March 22 ------ SIX months since the historic staging of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup in Manila, another global sporting showcase will be coming to our shores in a year’s time. For the very first time, the Philippines will host the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship from September 12 to 28, 2025 an even showcasing 32 of the world’s best and brightest in the men’s game.
The forthcoming Philippine edition of the global meet will be the first to take place in just one host country since Poland staged the tournament solo in 2014. Joint hosting bids prevailed in the last two editions of the competition, with Italy and Bulgaria joining forces in 2018 followed by the first post-pandemic meet in 2022 co-hosted by Poland and Slovenia.
FIVB president Ari Graça announced the country’s successful hosting bid in front of the national delegation led by Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Tats Suzara and Senator Pia Cayetano on Wednesday at Château Les Tourelles — the governing body’s global headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. “Today, you will write history again! For the first time ever, the Philippines will host the prestigious FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in 2025,” said Graça. “In an open bidding process, you have overcome many strong bidders to win this race and I am sure you will extend your warm hospitality to all 32 participating men’s teams and the many thousands of international fans who will come to your country in 2025. “All of this would not be possible without the hard work of the National Federation and the strong support of the government,” he added.
In what will only be the third coming of the global meet in Asia after two prior editions in Japan (1998 and 2006), Suzara reaffirmed the country’s full commitment to take on the grand mission of hosting the world’s biggest men’s volleyball competition. “I am ready to accept the responsibility and the privilege for the Philippines to host the Men’s World Championship in 2025. It shall definitely be a huge challenge, to mount the single-hosting model, to welcome 32 of the best teams in the world, the highest-ranking officials of the sport and most avid fans of the sport from every corner of the globe,” said Suzara. “But if there is one thing that we, Filipinos, can do well, it is exactly this—to equally give each and every team the best conditions in order for them to fully focus on the competition and the championship trophy and to make them feel at home right in our own home.”
From back-to-back stagings of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in Manila, 2025 could be an unprecedented year of skyrocketing growth for Philippine volleyball as the country also made its bid to host the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on August 22 to September 7 next year. The FIVB’s chosen host for the women’s tournament is expected to be announced within the month, with four other Asian hosting bids from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in place.
Source: spin.ph
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