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The waters in world beach volleyball are in turmoil, stirred up these days by the new format of the professional circuit for 2022, which will only allow the 16 best couples in the ranking to participate in the most prestigious tournaments. An idea that distances 90 percent of the teams from around the world from the elite and that is sponsored by CVC investment fund, the same one that a few months ago decided to associate with LaLiga to serve as an economic boost to the clubs, not without some controversy.
If then some teams like the
Real Madrid and Barcelona opposed its landing, now it is the beach volleyball players who have decided to stand up to this company whose presence is growing in world sport.
To Formula 1, rugby or football, CVC added a year ago an investment of 300 million to gain control of volleyball around the world. He did it with the idea of relaunching the professional beach volleyball circuit, although his first project – scheduled for 2022 – has caused the unanimous rejection of the players. The association that brings together all of them sent a letter to the international federation (FIVB) last Monday to request changes substantial in the competition model designed for this season. An approach that expects a response before the 14th and that tries to avoid what they consider would be a disaster for their sport and for the future of most of the couples on the circuit.
The main problem lies in the new organization of the men’s and women’s circuit tournaments. Those of higher rank, denominated as of this year ‘Elite 16’, will be limited to the 16 couples with the highest ranking, leaving the rest condemned to compete in tournaments ‘Challenge’, a kind of highly devalued second division. “This is a disaster. We are talking about the fact that 90 percent of the teams in the world would be left out of the ‘Elite 16’, which would make the survival of many of these players very difficult. It seems that this company does not care about our sport and that all they want is to make money. If he doesn’t get it like that, he will leave and leave beach volleyball dead and they won’t care, “he explains to ABC Adrian Gavira, Olympian in Tokyo 2020, who together with his partner Paul Herrera he would be relegated to that silver category in search of an almost impossible promotion. «There is a month left for the start and it is not yet officially known how those promotions would work. If they are done by ranking (there is talk that the best three results of the last four tournaments would count), it would be very difficult to win as many points as those above, because just by winning a match or placing fifth they would already accumulate as many points as those who win a medal in a challenge tournament, ”says the Andalusian.
Six months without activity
The new calendar designed for 2022 proposes just nine appointments for the ‘Elite 16’ circuit and eight for the ‘Challenge’, three of them between March and early April and the other four in October. «How are we going to survive if we don’t have tournaments between March and October? How can we be in shape if we don’t have a competition for six months? This new system would lead to the disappearance of 4 out of 10 couples. It doesn’t make sense and we have to fight to change it before it’s too late, “he confesses to ABC Lili Fernández, which together with Elsa Baquerizo She is the most successful player in Spanish beach volleyball.
The Valencian is one of the active voices within the players’ association where these days the indignation with the new format has been installed. “This it is as if Roland Garros or Wimbledon were only played by the 16 best players in the world. It is something inconceivable. Fans are forced to see the same players always playing with each other and young people are deprived of sharing the field with their idols, of learning from them and gaining the experience to be able to beat them one day”, says Fernández. For example, if this format is extrapolated to tennis, Nadal would never have won his first Roland Garros at the age of 19.
The economic background is behind the whole situation created. In his eagerness to reduce costs and make tournaments more attractive for organizers, CVC has chosen to accommodate only 16 couples, lowering costs – only two tracks are needed, there are fewer referees and fewer days of competition – to maximize benefits. The problem is that the vast majority of players are left out of high competition.
The demands of the letter sent to the FIVB seek, among other things, thatthat the ‘Elite 16’ tournaments be opened to more couples with a preview in which the rest of the players can have the option of finishing in the final draw. It would be a lesser evil for a format that is not liked and that fills this sport with uncertainty just a month before the start of the season.
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