Women’s volleyball returns to Macau with added capacity, better conditions

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) competition is returning to Macau after a four-year break motivated by the pandemic and related border restriction measures.

The competition’s return to Macau was has been known since late last year, as the Times reported.

Yesterday the organizers confirmed, as the Times also noted at the time, that the competition will move from its previous venue at Macau Forum into the new Galaxy Arena in Cotai.

The president of the Sports Bureau (ID), Pun Weng Kun, said the Galaxy Arena was a very good place with excellent conditions that will please both participants and spectators.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held yesterday at the Galaxy International Convention Center, where the arena is located.

Pun said that this is not the first time the arena has been used, having already hosted several events, including the recently-held ITTF World Cup.

“I believe that, for fans and participants, this will be an ideal place for the event,” Pun said.

Questioned by the Times about expected spectator turnout for the six-day event, Pun said, “I can’t say how many people will be able to attend this event, because we are still evaluating the number of tickets that will be made available.”

“We will consider the fans’ demands as well as visual satisfaction, so we will still decide on the number of people who will be able to attend this event. Probably it will be similar to the spectators in the ITTF.”

Although no official figures have been released for the ticket sales during the ITTF, it is expected the VNL will be able to cater to a much larger audience than in previous events when it was restricted by the fewer seats (around 4,000) available at the Macau Forum venue.

The Galaxy Arena venue, which seats 16,000, is the largest of its kind in Macau.

Its use will enable more spectators to watch the games, providing more comfortable amenities and incorporating all the modern features expected from such a venue.

Six days with eight top teams

From May 28 to June 2, the VNL will present in Macau the third pool of the second week of the worldwide tournament.

It includes eight national teams: China, the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, Thailand, Japan and France.

Teams will use this year’s VNL event as preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics, which starts a few weeks after the VNL finals in late June.

In line with its tradition of 14 years, Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) will sponsor the Macau VNL 2024 round.

For the first time, it will be part of the organization of the event as the director of GEG, Philip Cheng, said at the same press conference, noting the company’s efforts to contribute to Macau becoming a “City of Sports.”

The event starts May 28 with the first two matches between Thailand vs Dominican Republic (4 p.m.) and Brazil vs Japan (7:30 p.m.).

From the third day (May 30) a third match per day will be added at 12:30 p.m. until the final day (June 2).

Meanwhile, in a statement sent by the ID, it was unveiled that tickets will go on sale from May 6 at 3 p.m. through the usual online platforms including the mCoin from MPay, Cityline, and MacauTicket.com.
Ticket prices will vary between MOP180 and MOP1,380, depending on the seat location and match session.

Each person can purchase a maximum of four tickets per session.
Children under 1.2m tall and not occupying a seat will be able to enter the venue free of charge when accompanied by an adult throughout the event, with each adult only allowed to bring one child.

Local residents can benefit from a 10% discount, while those holding student or elderly cards can benefit from a 20% discount for the matches between May 28 and May 30.