Russian Men’s Volleyball Superleague will be open for clubs from Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan

The All-Russian Volleyball Federation (VFV) has held a meeting with the heads of the Russian Men’s Superleague clubs. After a discussion, the clubs’ managers have recommended the VFV to implement new regulations on the national championship.

The suggested changes may well be approved on June 1 and will include transformation of the championship into an open tournament, which will be joined by teams from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan (one from each contry).

The new top tier of the Russian volleyball will be Superleague A (16 teams), followed by Superleague B (12 teams). Superleague A will be divided into two divisons, the Eastern and the Western. After a round-robin tournament within the divisions, top two teams from each division will proceed straight into the quaterfinals, whereas the teams ranked from 3rd to 6th will play knock-outs for the other four quaterfinal places.

The president of the VFV Stanislav Shevchenko has already announced how the teams will be divided in the 2011-12 Superleague.

Western Division: Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Krasnodar, Iskra Odintsovo, Avtomobilist St. Petersburg, Lokomotiv-Belogorye Belgorod, Yaroslavich Yaroslavl, a club from Ukraine, and a club from Belarus.

Eastern Division: Zenit Kazan, Fakel Novy Urengoi, Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, Kuzbass Kemerovo, Gazprom-Yugra Surgut, Lokomotiv-Izumrud Yekaterinburg, Ural Ufa, and a club from Kazakhstan.