NEW FIVB

VOLLEYBALL
WORLD
RANKING
FOR SENIOR
NATIONAL
TEAMS

FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
(FAQ)
WHY A NEW FIVB WORLD WHO BENEFITS? WHAT COMPETITIONS’
RANKING? MATCHES ARE ELIGIBLE
The new FIVB World Ranking applies
IN NEW FIVB WORLD
Implementing a new world ranking will to all women and men senior national
RANKING SYSTEM?
reflect the true sporting strength of the teams. This comes as a result of
senior national teams more accurately factoring in all official matches and The table below shows the recognised
than ever before. The ranking will be sets played in recognised official official competitions eligible for World
more dynamic, which means that it is competitions. The new World Ranking Ranking along with the match weight
consistently and automatically updated system helps to make every match factor attributed to each match of the
after the competition of matches played played by a senior national team respective competition.
in recognised official competitions. relevant to fans, media and volleyball
stakeholders by considering the match To be eligible for WR Points, the
The new World Ranking system will result as well as the sets score of that recognised official competitions must
represent all 222 senior national match. have a minimum of 4 senior national
teams per genders level of strength teams participating.
considering every match played in a The process of seeding teams for
greater number of recognised official official competitions will ensure the
competitions. placement of teams in pools is fair,
accurate and an indication of the
The previous World Ranking did not teams’ performance strength at the
include all the national teams, was time of the drawing of lots.
based on the final standings of a
few events with an outdated points
attribution system and did not reflect
the reality of the sport.
To be eligible for WR Points, the recognised official competitions must have a minimum of 4 senior national teams participating.

Organizer Event Match Weight Factor

World Olympic Games 50

FIVB World Championship 45

FIVB Volleyball Nations League 40

FIVB OQTs / World Cup 35

Confederations Continental Championship 35

FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup 20

Confederations Continental Championship QT 17.5

Other annual official events organized

Confederations 10
by Continental Confederations

All matches played in multi-sport events, friendly matches or unofficial competitions will NOT be eligible for WR points.
WHAT IS THE STARTING DO ALL MATCHES HAVE WHAT HAPPENS TO
POINT OF THE NEW FIVB THE SAME VALUE IN INACTIVE TEAMS?
WORLD RANKING? THE NEW FIVB WORLD
RANKING? Every year on January 1, the national
On January 1, 2019 the WR score from teams that did not play any matches
the previous FIVB World Ranking of all Match weight factors are given to counting towards the new World
national teams were taken and +100 different competitions to reflect Ranking over the year will lose -50
WR points were added to each national the prestige of the tournaments. WR points for the next year. An inactive
team to establish the starting WR score The highest match weight factor is team reaching a WR score of less than
in new World Ranking system. attributed to the most prestigious 20 WR points will be removed from the
matches in the respective competition ranking list.
WHAT IS THE STANDARD and then attributed accordingly on a
SCALING FACTOR OF sliding scale. Therefore, a team might As soon as an inactive team removed
8 INCLUDED IN THE win or lose more WR points in a match from the ranking plays a match counting
FORMULA? played at a more important event. towards the new World Ranking, it will
be reinstated and attributed with its
The standard scaling factor was Recently played matches have a higher previous WR score from before being
introduced on January 1, 2019 to impact on a national team's WR score removed.
calibrate the starting WR score for the than the older matches.
new World Ranking system to work. A DOES A TEAM BENEFIT
linear regression was used to find the IS THERE A DIFFERENCE FROM PLAYING MORE
best fit between the previous and the BETWEEN THE HOME AND MATCHES THAN A
new starting WR score and obtain the AWAY MATCHES? TEAM THAT PLAYS
number 8. SIGNIFICANTLY LESS
The new World Ranking does not MATCHES?
The standard scaling factor is used to consider Home and Away matches in
make sure the WR points won and lost recognised official competitions. No, since playing more matches results
in each match are within the range for in more possibilities to win and lose
the new World Ranking system to work. In volleyball there is little evidence WR points. The World Ranking system
It prevents the system from attributing to suggest that a Home team has an rewards the teams that are over-
too many or not enough WR points to advantage over the visiting team from performing. A very strong team winning
the teams. The standard scaling factor the study of the historical match data, many matches might get as many
changes nothing in the mechanics of so the new World Ranking system WR points as a weaker team over-
the new World Ranking. does not attribute additional factors to performing in 1 single match against
the awarding of WR points for a win a stronger opponent. Additionally, the
by the Away team. Therefore, every more a team wins, the more the team
match is considered a neutral match will be expected to win and the less
in the calculation of the WR points. WR points the team can score.
This factor is tracked and monitored
consistently by the FIVB.
DOES A TEAM BENEFIT WHAT HAPPENS TO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
FROM PLAYING MORE EVENTS TAKING PLACE TWO EVENTS COUNTING
MATCHES AGAINST OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICIAL TOWARDS THE NEW
STRONG TEAMS THAN NATIONAL TEAM SEASON WORLD RANKING AND
A TEAM THAT PLAYS CALENDAR DATES? INVOLVING THE SAME
LESS MATCHES AGAINST TEAM OVERLAP?
STRONG TEAMS? As of the official implementation of
the new World Ranking on 1 February As of the official implementation of
To go up in the World Ranking it is 2020, any events not in line with the the new World Ranking on 1 February
beneficial for a team to over-perform Volleyball Calendar principles will not 2020, if two events involving the same
and win against stronger teams. It gives count towards the new World Ranking. team overlap, the one with the higher
the team more opportunities to score a match weight factor will prevail.
good amount of WR points. However, Which means that all matches
by playing stronger opponents a team played in the event with the smaller
also increases its chances to lose match weight factor will not count
matches and WR points. towards the new World Ranking.

A team can also go up in the World

Ranking by winning many
matches against weaker opponents.

WHAT HAPPENS TO OTHER

ANNUAL OFFICIAL EVENTS
ORGANIZED
BY CONTINENTAL
CONFEDERATIONS WHEN
THOSE INLUDE TEAMS
PARTICIPATING IN
OFFICIAL FIVB EVENTS IN
THE SAME YEAR?

Matches from other annual official

events organized by Continental
Confederations shall not be
considered for the World Ranking if
those matches include teams
participating in the official FIVB events
in the same year.

For the avoidance of doubt, matches

in the same tournament which do not
involve teams who participate in
official FIVB events in a given year are
eligible for the FIVB World Ranking.