Alanya, Turkey, June 21, 2012 - With the Olympic Games 2012 approaching very quickly, the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup is entering its last and deciding stage as the men’s finals take place in Alanya, Turkey with the best European teams stemming from the previous rounds trying to fulfill their Olympic dream.
Starting from Friday, players from eight countries will be fighting for only one ticket for the London Olympics. However, all is not lost for the nations finishing second and third as they move on to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament, set to take place in Moscow, Russia from June 28 to July 1. The champions and vice-champions from this competition will claim the final berths to the Games, completing the line-up.
“The most beautiful shores of the world are once again embracing the most beautiful sport in the world”, said Erol Ünal Karabiyik, president of the Turkish Volleyball Federation. “My happiness will rise when the most deserving team will come to a happy end in the CEV Continental Cup. Men who will set sail to the 2012 London Olympiad under the lee of our traditional hospitality.”
The competition will start on Friday with the 1/4 finals, where the Netherlands play Sweden, Russia takes on Poland, Norway is challenged by Spain and the home heroes of Turkey go for a demanding opening test against Austria.
Only a few weeks remain until the beach volleyball competition begins at the iconic Horse Guards Parade in the heart of central London, with action scheduled to take place from July 28 through August 9. With the sport set for its fifth Olympic outing, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), the international governing body for both beach volleyball and volleyball, is using a new qualification method for this year’s Olympic Games.
With a quota once again of two teams maximum per gender, per country completing the 24-team fields for each gender, the FIVB announced two years ago that just 16 spots will be filled through the Olympic rankings compared to 24 in the past. These are based on standings for the 12 best results for each team on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour from the beginning of 2011 through to the conclusion of the Rome Grand Slam which finished on Sunday, the FIVB SWATCH World Championships and the AVC, Europe and NORCECA Continental Tour Finals. An additional spot has been given to Great Britain as the host country, while the remaining seven spots will be determined differently than in the past four Olympic Games with the introduction of the FIVB Continental Cup.
Alanya is a beach resort city and a component district of Antalya Province in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey, 166 kilometers east from the city of Antalya. On the southern coast of Turkey, the city has approximately 100.000 inhabitants.
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