Lausanne, 30^th July 2007 – It was not just a victory for the U.S.A. in the two gold medals final matches. The SWATCH FIVB World Championships has also been a huge success for the FIVB, perfectly supported by the promoter Ruedi Kunz and his staff, going like clockwork. “The best Beach Volleyball World Championships ever” states Dr. Rubén Acosta H., President of the FIVB. A full packed 10’000-seats arena, even bigger than the one used days before for the ATP tennis tournament, was one of the successful keys of the event: about 60’000 people gathered in Gstaad, including visitors in the side courts. During the Final match even the second side court stands were full of people, thanks to a big screen, since the main court was sold out.

The President of the FIVB, Dr. Rubén Acosta H., can’t hide his satisfaction: “This SWATCH FIVB World Championships 2007 in Gstaad have been the best ever. We have testified once more that the vision of the FIVB was clear already years ago: Beach Volleyball can be played everywhere, not just beside the sea. It is possible to build a successful Beach Volleyball World Championship even among the Alps. As I promised to our last World Congress, the best days for our sport are still ahead. We just have to continue to work hard, together with all the Volleyball and Beach Volleyball family. Many new sports are growing, getting inspired by Beach Volleyball and following and our mainstream: sport and entertainment are one and not two different things, like the FIVB has shown in Gstaad”.

New countries for a new podium

For the first time in the World Championship story, there were no Brazilian men on the podium. Juliana and Larissa managed to bring green colour on the flagpole, while the Men’s medals highlight the big steps made by other countries, like Australia or Russia. New teams give more boost to the competition and promise new unpredictable fights for the ranking top from now on, starting with the next SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop, a Grand Slam event this week in Klagenfurt, Austria.

170 countries on TV

A big show on TV screens for the SWATCH FIVB World Championships. The great TV production work performed by SRG SSR sent its video feed to 170 countries. 81 countries were live for all the week-end, reaching a coverage of over 1 Billion potential viewers each day.

Beach Volleyball World Championships 2009

The country to host World Championships 2009 has not yet been announced by the FIVB. Some observers were sent by their Federations to study all the facilities and organization’s details in Gstaad; new projects for this event to come are expected in Lausanne for the next weeks. During the event a tremendous interest was shown by some new companies willing to support the FIVB and its properties.