(Reuters) – Poland and Slovenia will host this year men’s volleyball world championship scheduled for Aug. 26-Sept. 11 after Russia were stripped of the event, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.
The international volleyball federation (FIVB) stripped Russia of the tournament in March after its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow says is a “special operation”.
“Russia were supposed to be the hosts of the volleyball world championships, but can you imagine that everyone would listen to the Russian anthem as if nothing had happened,” Morawiecki said. “This is why we protested against it.”
Poland hosted the 2021 men’s European volleyball vhampionship along with Czech Republic, Estonia and Finland.
Morawiecki said Poland had invited Slovenia to co-host the tournament, with the final match and third-place playoff to be held in Poland.
Poland are the world champions after retaining the title in 2018, beating Brazil in the final again having triumphed in 2014.
(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
