WOMEN'S AND MEN'S VOLLEYBALL WORLD FINAL QUALIFICATION and THE REGIONAL QUALIFICATION OF ASIAN TEAMS FOR THE BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008

Olympic Volleyball and Beach Volleyball tickets sell out months ahead of Beijing 2008

Matey Kaziyski is set to play a starring role for the Bulgarians at the Olympic Games in Beijing

Lausanne, May 7, 2008 - Further underlining the continued success of Volleyball and Beach Volleyball as Olympic disciplines is the news that tickets for the tournaments at the Beijing Games have already been sold out.

The Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) has confirmed that internet sales for tickets have closed more than three months ahead of the August 8-24 Summer Games.

BOCOG is keeping back a small percentage of tickets to sell on a daily basis at the Volleyball and Beach Volleyball venues during the Men's and Women's tournaments.

The Olympic Volleyball Tournament will be played in two venues, the 18,000-seater Capital Indoor Stadium, which will be the main venue, and the 5,000-seater Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium.

The 12,000-seater Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground will host the Olympic Beach Volleyball Tournament.

The popularity of Volleyball has gone from strength to strength since it was first introduced as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Games in 1964, while Beach Volleyball made its bow at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and has seen fans packing out tournaments ever since.

The rush for tickets mirrors the television success enjoyed by Volleyball during the Olympic Games. The sport was recognised after Athens 2004 as one of the most popular Olympic sports on television, with 3.5 billion viewer hours according to official figures reported by the International Olympic Committee.

There will be 12 Men's and 12 Women's National Teams taking part in the Olympic Volleyball Tournaments and 24 Men's and 24 Women's pairs competing in the Olympic Beach Volleyball Tournaments.