Huge news about volleyball – Finland and Russia may meet next year

Under normal circumstances, Finland would have already secured promotion after winning the Europa League in July, but Russia’s return to international volleyball complicated things. Russia, which regained its old ranking points despite not playing, was about to take the league place due to a higher ranking than Finland.

Now the International Volleyball Federation FIVB says he has solved it situation by increasing the number of teams in both men’s and women’s Nations Leagues from 18 to 19.

Next year, in addition to the Russian teams, the Finnish men’s and Slovenian women’s national teams, who earned their place through the traditional routes, will be allowed to play in the league thanks to the exceptional arrangement.

The FIVB says it will find out what changes to the league format need to be made due to the increase in the number of teams.

Next summer, it is therefore possible that Finland and Russia will meet in volleyball for the first time in almost six years. The last time the countries met was at the European Championship in the fall of 2021 in Tampere.

FIVB revealed in the same press release that the Russian Volleyball Federation has said that it will not participate in the 2027 men’s WC tournament in Poland.

President of the Polish Volleyball Association Sebastian Swiderski said at the beginning of July, that Russian players will not be allowed in the country in the current situation.

Russia’s possible participation in next year’s Women’s World Cup tournament in the USA is still being investigated.