The Chinese Volleyball League is understood to be renamed as the China Volleyball League during the 2017/18 season, according to Gao Hong, CEO of iRENA the league’s official commercial partner who revealed the change at a recent workshop.

The renaming plan is still waiting to be approved by the National Sports Authority and is expected to be officially announced on September 22.

At the same time, the Chinese top-tier professional volleyball league is planning to expand from 24 teams to 28 teams, consisting of 14 women’s teams and 14 men’s teams. The league has also decided to change the rules from best-of-five to best-of-seven.

In addition, the men’s league will also face rule changes regarding foreign players: the number of foreign players per team per match will be 2 for TOP 6 teams for the last season and 3 for other teams.

Earlier this month, Chinese sportswear brand Peak Sports has become the official sponsor and exclusive equipment supplier of the league. The league has embraced a new sponsor for the first time since the 2014/15 season.

Source: news.youth.cn

Proofread by William Logsdon