Ahmedabad: Pakistan are among the 12 confirmed teams for the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men’s Cup 2026, to be held at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad from June 20 to 28. AVC President Ramon Suzara on Friday confirmed their participation on Friday, saying all teams had submitted their entries and he expected no issues.“All the teams have confirmed already…. There should be no conflict. Everybody’s here to play the best of volleyball,” said Suzara. He also expressed surprise at Pakistan’s performance in the last edition. “I was surprised by the way they played last year, finishing runners-up to Bahrain,” he added.The draw was held in Ahmedabad in the presence of Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) assistant director Nilofar Sheikh. The 12 teams have been split into two pools. India are in Pool A alongside Australia, defending champions Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and New Zealand. Pool B consists of last edition runners-up Pakistan, former champions Thailand, Qatar, Korea, Indonesia and Oman.On whether the ongoing conflict in West Asia could affect participation, Suzara said he was hopeful the situation would ease by then. He said, “The Iranian team is currently practising in the northern part of the country, while Bahrain and Qatar have also started their preparations for the tournament.”The AVC, headquartered in Bangkok, is the continental governing body for volleyball and is affiliated to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
