Lausanne, Switzerland, 16 January 2002 - San Juan has been named among the six cities that will host the six pools of four teams in the opening round of the 2002 Men's Volleyball World Championship to be held in Argentina from 28 September to 13 October 2002.
Catamarca and Rosario have been dropped as host cities as they have not started required upgrades to venues.
San Juan has been chosen as the replacement for Calamarca, but there will now be no seventh venue so as to reduce the organiser's budget due to current economic situation in Argentina.
The decision to drop Catamarca and Rosario and add San Juan as the sixth host city was announced in Lausanne during a meeting of the FIVB Sports Organising Commission.
The commission also decided to accept proposed changes to the match schedule and the distribution of pools taking into account the requests and obligations of the Host Broadcaster and television stations that will broadcast the competition to 160 countries.
San Juan will now host the matches of pool A (Argentina, Australia, China, Portugal) except for the opening match between Argentina and Australia that will be played in Luna Park, Buenos Aires on Saturday 28 September 2002, following the Opening Ceremony.
The other cities of the first round are Santa Fé (Pool B with Italy, Croatia, South Korea, Canada), Buenos Aires (Pool C with Tunisia, France, Bulgaria, Russia), Mar del Plata (Pool D with Japan, Kazakhstan, Spain, Yugoslavia), Cordoba (Pool E with Venezuela, Brazil, Egypt, USA), Salta (Pool F with Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic, Cuba).
The four pools of the second round will take place in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fé and Salta. The venues of the quarter finals and semi finals will be decided after the results of the second round, whereas the final and the 3rd place match will take place in Luna Park in Buenos Aires.
On Monday, the FIVB Sports Organising Commission had decided to maintain the World Championship in Argentina and the Congress in Buenos Aires despite the country's current difficulties with the belief that the situation in Argentina will improve.
Lausanne, Switzerland, 14 January 2002 - The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has re-affirmed its total confidence in Argentina's capacity to organise the FIVB Congress and Men's 2002 Volleyball World Championship next September and October despite the country's current difficulties.
"We wish to express our complete confidence in Argentina that will find, we are sure, the capacity to meet it's commitments to us and to the participating teams," declared Dr. Ruben Acosta, President of the FIVB, during the meeting of the Sports Organising Commission of the FIVB in Lausanne.
The commission has decided to keep the schedule as planned, taking into account new assurances given by the Argentine Federal Government and the concerned provinces, as well as the commitment of the Organising Committee (COMVOL).
The members of the commission have determined Argentina to be capable of regaining stability and the resources necessary that will permit the success of the FIVB Congress and the 2002 Men's World Championship.
"I thanked the FIVB for its confidence and it's support. When it comes to national pride, the Argentinean people are quite capable mobilising in order to succeed with such an important event," stated Mr. Mario Goijman, President of the Argentine Volleyball Federation and Chairman of COMVOL.
The FIVB will nonetheless take all precautions and will send a special committee of three members to Argentina in early March 2002 with the mandate to obtain additional guaranties on site.
The committee will be presided by the Admiral Luis Moreno, from Peru, who is President of the South American Volleyball Confederation.
It will have official meetings with all of the involved parties of the event, including the Federal Government, Provincial Governors, hotels and the Organising and Local Organising Committees.
The inspection visit will cover all aspects of preparation for the events such as the quality of sport venues, security measures, reliability of transportation, quality of lodging and meals.
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