Press release

Lausanne, Switzerland, July 18, 2012 – The drawing of lots for the beach volleyball competition at the Olympic Games will be streamed live on www.fivb.org on Thursday when it takes place at the venue of the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Klagenfurt Grand Slam starting at 20:00 (local time).

A total of 24 teams per gender will learn in which of the six preliminary phase pools they will be drawn in. The pairs will be split equally into six pools, playing each team in their group, with the top two advancing to the knockout final phase along with the two best third-placed teams. The remaining four third-place teams will then compete in Playoff matches to determine which pairs will fill the final two places in the First Round.

Click here to see the drawing of lots live

Sixteen teams have qualified for the Games through the Olympic Ranking, with five more joining as winners of the AVC, CAVB, CEV, CSV and NORCECA Continental Cups and two from the World Cup Olympic Qualification Tournament. Great Britain has also been granted a berth as hosts.

Great Britain will be seeded no.6 in the Olympic Ranking with the rest of the teams seeded based on the Olympic ranking, Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final results and the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification results.

The no.1–no.6 seeding positions will be fixed taking into consideration the host country team’s seeding (no.1 or no.6) and the Olympic ranking.

The remaining teams will be seeded following the serpentine path through five draws, according to the FIVB regulations as follows:

Draw 1 will determine the teams to be seeded from 7 to 9 in pools F, E and D:
–– The three teams names will be placed in a container, with the first name drawn becoming seed 7 and placed in pool F.
–– The second name drawn becomes seed 8 and placed in pool E.
–– The third name drawn becomes seed 9 and placed in pool D.

Draw 2 will determine the teams to be seeded from 10 to 12 in pools C, B and A:
–– The three teams names will be placed in a container, with the first name drawn becoming seed 10 and placed in pool C.
–– The second name drawn becomes seed 11 and placed in pool B.
–– The third name drawn becomes seed 12 and placed in pool A.

Draw 3 will determine the teams to be seeded from 13 to 17 in pools A, B, C, D and E:
–– The five teams names will be placed in a container, with the first name drawn becoming seed 13 and placed in pool A.
–– The second name drawn becomes seed 14 and placed in pool B.
–– The third name drawn becomes seed 15 and placed in pool C.
–– The fourth name drawn becomes seed 16 and placed in pool D.
–– The fifth name drawn becomes seed 17 and placed in pool E.

Draw 4 will determine the team to be seeded 18 and placed in pool F:
–– The seven teams names will be placed in a container, with the first name drawn becoming seed 18 and placed in pool F.

Draw 5 will determine the teams to be seeded 19 to 24 and placed in pools F, E, D, C, B and A:
–– The six teams names will be placed in a container, with the first name drawn becoming seed 19 and placed in pool F.
–– The second name drawn becomes seed 20 and placed in pool E.
–– The third name drawn becomes seed 21 and placed in pool D.
–– The fourth name drawn becomes seed 22 and placed in pool C.
–– The fifth name drawn becomes seed 23 and placed in pool B.
–– The sixth name drawn becomes seed 24 and placed in pool A.

Teams from the same country cannot be placed in the same pool.

The competition will take place across 13 days, from July 28 to August 9.