Volleyball at The Summer Olympics - Competition Formula

Competition Formula

The volleyball Olympic tournament has a very stable competition formula. The following rules apply:

  • Twelve teams participate in each event.
  • Host nations are always pre-qualified.
  • Three teams qualify through the World Cup.
  • Five teams qualify as winners of continental qualification tournaments.
  • The three remaining berths are decided in world qualification tournaments.
  • The competition has two phases.
  • For the first phase, called qualification round, teams are ranked by the FIVB World Rankings and then divided in two pools of six teams using the serpentine system. The host nation is always ranked 1.
  • At the qualification round, each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool. Top four teams in each pool advance, the remaining two leave the competition.
  • At the second phase, usually called final round, teams play quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
  • For the final round, matches are organized according to the results obtained in the qualification round. Let the top four teams in each pool be A1, A2, A3, A4; B1, B2, B3, B4. Quarterfinals would then be: A1xB4; A2xB3; A3xB2; A4xB1.
  • Winners of quarterfinals play semifinals as follows: (A1/B4) x (A3/B2); (A2/B3) x (A4xB1).
  • At the finals, winners of semifinals play for the gold, and losers for the bronze.
  • The tournament implements very tight line-up restrictions: only twelve players are allowed, and no replacement is permitted, even in case of injuries.

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