article71

23/05/2003
FIVB

World Grand Prix, Most important annual women's tournament goes ahead; Moves to Europe because of SARS Crisis

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Friday, May 23 - The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced on Friday that their premier annual competition for women, the $1 Million World Grand Prix, will go ahead as planned, but will be staged entirely in Italy to preserve the competition in the face of the Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in some of the traditional Asian host countries.

The FIVB Board of Administration when they met at the beginning of May delegated power to President Rub�n Acosta to review the situation after three weeks and make a decision about whether, in view of the unprecedented health crisis, to go ahead with the World Grand Prix in 2003. "Given our great respect for our traditional hosts, this was a difficult decision," said President Acosta. "Our first duty was to act responsibly from the overall health perspective, but we also have a strong responsibility to the best women's teams in the world," President Acosta said. He appealed to the Asian countries that have until now formed the very heart of the competition over the past decade to take the decision in the spirit it was intended - a way to preserve the continuity of the World Grand Prix, the most important annual fixture for women in the international volleyball calendar.

"We are very happy to have the opportunity to host the best women's teams in Italy and we intend to stage a fantastic event for the 11th edition of the World Grand Prix," said Carlo Magri, President of the Italian Volleyball Federation. "It will also give our own team, the current World Champions, a chance to display their skills on their home territory," he added.

Italy has pledged to welcome all participating teams. Title-holders Russia, China, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Brazil, Canada, USA and Cuba join Italy in the tournament and health checks, according to World Health Organization and Italian government requirements, will be made on the delegations coming from SARS affected areas.

FIVB officials emphasized that the traditional period of competition (July-August) would be preserved and the actual dates and the exact competition format for 2003 will be announced shortly.

The competition this year expanded from eight to 12 teams and plans were already being formulated to stage some legs in the future in other parts of the world. Now Italy has pledged to host the final round for the next four years and other continents will join Asia in the future as co-hosts of parts of the competition. Asia plays a central role in the international Volleyball calendar with the most important event of the pre-Olympic year, the World Cup for men and women, in Japan in November and Thailand hosting two Junior World Championships in Volleyball and one in Beach Volleyball.

In 2005, Japan hosts the Grand Champions Cup and in 2006, the World Championships. Other major international events this year include the World Beach Volleyball Championships on Copacabana Beach, Brazil, while Europe hosts the final of the FIVB $15 million World League (July 2003) and now Italy hosts the World Grand Prix final in August.