The Russia men's national volleyball team is the national team of Russia. It is governed by the Russian Volleyball Federation and takes part in international volleyball competitions.
FIVB considers Russia as the inheritor of the records of Soviet Union and CIS.
A few weeks after the great emotions provided by the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the European top teams are expected to enter another top-class competition in order to clinch a spot for the 2009 FIVB World Grand Prix.
According to the competition format, the European Qualification Tournament is going to be entered by a total of 6 national teams which have been identified according to the final rankings of the last Senior European Championships. As a result of that, host Russia will be joined by defending European champion Italy, 2007 silver medallist Serbia, as well as a bunch of very consisting and successful national teams such as the Netherlands, Germany and France. With Poland having been awarded a wild-card for the 2009 FIVB World Grand Prix, three more berths are still at the disposal of the European contingent and a very tough battle is expected to occur in order to top the final standings of this round-robin tournament.
On behalf of the CEV Board of Administration I would like to sincerely thank the Russian Volleyball Federation and the local Organising Committee, especially as this is the first time ever the city of Omsk has been appointed to stage a major event organized under the authority of the European Volleyball Confederation. After the great success achieved during the 2007 Men�s Senior European Championships in Moscow and St. Petersburg, I feel like this event is going to confirm once again the great passion that the local audience always deserves to volleyball competitions, which have been traditionally playing a key role in the deep-rooted sport culture of your country.