An international tournament featuring four national volleyball teams is scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Ufa between August 20 and 23, "BO Sport" reports. Russia, Belarus, Cuba, and Egypt are expected to participate in the competition. According to the publication, the matches will be played in the local Palace of Wrestling, which has a capacity of 5,000 spectators. The tournament format is a round-robin.
Cuba currently ranks 12th in the FIVB world rankings, while Egypt is in 27th position. Belarus recently regained the right to participate in tournaments under the auspices of the International Volleyball Federation, but the sanction against Russia remains in effect.
Following its exclusion from international competitions in 2022, the Russian national team has mainly played friendly matches against Belarus, and last year also played two matches against Serbia.

A similar international tournament was planned last year in Novosibirsk but did not take place. The Secretary General of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation, Alexander Yaryomenko, then explained that the problems were related to visas, logistics, and flights.
"We worked on attracting several teams participating in the World Championship – Iran, Cuba, and Egypt. Unfortunately, not political but technical reasons intervened – visas, logistics, and flights. Most federations plan their summer and autumn schedules well before the start of the national teams' season, and it is not always possible to change those plans," commented Yaryomenko.