Olympic Qualification Tournament in Duesseldorf: Schedule fixed – German team will open the tournament against Taipei

Duesseldorf - The International Volleyball Federation FIVB have approved the schedule and thus the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Qualification at ISS Dome in Duesseldorf on May 23-25 can get underway. The host team, Germany, will open the four-nation tournament against Chinese Taipei on May 23 (17:00 CET), meet Cuba in their second match on May 24 (20:00 hrs) and conclude the event against European champions Spain on May 25 (15:00 hrs).

A German fan block will especially installed at the Dome as an additional service: “We intend to get volleyball fans together from all over Germany and thus trigger a great atmosphere”, said Christina Begale, managing director of Duesseldorf Marketing and Tourism GmbH, of which the sportAgentur of the North-Rhine Westphalian capital Duesseldorf is a part.

By the approval of the planned schedule, German national coach Stelian Moculescu as well as the Duesseldorf organisers have achieved their joint aim, for the hosts can submit a proposed schedule to the FIVB. After tough negotiations, Moculescu had decided on the “usual“ order, playing the supposedly weakest opponents first and the strongest last. The German Volleyball Federation, DVV, and Duesseldorf wanted to play the opening match on Friday, “because we are hoping for many families with children“, thus DVV secretary general, Lutz Endlich. The matches against Cuba and Spain will be shown live and time-delayed on Eurosport.

Since the beginning of January, volleyball fans have the opportunity to buy tickets for this high-class qualification at the hotline +49 1805 – 644332 or on the Internet at www.dticket.de

The exact schedule

May 23
17:00 hrs: Germany – Chinese Taipei
20:00 hrs: Spain - Cuba

May 24
17:00 hrs: Spain – Chinese Taipei
20:00 hrs: Germany - Cuba

May 25
12:00 hrs: Cuba – Chinese Taipei
15:00 hrs: Germany – Spain

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Notes for editorial offices

Accreditation: Journalists who want to cover the Men’s 2008 Olympic Volleyball Qualification in Duesseldorf (May 23-25) are kindly requested to contact cosmos-pps, e-mail redaktion@cosmos-pps.de, fax +49-2131/131114, phone +49-2131/131203. The accreditation questionnaire is also available here

Tickets for the event in Duesseldorf can be ordered at the hotline +49-1805–644 332 or on the Internet at www.dticket.de