PREPARATIONS shift to the next higher gear on New Year\u2019s Day Wednesday as the countdown dwindles to nine months for the Philippines\u2019 first-ever solo hosting of the FIVB Men\u2019s World Championship (MWCH) 2025.<\/p>\n
Thirty-one of the world\u2019s top volleyball nations in the 32-team roster will descend on Philippine soil for the September 12 to 28 world championship set at the SM Mall of Asia Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the time when the preparations and organization start to be meticulous every single day, it\u2019s the world championship year of the FIVB and as host country for first time\u2014and solo host at that\u2014the mission borders from an excellent to almost perfect hosting of the event,\u201d said Ramon \u201cTats\u201d Suzara, head of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation who in 2024 was elected president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and executive vice president of the FIVB.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done it before and we\u2019re expected to do it again,\u201d added Suzara, who was on top of the country\u2019s co-hosting of the FIBA World Cup in 2023 as its chief implementor.<\/p>\n
Adding confidence to a potentially best-ever edition of the FIVB MWCH 2025 is Malaca\u00f1ang\u2019s commitment that was forged during the first top level organization meeting at the Palace on April 30, 2024, that was presided over by First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and William Vincent \u201cVinny\u201d Araneta Marcos, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, also PNVF chairman emeritus, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.<\/p>\n
The commitment was broadened in last September\u2019s One-Year Countdown and Drawing of Lots at Solaire that was followed immediately by the \u201cConcierto sa Palacio,\u201d a night of music held at the Malaca\u00f1ang grounds with no less that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Marcos and the young Marcos hosting top FIVB and LOC officials.<\/p>\n
Then FIVB secretary-general now president Fabio Azevedo praised President Marcos and the First Family for their enthusiasm in volleyball and sports as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fantastic to see how committed the President [Marcos] is in promoting volleyball and it\u2019s as fantastic to see the volleyball euphoria in the Philippines,\u201d said Fabio, who gifted President Marcos a painting by Slaven Dizdarevic, an Olympian decathlete from Slovakia, during the \u201cConcierto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Government\u2019s high-level involvement in the world championship also got rolling with the first Inter-Agency Technical Working Group Meeting initiated by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) last November at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.<\/p>\n
The Local Organizing Committee for the FIVB MWCH 2025 is also composed of Senator Pia Cayetano, Manuel V. Pangilinan, Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham \u201cBambol\u201d Tolentino and PSC chairman Richard Bachmann.<\/p>\n
Significant activities will precede the world championship, including the International Road Show spread over the first half of the year and Mascot Contest and Launch, Trophy Tour, Media Broadcast Conference, Team Managers Meeting, Test Event and 100-Day Countdown in June.<\/p>\n
The Philippines is in Pool A with 11-time African champion Tunisia, current Africa titlist and Paris Olympian Egypt and 2024 Asian championship runner-up Iran.<\/p>\n
World No. 1 Poland wisas in Pool B with Romania, Qatar and The Netherlands,\u00a0while\u00a0Volleyball Nations League champion France was grouped in Pool C with Korea, Finland and Argentina; the United States\u00a0in Pool D with Colombia, Portugal and 2010 silver medalist Cuba;\u00a0Slovenia in Pool E with Chile, Bulgaria and 2014 bronze medalist Germany; 2022 world champion Italy in Pool F with Algeria, Belgium and Ukraine; Libya, European league 2023 winner Turkiye and Canada in Pool G; and Brazil, 2024 Challenge Cup winner China, Czech Republic and Serbia in Pool H.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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