The Volleyball Nations League, which started in 2018, is the most important international event for the sport in the world. Here we look at the tournament in brief.
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The Volleyball Nations League is an international volleyball competition that is held for both the senior men’s national teams as well as the senior women’s national teams of the members of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport’s global governing body. It is the premier international volleyball competition and has been since its inception, taking the place of the World League and the World Grand Prix.
The first edition of the men’s tournament was held between May and July 2018, with the final taking place in Lille, France. Russia were crowned champions in the inaugural edition after they beat France in the final.
The first edition of the women’s tournament took also place between May and July 2018 with the final taking place in Nanjing, China. United States won the inaugural edition, defeating Turkey in the final.
History
In October 2017 it was announced by the FIVB in a press release that a men’s and women’s Volleyball Nations League will be created. It was also confirmed that the tournaments were indeed a replacement for the existing World League and World Grand Prix.
The press release further added that the aim of the new tournament was to ‘revolutionise volleyball competitions, making it one of the most important events in the history of the sport, presenting volleyball in a way that has never been experienced before, building on the innovative sports presentation on display at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and bringing the action closer to fans around the world.’
Furthermore, the release stated the governing body’s intention to use technology, innovation and digital broadcasting to ensure that spectators at home would witness new and diverse angles, therefore showcasing the athleticism of each nation’s best players.
The FIVB, in collaboration with the sports marketing company IMG, would take complete control of content production for the first time. The aim was then to maximise quality and to promote a compelling on-court narrative thus making it easier for fans to engage with and understand.
Format
16 teams will compete in a round-robin tournament that will see every core team hosting a pool at least once.
The teams are put into 4 pools of 4 teams in each week and compete five weeks long, with a total of 120 matches.
The top five teams after the round-robin tournament join the hosts in the final round and the relegation will consider the four challenger teams and the last ranked challenger team will be excluded from next edition.
The winners of the Challenger Cup – a tournament held parallel with the VNL – would qualify for next edition as a challenger team.
The six qualified teams play in 2 pools of 3 teams in a round-robin format from where the top 2 teams of each pool qualify for the semi-finals.
The first ranked teams play against the second ranked teams in this round, with the winners of the semi-finals advance to compete for the Nations League title.
Russia have won both editions of the men’s tournament whereas USA have won both editions of the women’s tournament.
The tournament was supposed to be held in 2020 but was postponed and then cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
2021 will see the tournament held in a bio-secure bubble but the hosts remain unclear at this point.
