FIVB Events Find New Home

Three international beach volleyball tournaments, including the final stop in the qualifying process for next year’s Athens Olympics, will take place at the Home Depot Center over the next three years, equaling the previous number of international tournaments held in the United States.

The center will play host to international tournaments in September and next July that are part of the 14-month Olympic qualifying process. Teams can qualify for the Olympics only by competing successfully on the Federation Internationale de Volleyball tour.

A third FIVB tournament, the beach volleyball world championships, will be held in September 2005.

The tournaments were brought to Los Angeles by AEG, the owner of the Home Depot Center, the Los Angeles Sports Council and the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals.

“It will allow everyone around the world to see how beach volleyball can be presented in the place where beach volleyball was born,” AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato said.

Organizers of the AVP and FIVB tours working together is difficult to comprehend for many longtime observers. After years of bickering, the adversaries agreed last September to avoid past clashes that included scheduling conflicts and complaints about the arduous Olympic qualifying process.

The Home Depot Center’s 8,000-seat tennis stadium will become center court for the September tournament, with 4,000 tons of sand being used as the playing surface for 10 courts. At least four courts are expected to become permanent facilities for the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic teams.

Four-day passes for the tournament will be $20 to $75 at Ticketmaster. One-day general admission tickets will be available later for $5.