Brazil and Portugal played at the Baixada Arena football stadium in Curitiba after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Lausanne, Switzerland, March 9, 2017 - Home to Clube Atlético Paranaense, the Arena da Baixada, the football stadium which will host the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Finals in Curitiba, Brazil from July 4-8 is the latest in a string of iconic venues that have hosted some incredible volleyball and beach volleyball events over the years.
Related news:Brazil to host 2017 World League Finals in Curitiba's Arena da Baixada football stadiumPlaying at outdoor stadiums was the norm for major competitions in the mid-20th century, due to the lack of suitable indoor venues to accommodate the huge numbers of fans. That included the 1952 FIVB Volleyball World Championship, which attracted as many as 50,000 spectators to Moscow's National Stadium for the deciding matches of the tournament.
Over 50,000 fans were in attendance at the Moscow National Stadium to watch USSR v Poland in the 1952 World Championship.More recently, Brazil drew a record 95,000 fans at the legendary Maracana Stadium of Rio de Janeiro in 1983 for a friendly match against the Soviet Union, which was interrupted by rain, with staff clearing the water off the synthetic floor with brooms and players removing their shoes to play in socks.
The trend was rekindled three years ago, when Poland organised the opening match of the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship at Warsaw National Stadium before some 63,000 fans who helped the hosts beat Serbia in straight sets before going on to claim the title.
And the World League has had its share of outdoor arenas too, with Italy hosting Poland in 2014 and Brazil a year later at Rome's Foro Italico before 11,000 fans each time.
Stunning backdrops for beach volleyballBenefiting on most occasions from the setup of temporary venues, beach volleyball has also been played against some stunning backdrops over the years.
With the Eiffel Tower in the background, Paris has hosted several FIVB World Tour events and could very well provide the same scenery if the French capital wins the bid for the 2024 Olympic Games.
The Eiffel Tower has provided one of the most iconic backgrounds for beach volleyball.And Norway's Stavanger has also traditionally provided a unique location for the World Tour events hosted in this Norwegian city.
The location of Stavanger's Centre Court is unique amongst beach volleyball venues. There's also been the likes of world famous locations such as Bondi Beach in Sydney 2000 and Horse Guards Parade in 2008, but perhaps the most iconic venues of all was that of the most celebrated beach in the world - Copacabana which hosted the Rio 2016 beach volleyball tournament.
This year's World League Finals in Curitiba will take place from July 4 to 8, under a month before the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships take place from July 28 to August 6 on Donau Insel in Vienna, Austria.
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