Russian women's volleyball team allowed to compete at 2027 World Cup

The Russian women's national volleyball team has been allowed to compete at the 2027 Women's Volleyball World Cup.

Source: International Volleyball Federation (FIVB)

Details: The Russian team qualified for the tournament based on the world rankings, without going through the qualifying stage. The Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Belgium, France, Slovenia, Sweden, Mexico, Greece, South Korea, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Ukraine also qualified on the same basis.

The Ukrainian and Russian national teams will appear at the same major international tournament for the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian team currently ranks 11th in the FIVB world rankings for women's national teams.

The upcoming World Cup will be held in the United States and Canada. The competition will begin on 20 August and end on 5 September. The 2027 World Cup will also be one of the qualifying tournaments for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The Russian women's national team have won the world championship twice in their history, in 2006 and 2010.

Background:

• In July, the International Olympic Committee decided to temporarily lift the suspension of Russia's National Olympic Committee, which had been imposed on 12 October 2023, and suspended its recommendations restricting the participation of Russian athletes.
• Following the decision, a number of international sports organisations lifted restrictions on athletes from Russia competing internationally. The FIVB was also among them.
• The European Volleyball Confederation previously allowed both the Russian men's and women's national teams to compete in competitions under its auspices. Ukrainian Volleyball Federation President Mykhailo Melnyk said the decision had been made following a vote.
• In addition, it emerged in August that, for security reasons, the Russian men's national volleyball team will not compete at the 2027 World Championship in Poland.

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Originally reported by Ukrainska Pravda by Mykola Litvinov. Read the full story at the source.