Ukraine handed Russian spot at world championships
Russia will be replaced by Ukraine at the 2022 Volleyball Men’s World Championship, Ukrainian officials have said, sharing a letter from global federation FIVB. Russia was stripped of the event in early March, with a ban placed on all Russian and Belarusian teams in FIVB competitions.
The news was shared on the official website of the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation, which published what it said was a letter from FIVB general director Fabio Azevedo.
After Russia’s suspension, Ukraine will be granted a spot at the tournament as the highest-ranked team in the FIVB ratings outside of the nations already qualified to compete.
Ukraine will reportedly take Russia’s place in Pool A of the 24-nation championship, which is set to be held in August and September. FIVB has not confirmed the news on its own website.
Russia had been due to host the 2022 World Championship at 11 venues in 10 host cities across the country later this year, but was stripped of the showpiece after Moscow launched its military offensive in Ukraine.
FIVB has yet to confirm an official replacement as the tournament host, although Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has reported that his nation and Slovenia are set to step in.
Morawiecki said that Poland will now receive the spectacle set to run from August 26 to September 11 and has invited Slovenia to co-host it, with the final and third-place playoff to be played in Poland.
"Russia were supposed to be the hosts of the volleyball world championships, but can you imagine that everyone would listen to the Russian anthem as if nothing had happened," Morawiecki said. "This is why we protested against it."
Poland are the reigning world champions and hosted last year's European Volleyball Championships alongside Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
FIVB told Match TV that an official decision on the transfer of the tournament from Russia to Poland and Slovenia was still to be made.
According to reports, the Russian Volleyball Federation is outlining plans to lodge a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland for compensation after it was deprived of the hosting rights.
“We’ve have been working on it for the last week, there are some technical issues: to form an application, to pay for the lawyers. The amount of compensation is about $80 million,” secretary general Alexander Yaremenko told Match TV earlier this month.
In its letter to the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation, FIVB noted that the decision on its participation could be reversed if Russia successfully appeals its ban.
FIVB also asked Ukraine to confirm its participation by April 20.
