Lausanne, June 6, 2008 – The final countdown to the beginning of the 2008 FIVB World League has begun, with less than one week to go until the Intercontinental Rounds of Volleyball’s flagship annual event get underway.

There are huge clashes on the first weekend of action, with the likes of world No. 1 Brazil taking on the mighty Serbia in Sao Paulo in the first of six FIVB “Match of the Weeks,” while China host Asian rivals Japan in Hangzhou, the host city changing from Chengdu after the devastating earthquake in May that hit the region.

The 2008 edition will involve 16 National Teams playing 96 matches over six consecutive weekends in 41 cities across the globe, with the world’s best Men’s players competing for more than USD 20 million in Prize Money.

The six Intercontinental Rounds begin the weekend of June 13-15 and end the weekend of July 18-20. The teams are divided into four pools, with each team playing their pool opponents twice over a weekend both home and away.

In other action on the first weekend, Venezuela host France, Cuba are at home to Italy, Russia travel to Korea, Bulgaria faces Spain at home, Finland host USA and Egypt take on Poland at home.

The "Match of the Week," which is free for use by television channels, is available to the World League's valued Host Broadcasters and other TV channels on each weekend of Intercontinental Round action and is a successful way of introducing the World League to TV viewers. TV channels interested in finding out about broadcasting a "Match of the Week" free of charge are requested to contact the FIVB at tv.marketing@fivb.org for further information.

In other World League news, the Final Round, to be played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through July 23-27 is now open for press accreditation applications, with the application form available on the official FIVB website at www.fivb.org. 

The Finals will see Brazil as organizing country, the winners of each pool and a wild card chosen by the FIVB from the best second-ranked teams in the Intercontinental Rounds playing a total of 10 matches.

Brazil are looking for their sixth-straight World League triumph. If Brazil finish top of their pool, the second-ranked team will advance to the Final Round.

Another success for the Brazilians would mean they match Italy for most World League victories with eight. Italy and Brazil are the only teams to compete in all 18 editions of competition up to 2007.

Among those standing in the South American team’s way are Russia, silver medallists in 2007 and winners in 2002, and USA, who claimed bronze last year.

The World League, started by the FIVB in 1990, is a spectacular showcase for the crème de la crème of Men's Volleyball. The total attendance for the 2007 edition was 637,000 fans with total TV coverage of 2,244 hours. The Final Round in Poland was covered by 31 different TV channels, commented on in 23 languages, beamed to 110 countries and had a TV audience of more than 1.1 billion.

For all the latest news on the 2008 FIVB World League go to the official FIVB website at http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldLeague/2008/.