FIVB Announced the Cancellation of Volleyball Nations League 2020

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the FIVB announced the cancellation of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2020 on 8th May, 2020.

“Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, the complexity of staging the global event, across multiple host countries, and the commitment to safeguarding participants’ health, the VNL Council, the FIVB Board of Administration and the event organisers, jointly agreed to cancel this year’s edition of the VNL.” The FIVB statement read.

The president of FIVB Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said that they have explored all the various options to host VNL 2020, but the current global pandemic does not allow them to host the event safely.

He also said their attention will now turn to VNL 2021, and next year will be a very exciting year for volleyball.

The 2020 Volleyball Challenger Cup will also be cancelled, and teams that have qualified for the VNL 2020 in the 2019 edition of the Challenger Cup will now retain their place in VNL 2021.

We have asked Lauren Carlini, current USA women’s volleyball team player, about her views towards the cancellation of Volleyball Nations League 2020 during the Facebook live “Live with Lauren Carlini” organized by the FIVB.

“What do you think about the cancellation of Volleyball Nations League 2020?”

“I would say, I think it’s the right choice. I think that a lot of countries and a lot of federations are struggling right now, and trying to add a Nations League where we have 6 weeks to travel and we are forcing teams to pay that money to travel to 6 different places, and find ways to train beforehand and maybe not in the safest condition, I just think that it’s a right choice on the FIVB’s end to, you know, just cancel it and wait till next year because given the current situation that wouldn’t make much sense, and I think financially, especially, it is the right decision.” said Lauren.

The cancellation of Volleyball Nations League 2020 is definitely disappointing, but safety is the most important now. This decision seems to be the only and the best way to handle this situation. In the meantime, let’s look forward to Volleyball Nations League 2021.

Source: FIVB

(Written by Boris CHUNG Bok Man)