FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League

FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
VNL
Sport Volleyball
Founded 2017 (2017)
Inaugural season 2018
CEO Brazil Ary Graça
No. of teams 16
Continent International (FIVB)
Most recent
champion(s)		  Russia (1st title)
Most titles  Russia (1 title)
Official website FIVB Volleyball Nations League

The FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament took place between May and July 2018, with the final taking place in Lille, France.[1] Russia won the inaugural edition, defeating France in the final. In July 2018, FIVB announced that USA would host the next three editions of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League Finals, from 2019–2021.[2]

The creation of the tournament was announced in October 2017 as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations.[3] The Nations League replaced the World League, a former annual men's international event that ran between 1990 and 2017.

A corresponding tournament for women's national teams is the FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League.

History

Adoption

In June 2017, Argentinian website Voley Plus reported that FIVB would drastically change the format for both the 2018 World League and World Grand Prix. According to the reports, starting from 2018, the World League and the World Grand Prix would have only one Group (no more Groups 1, 2 and 3) of 16 national teams.[4][5]

In October 2017, FIVB announced, via a press release, the creation of the men's and women's Volleyball Nations League, confirming the tournaments as a replacement for the World League and World Grand Prix.[3]

According to the press release, the goal of the tournament would be 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. By pushing the boundaries of technology, innovation and digital broadcasting, spectators at home would witness new and diverse angles, showcasing the world class athleticism of each nation’s best players.[3]

For the very first time, the FIVB, in collaboration with the sports marketing company IMG, would take complete control of content production, maximising quality and promoting a compelling on-court narrative, easier for fans to engage with and understand.[3][6]

Marketing

The International Volleyball Federation has partnered with global brand strategy and design firm Landor Associates to create the Volleyball Nations League branding. The VNL brand lives where the game takes place: The identity and graphic system are inspired by the court’s colors and its grid lines. The VNL’s brand expression and language stem directly from the game itself. Using innovative digital technology, Landor created a unique logotype and typography where the shape of each letter was created with motion capture, tracking the trajectory of the ball passing from player to player. Landor partnered with award-winning motion design studio ManvsMachine to bring this typography to life in 3D, conveying the emotions experienced by players and fans in the stadium during a match. Landor has also contributed with in-stadium and on-screen television graphics, staff uniforms, designs for the World Volleyball app, medals and the winning trophy.[7][8]

Digital

Microsoft, the multinational technology company, has signed an agreement with the FIVB that the international federation vows will change the way the sport of volleyball is consumed while heightening the fan experience during match days as well as in the digital space.[9] Under the tie-up, the ‘Microsoft Sports Digital Platform’ has been created to create new digital services and deliver personalised content on demand in order to boost the FIVB global audience and improve fan engagement.[10][11]

Format

As in the former World League, the competition will be divided in two phases, albeit with changes in the competition formula: a preliminary round, with a system of rotating host cities, and a final round played in a pre-selected host city.

The preliminary round is held over five weeks, versus three in the World League. Each week, the participating teams are organized in pools, and each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool. All games in a pool take place over a weekend in the same city.

When all matches of the preliminary round have been played, the top five teams in the overall standings qualify for the final round, and the remaining ones leave the competition. The host nation automatically qualifies for the final round.[12]

16 national teams will compete in the inaugural edition of the tournament; 12 core teams, which are always qualified, and 4 challenger teams, which can face relegation.[12]

Preliminary round

The 16 teams compete in round-robin tournament, with every core team hosting a pool al least once. The teams are divided 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.[12] The relegation will consider the four challenger teams and the last ranked challenger team will be excluded from the next edition. The winners of the Challenger Cup would qualify for the next edition as a challenger team.[13][14]

Final round

The six qualified teams play in 2 pools of 3 teams in a round-robin format. The top 2 teams of each pool qualify for the semifinals. The first ranked teams play against the second ranked teams in this round. The winners of the semifinals advance to compete for the Nations League title.[12]

Challenger Cup

The FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup will be a competition for national teams which will run in concurrence with the Volleyball Nations League. The Challenger Cup will consist of teams not participating in the current edition of the Volleyball Nations League and will feature one host team and five teams from the five continental confederations as follows:[13]

Confederation Slots
AVC (Asia)0 or 1 (intercontinental playoff with CSV representative)
CAVB (Africa)1
CSV (South America)0 or 1 (intercontinental playoff with AVC representative)
CEV (Europe)2
NORCECA (North America)1
Total6 (5+H)

The Continental Confederations, responsible for determining the teams that will qualify for the FIVB Challenger Cup, are free to organise their Continental Qualification Tournament or use an existing competition to define the qualified team(s).

The FIVB Challenger Cup will be held before the FIVB Volleyball Nations League Finals and the winners will qualify for the next year's VNL as a challenger team.[13]

Hosts

List of hosts by number of final round championships hosted.

Times hosted Hosts Year(s)
3 United States2019, 2020, 2021
1 France2018

Appearance

 Core team
 Challenger team
 Team is currently inactive in the Nations League
Team Preliminary Round Final Round
App. First Last App. First Last
 Argentina220182019–––
 Australia220182019–––
 Brazil220182019120182018
 Bulgaria220182019–––
 Canada220182019–––
 China220182019–––
 France220182019120182018
 Germany220182019–––
 Iran220182019–––
 Italy220182019–––
 Japan220182019–––
 Poland220182019120182018
 Portugal120192019–––
 Russia220182019120182018
 Serbia220182019120182018
 South Korea120182018–––
 United States220182019120182018
Table current through the start of 2019 edition.

Results summary

Year Finals Hosts Final 3rd Place Match Teams
PR / FR
Champions Score Runners-up 3rd Place Score 4th Place
2018 France
Lille
Russia		 3–0
France
United States		 3–0
Brazil		 16 / 6
2019 United States
TBA
2020 United States
TBA
2021 United States
TBA

Medals summary

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia1001
2 France0101
3 United States0011
Totals (3 nations)1113

MVP by edition

See also

References

  1. ↑ Men's VNL squads at your fingertips - Get them now
  2. ↑ "USA to host next three editions of Men's FIVB Volleyball Nations League Finals". FIVB. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "FIVB drastically changes format for 2018 World League and Grand Prix, Italy remain member of elite!". WorldofVolley. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "¡Qué bombazo!: La World League y el Grand Prix van a cambiar y Argentina será beneficiada" (in Spanish). Voley Plus. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  6. ↑ IMG helps set up new OTT platform for FIVB
  7. ↑ "Landor partners with FIVB to launch Volleyball Nations League". Landor Associates. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "Landor partners with FIVB for Volleyball Nations League". FIVB. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  9. ↑ FIVB Partners with Microsoft, Changing the Way Fans Consume Volleyball - Around the Rings (ATR)
  10. ↑ [FIVB teams up with Microsoft on digital platform - Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF)]
  11. ↑ Volleyballworld.tv
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Pools overview released for thrilling inaugural season of VNL". FIVB.org. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 "Six teams line up for Volleyball Challenger Cup and one open berth in 2019 Men's VNL". FIVB.org. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  14. ↑ Events: Fivb Volleyball Nations League | Sears Centre Arena
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