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Doha to host World Club Championship
 The
World Club Volleyball Championship will be
revived after a gap of seven years when
Qatar hosts the event in Doha next year.
The tournament was held only once, in 2002,
before it was scrapped due to organisational
and financial difficulties, but now the
International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)
has decided to make it a part of its
calendar, Qatar Volleyball Association
(QVBA) technical director Hussein Imam Ali
told the Gulf Times on Tuesday, May 27,
2008.
The Doha event will follow the guidelines
laid down by the Volleyball Golden Formula (VGF),
a concept devised by Ali himself and
approved by the FIVB to make the sport more
appealing with longer rallies and reduced
number of interruptions.
“It is indeed a proud moment for the QVBA to
have got this approval from the world body
to assess the new concept at a major
championship. This has been made possible
with support rendered by the Qatar Olympic
Committee. It will actually be the first
edition of the championship as the FIVB has
not maintained any records about the
previous event,” said Ali, who is also a
member of the FIVB Coaches Commission.
The championship will have the participation
of eight teams with five top clubs from each
continent, a champion club of the hosts as
well as two wild card teams approved by the
FIVB, the hosts and Al Jazeera Sport, the
broadcast rights holders for the event.
While the men’s event would be held in Doha,
the women’s championship will be conducted
in the United Arab Emirates.
The schedule for the championship is however
yet to be finalised though a proposal has
been submitted to the FIVB by the QVBA to
hold the event from October 18, 2009. The
dates are expected to be announced during
the FIVB Congress to be held in Dubai next
month.
The decision to evaluate the new concept at
the World Club Championship was taken at a
FIVB meeting held in Lucerne, Switzerland
recently, following the submission of
reports of the two VGF tests conducted in
Doha in July last year. The tests were
conducted under the supervision of Sandy
Steel, president, FIVB Rules of the Game
Commission.
Al Arabi Sports Club triumphed in the VGF
test tournament held last year featuring the
four top clubs of the country, which
included Al Rayyan, Qatar Sports Club and Al
Ahli.
“The FIVB Board of Administration has termed
the two VGF tests held in Doha last year as
highly professional and has selected the
regulations followed in the first test to be
used at the World Club Championship.
“The most admired scoring points that draw
cheer and applause from the fans are those
featuring lengthy rallies as they are full
of action and hold them in tension. The VGF
concept will restore equality in the attack
and defence, in a sport which is presently
heavily loaded in favour of attack. The
important constituent of this rule is that
the opening attack is allowed only from the
three metre line,” he said.
“Tall players are only a small number in the
world and are slower in movement and
agility. The use of the VGF in a match will
allow the significant number of players of
medium height to play a bigger role with
their skill and alacrity,” he added.
“Neutralising the domination of giant
players in the sport representing only 15 %
of the world population will encourage the
participation from the 85% majority medium
height players. This will certainly help in
enhancing the popularity of volleyball,” he
explained. |
