (1992), Qatar (2010, 2011, 2012) and Switzerland (2013, 2014, 2015) as host countries of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship. Moreover, the country will host a volleyball world championship for the first time, having previously been a host of the FIVB’s premier annual women’s volleyball competition – the World Grand Prix.
The PSL has already committed a lot of its resources to make sure the event goes off without a hitch. PSL President Ramon “Tats” Suzara will look to bring the marketing savvy he instilled in his league to promote the Club World Championships.
PSL President Ramon Suzara
“The sport is very popular in our country and it will be very important that we get as much support as we can from everyone, especially the media, so that this we can show that our country is a world-class venue,” Suzara expressed.
Four teams have already been seeded with South American champions Rexona Ades of Brazil, CEV Champions League winners Pomi Casalmaggiore of Italy, Asian champions Bangkok Glass of Thailand, and an all-star team from the Philippine Superliga already confirmed. There are still four spots waiting to be filled via wildcard deliberation to make up the largest field in the tournament’s history.
Photo from FIVB.org
