World Volleyball: 58 billion and the opportunity of the Vietnamese women's team

$2.2 million and uneven bonus distribution

The 2025 FIVB Women 's Volleyball World Championship ( August 22 - September 7) in Thailand kicked off with a total prize fund of up to 2.2 million USD ( nearly 58 billion VND ) .

This number sounds impressive, enough for FIVB to promote that women's volleyball is gradually being treated fairly with football, tennis or other sports with global appeal.

Vietnam Spain women's football team 7.JPG — Vietnam women's volleyball team attends world tournament for first time

But if we look closely at the allocation mechanism, the big question arises: what do the small teams, those participating in the tournament for the first time like Vietnam , get besides experience?

According to the announcement from FIVB, the prize money is focused on the top 3 positions: the champion team receives 1 million USD, the runner-up 500,000 USD and the third place 250,000 USD. A total of 1.75 million USD is in the hands of the 3 strongest teams of the tournament .

The remainder, if any, is either split up among individual awards ( Best Player , Best XI … ), or is not specified.

This means that most of the 32 participating teams, including the Vietnamese women's volleyball team, have little chance of touching the prize fund.

The "disparity" is evident when compared to the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), the FIVB's annual tournament with men's teams .

In VNL, each group stage win brings in $9,500, while the losing team also gets $4,250. That means even the “underdogs” still have specific rewards for each performance.

This is a much more equitable incentive and mechanism than the World Championship, where only the “top of the pyramid” benefits.

In the context of the Vietnamese women's team, for the first time in history, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's students have the opportunity to create a "victory of a lifetime" against Kenya, an opponent considered to be the most equal in Group G. But perhaps, even if they beat Kenya, the direct reward received from FIVB is almost zero.

Just applause?

Another controversial fact: international bonuses do not necessarily mean that the players directly receive them.

In many volleyball regions, especially in Asia and Southeast Asia, the prize fund goes through many levels: federation, coaching staff, national team. Players often only receive a small portion, even depending on internal decisions.

The division of prizes for women's volleyball tournament has caused much controversy. Photo: AVC

This mechanism unintentionally weakens the motivation of new teams. For the Vietnamese women's volleyball team, entering the tournament is a big step forward, but without receiving specific encouragement , in the end it is just learning and fighting for the flag.

That is especially disadvantageous as Asia struggles to find its footing amid the dominance of Europe and South America, with only a few teams like Japan, China and Thailand capable of competing.

It is worth mentioning that new teams like Vietnam bring different values to the tournament: expanding the market, attracting new audiences, and creating inspirational stories.

It's just that the current reward system doesn't reflect that. Winning one historic match or losing all three , financially it's almost the same.

From a long-term perspective, this is a “stumbling block” that the FIVB needs to change soon. If volleyball is to truly globalize, it cannot just reward familiar champions.

A match-based bonus system, like VNL or football, would not only be fairer but would also help foster confidence and motivation in developing volleyball teams.

For the Vietnamese women's volleyball team, especially after Bich Tuyen withdrew, the answer to the question "what to get" from this world volleyball tournament is not money, but experience, courage and historical mark.

But clearly, if we want to see sustainable progress, the reward system needs to change so that teams like the Vietnamese women's volleyball team are not only applauded, but also recognized financially.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bong-chuyen-nu-the-gioi-2025-nu-viet-nam-duoc-gi-tu-58-ty-dong-2434295.html