World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner OAM announced on Friday that the Board had voted to postpone the 2021 Sitting Volleyball World Cup mainly due to COVID concerns that could have impacted the health and safety of the athletes and also because of limited entries. The appointed host, ParaVolley Egypt, has been offered the opportunity to hold the event in around March/April of 2023.
“World ParaVolley anticipates that issues around COVID 19, travel, quarantining and vaccinations will be largely resolved by 2023 so that the 2023 Sitting Volleyball World Cup can proceed with ParaVolley Egypt as the host,” Barry Couzner OAM said.
“The new World ParaVolley calendar produced by the Technical Commission has the World Cup being held every 2 years in between the Paralympic Games year and the World Championships year. This will provide our athletes with more regular high level competition. I wish to thank ParaVolley Egypt for their understanding and cooperation on this matter.”
The World ParaVolley regulations dictate that if the 2021 World Cup was not held, those teams will qualify for the 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championships in China on the basis of world rankings as at 31 December 2021. These rankings will be resolved after the four 2021 Zone Championships are completed in the coming months.