FIVB confirms that Volleyball Men's World Championship will be hosted in Russia

The FIVB has confirmed that the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2022 will remain in Russia following the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) acknowledgement that it would be both legally and practically impossible to withdraw the event from Russia or reassign it to another country.

The FIVB had submitted to WADA a comprehensive report in light of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) award in the arbitration procedure between WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on 17 December 2020 (CAS 2020/O/6689).

FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça Fᵒ said:

"The FIVB welcomes the acknowledgement of WADA that it is legally and practically impossible to remove the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2022 from Russia given how far advanced preparations are for this huge, multi-city event.

"The reasons for the decision include the sheer scale of the event, the significant financial investment from multiple parties, and the extensive preparations which have been underway since 2018, when Russia was selected to host the event."

The FIVB will continue to work together with WADA and the event organisers to ensure the implementation of the CAS award is compliant as it relates to the display of the Russian Federation flag, uniforms, national anthem and other relevant identifications across the various venues in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Yaroslavl and possibly Belgorod.

The FIVB maintains a zero-tolerance approach to doping and is, and always will be, fully committed to protecting clean athletes and clean sport.