The seventh edition of the international FINA Men’s Water Polo World League starts tomorrow (May 23) when preliminary rounds for the two European Groups commence in Budva, Montenegro and Novi Sad, Serbia. Nineteen National Teams, the highest number ever, will participate in the 2008 League, which will be played in two rounds: the preliminaries in six countries (May 23-June 8), and the Super Final in Genova, Italy (June 16-22). Seventeen National Teams will compete in the preliminaries, the top eight of which will advance to the Super Final, where they will also face Canada and USA (from Group Americas). Most exciting is the involvement, for the first time, of a full Group Africa composed of Teams from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.
Action for the two European team groups commence tomorrow. Group 1, which will compete in Budva, is composed of Croatia, Italy, Greece and Montenegro, while Group 2 (in Serbia) consists of Spain, Serbia, Romania and Russia. A second World League preliminary round for these groups will take place the following weekend (May 30-June 1) in Athens, Greece for Group 1 and Portugalete, Spain for Group 2. Two matches will be held per day.
Meanwhile, from Monday, May 26 to Sunday, June 1, preliminary action for the Asia-Oceania Group begins in Tokyo, Japan. National Teams from Australia, Japan, Iran, China and New Zealand will compete in this tournament. For Group Africa, which FINA is delighted to welcome to the World League, a preliminary round will take place from June 6-8 in Casablanca, Morocco.
The two top teams from Asia-Oceania, Africa, and from each European Group will play-off against each other in the Super Final Tournament, to be held in Genova (ITA) from June 16-22, as well as against teams Canada and USA (from Group Americas). The host Nation organising the Super Final (ITA) will automatically qualify. The winning teams of this year’s FINA Men’s Water Polo World Leagues obtain not only glory and recognition ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, but a portion of prize money amounting to US$512’500.
By uniting top-ranked teams and exposing the power and skill of the sport, the World League seeks to promote Water Polo worldwide by capturing the interest of more audiences, media, and FINA National Federations.