Abu Dhabi: UAE's Deputy Prime Minister, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the Honourary Council of Al Jazira Club, had directed to increase the cash prizes of the Shaikh Mansour International women's volleyball championship to $1 million.
The tournament to be held from December 10-20, will be the richest of its kind in the world and will attract the strongest women teams to take part.
The Organising Committee, headed by Major General Mohammad Hilal Al Ka'abi, decided to invite the top ten teams in the ranking of the International Volleyball Federation to compete in the tournament, the first of its kind in the region. "Our quest is to spread and improve the game among the ladies.
"That will be achieved if we succeeded, as we expect, in bringing the top ranked teams in the world to take part in the tournament which will coincide with the UAE's festivities of the National Day," Al Ka'abi said.
"We have already received the acceptance of ten teams to take part in the tournament, namely: Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, Kuwait, Iran, Azerbaijan, Japan, Senegal and Nigeria.
"We have invited the top 15 ranked teams including: Cuba, Russia, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Germany, Australia, Holland, Spain, France, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, USA and Egypt, the champions of Africa.
"June 16 has been decided as the deadline for receiving the confirmations of participation from these countries and we will chose the top ten teams to be divided into two groups."
The tournament is expected to provide an international opportunity to promote the UAE with international media expected to cover the event.
