Bangkok, Thailand, July 17, 2021 – AVC has cleared the air of doubts why many active teams could not compete in the 21st Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship in Japan between September 12 and 19 despite their entry submission to the continent’s volleyball governing body.
The draw result for the biennial top-flight competition has been unveiled on July 16 following the drawing of lots ceremony via Zoom Meeting, conducted by AVC Executive Director Mr Shanrit Wongprasert and supervised by Dr Eom Han-Joo, Chairman of the AVC Sports Events Council, with AVC Secretary General Mr Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, AVC General Manager Dr Rueangsak Siriphol and distinguished representatives from all participating teams in attendance.
As publicly published on AVC official website and all AVC social media platforms, the draw result saw organisers Japan, India, Qatar, Bahrain in Pool A, reigning champions Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong China are in Pool B. Pool C comprises Australia, China, Sri Lanka and Kuwait, with Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia in Pool D.
However, following completion of the drawing of lots ceremony, adoring fans from Vietnam and Philippines posted their inquiry on AVC Facebook messages, asking AVC for doubts on their teams. As two volleyball fans were curious about the reasons whey AVC denied their team’s entry, the other needed AVC to make things clear what criteria the governing body has been using to determine which team is eligible for the Championship.
Mr Shanrit, himself AVC Honorary Life Vice President and former Chairman of AVC Sports Events Council, explained that AVC is more than happy to provide all affiliated National Federations its all services because AVC has pinned its high hopes and ambition on all Asian teams to achieve sustainable development goals through hosting and taking part in AVC competitions.
AVC will do everything possible to raise awareness and interest among Asian nations to host and participate in AVC Championships. Therefore, there is no reason for AVC to deny any entry submission from any participating team.
“Actually, AVC has its own policy to open equal opportunity to interested teams in competing in AVC Championships. However, the host nation will share information and exchange views with AVC on relevant matters including how many participating teams they can serve. Due to the limitation of competition and training venues, the host nation cannot serve them all. That’s why AVC has to organise qualifying match in some Zones to determine the eligible team for the Championship,” Shanrit said.
“Regarding the 21st Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Japan, to host such a very important tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic is not that easy because AVC and the host nation have to ensure the health and safety of all participants and minimise exposure to the coronavirus. As a result, it came to a conclusion that the Championship will feature the maximum of 16 teams. As we had 16 participating teams in mind, we next have to make sure “only 16 teams” would receive the green light and in what criteria. AVC then ruled that the teams’ results in the previous ranking and the Zone they are representing would be decided in terms of their eligibility in the Championship.
Shanrit indicated that following the AVC regulations, the maximum of 16 teams will be selected for the 21st Asian Senior Men’s Championship including 10 teams based on the final standings of the previous edition and with a qualification tournament if needed.
“Certainly, more than 16 teams had initially shown their interests in taking part in Japan, especially teams from Western, Central and Southeast Asian Zones.
Western Zone had decided their three teams to compete in the Championship, while the Central Zone held a qualifying match between Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan on July 14. Sri Lanka won the match to eventually make the cut for the Championship.
“In terms of the Southeast Asian Zone, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines also submitted their entries. However, since all 16 qualified teams have already confirmed their participation including Thailand, which had the best result among Southeast Asian Zone in the 2019 edition in Iran, the remaining three teams from Southeast Asia including Indonesia and the Philippines then missed the cut.
“So, I would like to confirm that Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines have all submitted their entries, but because of the maximum of 16 teams in the Championship, we (AVC) have to express our sincere regret over this matter once again. We will propose this important matter to the AVC Board of Administration for further consideration and decision in future Asian Championship,” he concluded.
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