President Graça congratulates the President of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski on a successful FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship
Katowice, Poland, September 22, 2014 - Poland’s victory on home soil in Katowice last night concluded the most successful ever FIVB Men’s World Championship as volleyball gathers momentum towards Rio 2016.
Poland’s triumph over three-time defending champions Brazil (3-1) was their first in 40 years and the first by a host nation since Czechoslovakia in 1966. Over 500,000 tickets were sold - an FIVB record - with 103 matches involving 24 teams taking place in seven Polish cities over the three week Championship.
TV rights for the Championship were distributed to 118 markets and a further 92 markets took advantage of web-based pay-per-view broadcast.
Commenting on the outstanding success of the Championship, FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said:
“This has been an iconic and historic tournament for world volleyball. The Polish fans were as much the stars of the show as the athletes and together they showed that sport can also be world-class entertainment.
“Volleyball is now in great shape going into Rio 2016; I believe that volleyball could be the biggest sport at the 2016 Games because it is in Brazilians’ blood. This passion will be seen in the Maracanazinho and of course at Copacabana beach which is a truly iconic location for beach volleyball.
“Ahead of Rio 2016, the FIVB will be continuing our drive to innovate the sport. Having successfully introduced the challenge system with state-of-the-art technology, we are now experimenting with LED nets which will allow commercial and entertainment messaging, as well as social media interaction with fans between play.
“There are a number of other exciting initiatives that we will be announcing in the next few months but for now I would just like to thank our Polish hosts for a truly memorable tournament.”
FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° and the FIVB is now looking ahead to the Women’s World Championship which starts on Tuesday in Italy involving 24 teams from around the world in 102 matches, with the final being held in Milan on October 12.