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- Competition to be held at three levels – Elite 16, Challenges and Futures
- Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland, Qatar and Australia among hosts
- CVC made ‘US$300m’ investment in International Volleyball Federation earlier this year
Volleyball World has announced a new global beach volleyball competition to be launched in 2022.
Replacing the International Volleyball Federation’s (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour, the Beach Pro Tour will be held at three levels – Elite16, Challenge and Futures – and culminate with finals each year.
The top tier Elite16 will feature 16 teams per gender and be held in four pools of four teams, each followed by a single elimination bracket for a total of 64 matches.
The Challenge level tournament is a feeder to the Elite16 and consists of 24 teams, with players competing to gain ranking points.
The Futures level competition, made up of 16 teams, will serve as a feeder to the Challenge-level events. The tournament will also look to allow cities to develop beach volleyball in their countries and build up the capabilities of youth teams.
The finals of each season will feature the best ten qualified teams.
The new tour follows private equity giant CVC Capital Partners’ investment in the FIVB, which is worth a reported US$300 million, at the start of 2021.
The likes of Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland, Qatar and Australia will all host the Beach Pro Tour. Volleyball World, the new commercial entity set up after CVC’s investment, added that the competition will combine beach volleyball with an entertainment platform designed to bring together music, food and the beach lifestyle.
