The qualification systems for volleyball and beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have been confirmed by the International Olympic Committee.

For Volleyball, the qualification period will start with the FIVB World Cup, which will be held in Japan in November 2007, whereas the qualification period for Beach Volleyball will run from Jan 1, 2007.

For volleyball, there are a total of 12 team vacancies for each gender. China is directly granted one vacancy for each gender as host nation.

The first three vacancies available through qualification will be filled by the top three teams in each gender at the 2007 World Cup, which will take place from Nov. 2 2007 until Nov. 16 2007 (women) and Nov. 18, 2007 to Dec. 2 2007 (men). A further five vacancies will be filled by the winners of Continental Championships organized by each of the five FIVB Confederations over the period from Dec. 1 2007 to Jan 15 2008.

A minimum of four participating teams is required for such Continental Championships. The remaining three vacancies for each gender will be decided by World Olympic Qualification tournaments (1 for women and 3 for men).

These World Olympic Qualification tournaments, to be held before June 8, 2007, will also be used to fill any remaining continental vacancies in the event that one or more continents do not hold Continental Qualification tournaments.

For beach volleyball, the qualification period runs from Jan 1 2007 to July 20, 2008 with 24 team vacancies available for each gender. By July 21, 2008, the FIVB will establish an Olympic Ranking based on the best eight performances of teams in recognized Olympic Qualification tournaments (SWATCH FIVB World Tour events, SWATCH FIVB World Championships, FIVB recognized Continental Championship Finals).

Whilst China will automatically qualify as host nation, the top 23 teams from each gender will qualify for Beijing 2008, subject to a maximum of two teams per country. In order to respect the universality principle of the Olympic Games, if a continent does not have any teams qualified after the above procedure is applied, the 23rd place will be occupied by the highest-ranked eligible team from the continent in question.

Commenting on the IOC confirmation of the Olympic qualification systems, FIVB President Rub¨¦n Acosta said ¡°For 40 years volleyball has been one of the most popular and successful of sports on the Olympic program, and over the last ten years beach volleyball has also been one of the most popular sports at the Olympic Games. To achieve this, organizing committees and the IOC have always developed good working relationships with the FIVB, and vice versa.

"IOC Members also appreciate that the FIVB organizes professional volleyball and beach volleyball in such a way as to guarantee that the very best players play at the Olympic Games. This brings vast benefits to the IOC and enables the FIVB to showcase the very best of the two sports which it governs."

The FIVB is the world governing body for volleyball and beach volleyball with 218 affiliated national federations and 35 million registered players.