Lausanne, Switzerland, September 20, 2018 - The events on the 2018-2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball Calendar were confirmed as the World Tour Council met in Lausanne on Tuesday. Featuring an increase in the number of 3, 4 and 5-star events, the 2018-2019 season is set to be the biggest yet with 19 brand new host cities and five new host countries taking the total prize money for the competition up to almost $8 million (World Championships and World Tour Finals excluded).
When compared with 2017/2018, the prize money for the new season has increased by 27.3% and almost doubled since 2016/2017. The total number of stops has also increased to 52, including a total of 87 events for both genders.
“The FIVB World Tour continues to go from strength to strength, and it is wonderful to see emerging markets play a significant role in the success of beach volleyball,” said FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F°.
“Our sport is one that is extremely competitive but built on respect. We want to be the number one family sport in the world, and encourage people of all ages, genders and backgrounds to play. The numbers support our actions and I hope this will continue throughout the next season and beyond.”
Highlights of the 2018-2019 calendar include three 5-star Beach Major Series events in Fort Lauderdale (USA), Gstaad (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria), as well as a 5-star event in Rome (Italy) TBC. There will also be as many as fourteen 4-star events, eight 3-star events, seven 2-star events, and nineteen 1-star events across all five continents. The year’s signature event will be the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany from June 28-July 7, while the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships will take place on Samila Beach in Songkhla, Thailand from June 19-23.
2018-2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball Calendar - Click image below to download.
August 23-26, 2018: Siofok, Hungary - 1-star - Double gender
August 28-September 1, 2018: Montpellier, France - 1-star - Double gender
September 13-16, 2018: Zhongwei, China, 2-star, Single gender – Women
September 30-October 4, 2018: Qinzhou, China - 3-star - Double gender
October 2-5, 2018: Bandar Torkaman, Iran, 1-star, Single gender – Men
October 9-12, 2018: Babolsar, Iran, 1-star, Single gender – Men
October 10-14, 2018: Yangzhou, China, 4-star - Double gender
October 16-19, 2018: Bandar Anzali, Iran, 1-star, Single gender – Men
October 17-21, 2018: Las Vegas, USA, 4-star, Double gender
October 24-28, 2018: Chetumal, Mexico, 3-star, Single gender – Women
November 29-December 2, 2018: Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1-star, Double gender
January 2-6, 2019: The Hague, Netherlands, 4-star, Double gender
January 17-20, 2019: Visakhapatnam, India, 1-star, Double gender
February 5-10, 2019: Fort Lauderdale, USA, 5-star (Beach Major Series), Double gender
February 13-17, 2019: Florida (city TBD), USA, 3-star, Double gender
February 21-24, 2019: Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2-star, Single gender – Women
March 6-10, 2019: TBC Sydney, Australia, 4-star - Double gender
March 7-10, 2019: Kg Speu, Cambodia, 1-star, Single gender – Men
March 12-16, 2019: Doha, Qatar, 4-star, Single gender – Men
March 20-24, 2019: Texas (city TBD), USA, 3-star, Double gender
March 21-24, 2019: Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2-star, Single gender – Men
March 28-31, 2019: Miguel Pereira, Brazil, 1-star, Double gender (Date change)
April 4-7, 2019: Battambang, Cambodia, 1-star, Single gender – Women
April 8-11, 2019: Satun, Thailand, 1-star, Double gender
April 11-14, 2019: Langkawi, Malaysia,1-star, Double gender
April 24-28, 2019: Xiamen, China, 3-star, Double gender
April 25-28, 2019: Bangkok, Thailand, 1-star, Double gender
May 1-5, 2019: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3-star, Double gender
May 8-12, 2019: Los Angeles (exact location TBD), USA, 4-star, Double gender
May 8-12, 2019: TBC Lucerne, Switzerland, 3-star, Double gender
May 9-12, 2019: Tuan Chau Island, Vietnam, 1-star, Single gender – Women
May 15-19, 2019: Itapema, Brazil, 4-star, Double gender
May 22-26, 2019: Jinjiang, China,4-star (TBC), Double gender
May 23-26, 2019: Manila, Philippines, 1-star, Double gender
May 29-June 2, 2019: Ostrava, Czech Republic, 4-star, Double gender
May 30-June 2, 2019: TBC Nanjing, China, 2-star, Single gender – Women
June 5-9, 2019: Alexandria, Egypt, 4-star, Single gender – Women
June 6-9, 2019: Singapore, Singapore, 2-star, Double gender
June 12-16, 2019: Warsaw, Poland, 4-star, Double gender
June 13-16, 2019: TBC Nantong, China, 2-star, Single gender – Women
June 19-23, 2019: TBC Rome, Italy, 5-star, Double gender
June 19-23, 2019: FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships, Samila Beach, Thailand
June 28-July 7, 2019: FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, Hamburg, Germany, Double gender
July 4-7, 2019: Qidong, China, 2-star, Double gender
July 9-14, 2019: Gstaad, Switzerland, 5-star (Beach Major Series), Double gender
July 11-14, 2019: Daegu, Korea, 1-star, Single gender – Women
July 17-21, 2019: Espinho, Portugal, 4-star, Double gender
July 17-21, 2019: Edmonton, Canada, 3-star, Double gender
July 18-21, 2019: Ulsan, Korea, 1-star, Single gender – Women
July 24-28, 2019: Tokyo, Japan, 4-star, Double gender
July 31-August 4, 2019: Vienna, Austria, 5-star (Beach Major Series), Double gender
August 14-18, 2019: Moscow, Russia, 4-star, Double gender
August 21-24, 2019: Salalah, Oman, 1-star, Single gender – Men
August 21-24, 2019: Rubawu, Rwanda, 1-star, Double gender
The FIVB New Events Business department is responsible for establishing the calendar and is currently in negotiations with several promoters to maintain the World Tour Finals in the calendar at the end of the season (August/September). The FIVB New Events Business department and the Chinese Volleyball Association (CVA) are also finalising the date and location of the 2019 World Olympic Qualification tournament, which will take place in China. This new qualification event will include the top 15 teams (with one team per national federation) plus the host country team from China and will determine two vacancies per gender for the beach volleyball tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Several 1 and 2-star events are also expected to be added to the calendar during the season especially in the CEV territory. The FIVB is also negotiating an additional 4-star event in China which was announced by the CVA during the World Tour Council meeting, as well as several 3-star events in other countries.
As well as an increase in the number of events, participants and prize money, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continues to attract a wide range of host cities for its events. The number of participating national federations has also expanded rapidly in the last five years, from 39 countries in 2013, to 66 in 2018 and, as a leader of equal opportunities for men and women in sport, the FIVB has seen the number of elite female athletes competing in its competitions grow by more than double, from 787 in 2013 to 1,675 last season.
During the World Tour Council meeting it was also decided to bring forward the event bidding deadline for the 2019/2020 season (to April 2019) and finalising the competition regulations. Additional operational tools were also provided to the event organizers.
Following presentations in the morning, the FIVB World Tour Council meeting continued with two separate workshops; one for organisers of 1 and 2-star events, and the other for 3, 4 and 5-star events. There were also presentations on the upcoming 2019 and 2021 World Championships, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and exciting new opportunities in snow volleyball, the first inaugural season of which will begin in January 2019.
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