MANILA, Philippines – Preparations shift to high gear on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, as the Philippines’ first solo hosting of the FIVB Men’s World Championship (MWCH) 2025 inches closer.
Thirty-one of the world’s top volleyball nations in the 32-team roster will descend on Philippine soil for the September 12 to 28 world championship set at the SM Mall of Asia Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“This is the time when the preparations and organization start to be meticulous every single day,” said Ramon “Tats” Suzara, head of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.
“It’s the world championship year of the FIVB, and as host country for the first time — and solo host at that — the mission borders from an excellent to almost perfect hosting of the event,” added Suzara, who, in 2024, was elected president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and executive vice president of the FIVB.
Adding confidence to a potentially best-ever edition of the FIVB MWCH 2025 is Malacañang’s commitment that was forged during the first top-level organization meeting at the Palace on April 30, 2024, that was presided over by First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and William Vincent “Vinny” Araneta Marcos, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, also PNVF chairman emeritus, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
The commitment was broadened last September’s One-Year Countdown and Drawing of Lots at Solaire that was followed immediately by the “Concierto sa Palacio,” a night of music held at the Malacañang grounds with no less that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Marcos and the young Marcos hosting top FIVB and LOC officials.
Then FIVB secretary-general and now president Fabio Azevedo praised President Marcos and the First Family for their enthusiasm in volleyball and sports as a whole.
“It was fantastic to see how committed the President (Marcos) is in promoting volleyball and it’s as fantastic to see the volleyball euphoria in the Philippines,” said Fabio, who gifted President Marcos a painting by Slaven Dizdarevic, an Olympian decathlete from Slovakia, during the “Concierto.”
Government’s high-level involvement in the world championship also got rolling with the first Inter-Agency Technical Working Group Meeting initiated by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) last November at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
The Local Organizing Committee for the FIVB MWCH 2025 is also composed of Senator Pia Cayetano, Manuel V. Pangilinan, Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, and PSC chairman Richard Bachmann.
“We’ve done it before and we’re expected to do it again,” said Suzara, who was on top of the country’s co-hosting of the FIBA World Cup in 2023 as its chief implementor.
Significant activities will precede the world championship, including the International Road Show spread over the first half of the year and Mascot Contest and Launch, Trophy Tour, Media Broadcast Conference, Team Managers Meeting, Test Event and 100-Day Countdown in June.
The Philippines got bunched in Pool A with 11-time African champion Tunisia, current Africa titlist and Paris Olympian Egypt, and 2024 Asian championship runner-up Iran.
World No. 1 Poland leads Pool B that also includes Romania, Qatar and The Netherlands, while Volleyball Nations League champion France headlines Pool C with Korea, Finland and Argentina.
The United States got grouped in Pool D with Colombia, Portugal, and 2010 silver medalist Cuba; Slovenia in Pool E with Chile, Bulgaria, and 2014 bronze medalist Germany; 2022 world champion Italy in Pool F with Algeria, Belgium, and Ukraine; Libya, European league 2023 winner Turkiye, and Canada in Pool G; and Brazil, 2024 Challenge Cup winner China, Czech Republic, and Serbia in Pool H. – Rappler.com