Changes to the World League calendar
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Poland will be looking to defend their title at the 2013 World League |
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Lausanne,
Switzerland, May 24, 2013 – The FIVB has announced an update to some match
times in this year's Volleyball World League calendar.
Match 8 between
Poland and Brazil on Friday, June 7 will now take place at 15:45 GMT (17:45 local
time). The two countries will meet again in match 24 on June 9, which will now
take place at 18:15 GMT (20:15 local time).
The start time for
match 35 between Italy and Cuba, scheduled for 16 June, is now 17:00 GMT (19:00
local time). The matches between Iran and Germany on July 12 and 13 will take
place at 16:30 GMT (21:00 local time).
This year’s
edition of the World League sees the competition increase from 16 to 18 teams
split into three pools of six. It is the first time the World League will
feature 18 teams, having had 16 teams from 2001-2003 and 2006-2012. The World
League featured eight teams in its inaugural year in 1990, 10 in 1991 and then
12 from 1992-2000 and 2004-05.
Pools A and
B were determined using the serpentine system based on the world rankings as of
August 13, 2012. Pool C features teams ranked as the next best four in the
world rankings after the 12 teams in Pool A and B in addition to wildcards Japan and Portugal.
The top
three world ranked teams in each pool will play three matches at home and two
away with the bottom three world ranked teams playing twice at home and three
times away. The customary World League format of two teams playing twice over
the course of a weekend returns after the 2012 edition experienced change due
to the congested pre-Olympic Games calendar.
The World
League Finals will take place in Mar del Plata, Argentina from July 17 to 21.
Click here
for more information on the World League
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