World ParaVolley has confirmed Cairo, Egypt, to host the 2023 WPV Sitting Volleyball World Cup, following the COVID-19-related postponement of its hosting in 2021.
On Saturday, WPV and ParaVolley Egypt have finalised the agreement for hosting the double-gender event from November 11 to 18, 2023 in Nasr City, a district of the Egyptian capital.
“At last we are resuming some normalcy in ParaVolley, illustrated by the confirmation of the 2023 Sitting Volleyball World Cup to be hosted by ParaVolley Egypt in Cairo. We have had several false starts with this event due to the pandemic, but now with many planned events for 2023, including this one, we are back on track,” WPV President Barry Couzner OAM said.
“The Sitting Volleyball World Cup will qualify one male and one female team for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, so it will have a huge prize for our athletes. I thank ParaVolley Egypt for their support and persistence in hosting this event.”
Egypt has a rich history and winning tradition in sitting volleyball and hosting the World Cup will put the country in the spotlight when they welcome the sport’s biggest stars to the famed Cairo International Stadium.
“We are looking forward to welcoming all the participants of the World Cup. We hope they will enjoy their stay in Egypt, and we wish to have a very successful competition before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. We are very excited to organise this event and we could not wait to meet the World ParaVolley family in Cairo,” ParaVolley Egypt President Dr. Hossam Eldin Mostafa expressed.
The WPV Sport Department are moving in the positive direction with plans to gradually put everything back to normal through live events and to facilitate the further development of technical officials.
“The World ParaVolley Sport Department has been focused on our return to live events. This November are the 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championships in Sarajevo, a Paralympic qualification event for Paris 2024. And we are pleased to confirm the agreement for the 2023 WPV Sitting Volleyball World Cup to be played in Cairo,” Sport Director Lori Okimura said.
“World ParaVolley has appointed one of our most experienced technical delegates, Mr Glenn Stewart (AUS), who has already begun work with the collaboration of our Assistant Sport Director for sitting volleyball, Mrs Isabelle Collot (FRA). The WPV Sitting Volleyball World Cup in Cairo will be a valuable opportunity for further development of our technical officials in preparation for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.”
“I look forward to working with ParaVolley Egypt to deliver a successful and enjoyable tournament. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring together teams from all over the world, where some very exciting matches are assured,” Stewart commented.
“The World ParaVolley Sports Department is thrilled with holding the Sitting Volleyball World Cup on the African continent as the first event towards resuming the international competition calendar. Egypt’s hosting will help the zone bring the discipline to the forefront and we have no doubt that they will showcase a great event and bring awareness of the sport, and hopefully lead to an increase in ParaVolley activities in Africa,” Collot added.
The event was last held in 2016 Anji in China, where the United States and Iran claimed the titles in the women’s and men’s categories, respectively.