Cambodia to Host the 2007 WOVD Volleyball World Cup

[CNVLD]

Organised to coincide with the world famous Cambodian Water Festival (Bon Om Touk), Phnom Penh will host the 2007 World Organisation for Volleyball Disabled (WOVD) Volleyball World Cup from 23 November 2007 to 3 December 2007; the first ever team sports world cup event to be held in the Kingdom.

This historic sporting event at the Olympic Stadium Phnom Penh will signal the return of the Kingdom to its rightful place among the leading South East Asian sporting nations and Cambodia will welcome thousands of athletes, officials, sports fans and tourists from all over the world. Entry to all games will be free for all visitors.

The Cambodian National Volleyball Team (Disabled) is #1 in Asia-Pacific and #4 in the World. The majority of the athletes are survivors of the Landmine and Cambodia intends to become #1 in the World. In 2005, an open challenge was locally issued for any able-bodied teams to take on any of the league teams to see if they could win. The Athletes with a Disability have now seen off two Australian Navy teams, two senior school teams and two local factory teams. If you think this ain’t hot spectator sport – think again!

The 2007 WOVD Cambodia Volleyball World Cup will help raise global awareness about the landmine issue and assist Cambodia to secure the nomination for becoming the ASEAN Centre for Disability Sports. Over twelve nations are expected to attend including World #1Canada, Australia, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The event will also place pressure on the International Paralympic Committee to re-instate Standing Volleyball to its rightful place in the Paralympic Family.

First established in 2002, the Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled) – CNVLD - remains one of the only professionally managed league-based sporting programmes in Cambodia and won a United Nations Best Practices Award for Sports and Development in 2006. Now in its fifth season, the League has successfully added two new provincial teams every year to an initial group of eight. In 2007, the CNVLD will establish three new teams as well as introducing a national 'B League' making 18 teams in total. The CNVLD also manages the only Wheelchair Racing Programme in Cambodia with 5 teams nationwide. All CNVLD sports events are free for the public – for up-to-date info on where you can catch the nearest event, check the sites below:

World Cup
www.volleyballworldcup2007.org

Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disabled)
www.standupcambodia.org