AFRICA’S volleyball governing body, CAVB has chosen Rwanda to host this year’s sub-zone 8 (East and Central Africa) beach volleyball tournament in December.

The competition, set to run from December 2 – 4, is a qualifier for the ground breaking CAVB Continental Beach Volleyball Cup – a new qualification system for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Rwanda will compete with Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Somalia for that lone qualifying slot.
With 42 teams looking to qualify for the Olympics through the new system, which includes three phases - subzone, zonal and final; the emphasis on the CAVB Continental Beach Volleyball Cup is on participation with all 42 teams in the sub-zonal phase guaranteed to advance to the zonal phase.

Zone winners will then qualify for the continental finals  were the overall winner will earn an automatic slot to the London 2012 Games, while the first and second runners up will qualify for the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Cup, earning another chance to clinch a place at the Olympic Games.
For CAVB President and FIVB Executive Vice President Dr. Amr Elwani, it’s a landmark.

"We are extremely proud that so many countries have grasped this opportunity to participate in this historic event. This will be the first Beach Volleyball competition which covers the entire continent and will revolutionize the sport of Beach Volleyball, which I’m sure the media and the fans will support completely,” Elwani said.

Sub-zone 1

Senegal, Mali, Cape Verde, Gambia
Sub-zone 2
Morocco, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone
Sub-zone 3
Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Ghana
Sub-zone 4
Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Niger
Sub-zone 5
Cameroon, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Libya
Sub-zone 6
Congo RDC, Tunisia, Chad, Central Africa, Angola
Sub-zone 7
Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Seychelles
Sub-zone 8
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia
Sub-zone 9
Namibia, Mauritius, South Africa
Sub-zone 10
Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe

Ends