The 2025 AVC Men's Volleyball Champions League was the first edition of the newly rebranded AVC Men's Volleyball Champions League and the 25th overall edition of the formerly named Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship, an annual international men's volleyball club tournament organized by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) and the SV.League (SVL). It was held at the Panasonic Arena in Hirakata and Shimadzu Arena Kyoto in Kyoto from 11 to 18 May 2025.
Al-Rayyan Sports Club won the tournament for the first time by beating Osaka Bluteon in the final and Nimir Abdel-Aziz named the MVP. Both teams qualified for the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball Club World Championship. Suntory Sunbirds Osaka claimed the bronze against Foolad Sirjan in the 3rd place match.
Host selection In February 2025, JVA announced that Japan would be the host nation of the tournament.
Participating teams Teams by zonal association Central Asia (CAVA)East Asia (EAVA)Oceania (OZVA)Southeast Asia (SAVA)West Asia (WAVA)
Entrant teams The first AVC Men's Champions League is an invitational tournament with a maximum of twelve teams allowed to enter. As hosts, Japan was allowed to enter two teams. The following teams are expected to take part in tournament.
+ Association Team Domestic league standing Queensland Pirates 2024–25 Australian Men's Volleyball League champions Muharraq Club 2024–25 Bahraini Men's Volleyball League champions Shanghai Bright 2024–25 Chinese Volleyball Super League champions Taichung Bank N/A Foolad Sirjan Iranian 2024–25 Iranian Volleyball Super League champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka 2023–24 V.League Division 1 champions Osaka Bluteon 2023–24 V.League Division 1 runners-up Aqtobe VC 2024–25 Kazakhstan Men's National League runners-up Cignal HD Spikers N/A (national team) Al-Rayyan Sports Club 2024–25 Qatari Volleyball League champions Nakhon Ratchasima Qmin C VC 2023–24 Men's Volleyball Thailand League champions Sport Training Center 3 N/A (national team)
Squads
With the rebranded tournament, each team can now have a maximum of three foreign players in its roster that can play at any time. Previously, teams can only have two foreign players and only one of which can play at a time.
Pools composition The teams were split into four pools with three teams each. The draw of lots took place at The Grand Fourwings Hotel Bangkokon on 12 March 2025.
Teams were seeded in the first position of each pool following the serpentine system according to their FIVB Senior World Rankings as of 8 January 2025. All teams not seeded were drawn to take other available positions in the remaining lines, following the World Ranking. The host's two teams and the top two countries are automatically seeded as the first teams of the four pools.
+Seeded teamsPot 1Pot 2 Suntory Sunbirds Osaka (6) () Osaka Bluteon (6) () Iranian Team (15) Al-Rayyan Sports Club (21) Shanghai Bright (24) Queensland Pirates (33) Taichung Bank (45) Sport Training Center 3 (52) Aqtobe VC (53) Cignal HD Spikers (56) Nakhon Ratchasima QminC (57) Bahraini Team (58)
Drawing results Pool APool BPool CPool D Suntory Sunbirds Osaka (6) () Osaka Bluteon (6) () Iranian Team (15) Al-Rayyan Sports Club (21) Queensland Pirates (33) Shanghai Bright (24) Taichung Bank (45) Sport Training Center 3 (52) Aqtobe VC (53) Cignal HD Spikers (56) Nakhon Ratchasima Qmin C VC (57) Bahraini Team (58)
Venues The tournament is hosted in Hirakata and Kyoto in the Kansai region.
+ Preliminary round Final round Hirakata Kyoto Panasonic Arena Shimadzu Arena Kyoto Capacity: 2,200 Capacity: 8,635
Pool standing procedure Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most point gained per match as follows: Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the AVC will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: Set quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all set won by the number of all sets lost. Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets. If the tie persists based on the point quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.
Preliminary round All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Final round All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
3rd place match
Final
Final standing
Rank Team Al-Rayyan Sports Club Osaka Bluteon Suntory Sunbirds Osaka 4 Foolad Sirjan Iranian 5 Aqtobe VC Muharraq Club Nakhon Ratchasima Qmin C VC Shanghai Bright 9 Cignal HD Spikers Queensland Pirates Sport Training Center 3 Taichung Bank Qualified for the 2025 Club World Championship
14–man rosterNoumory Keita, Papemaguette Diagne, Nimir Abdel-Aziz, Miloš Stevanović, Ilija Ivović, Belal Nabel Abunabot, André Luiz Queiroz, Sulaiman Saad, Marcus Vinicius Costa, Tine Urnaut, Mubarak Dahi (c), Birama Faye, Abdulmallid Ziad Banelouar, Naji Mahmoud Head coach Sergio Cunha
Awards
Most Valuable Player (Al-Rayyan Sports Club) Best Setter (Al-Rayyan Sports Club) Best Outside Spikers (Osaka Bluteon) (Suntory Sunbirds Osaka)
Best Middle Blockers (Al-Rayyan Sports Club) (Osaka Bluteon) Best Opposite Spiker (Al-Rayyan Sports Club) Best Libero (Osaka Bluteon)
See also 2025 AVC Women's Volleyball Champions League
Notes
References
External links
at Volleyball World