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TOKYO: Volleyball's world governing body has rejected claims byThailand that Japan's women threw their Olympic qualifying matchagainst Serbia at the weekend. Thailand had complained after Japan's full-set loss to Serbiadenied them a first ever berth in Olympic women's volleyball on thefinal day of the eight-nation qualifying tournament in Tokyo onSunday. Jizhong Wei, president of Federation Internationale de Volleyball(FIVB), said in a statement issued on Monday: "The FIVB hasinvestigated the allegation of match fixing. "The conclusion of the FIVB control committee in place is thatthere is no evidence to prove the existence of match fixing," hesaid. "The reports received from the national federations of Japan andSerbia told us the same. Some witnesses in attendance at the matchgave the same judgement." Despite their own loss, Japan won a ticket to the London Games. The tournament had been arranged to decide the final four of 12women's volleyball spots in London, with the top-three finishersand the best Asian side among the rest bagging their spot. "We have submitted a DVD and a report to the FIVB," a spokeswomenfor the Japan Volleyball Association told AFP. "The allegation is unfounded. As a matter of course, Japan wantedto win this match. The defeat has not given Japan any advantage inthe Olympics," she said. Had Japan beaten Serbia, Thailand would have also won a ticket toLondon along with Japan. But, in this case, Japan would have been placed in a tough group inLondon alongside defending champions Brazil, the world number-oneUnited States, Asian champions China and European powerhouseTurkey. Thai media had claimed Japan threw the final match to avoid thatparticularly tough draw. Japan and Thailand finished level on 12 points with four wins andthree losses each. But Japan had a better set ratio -- sets wondivided by sets lost -- and finished fourth in the table withThailand fifth. Thus Russia (7-0), South Korea (5-2), Serbia (5-2) and Japan (4-3)made the cut. In London, they will join hosts Britain, the top three teams at the2011 World Cup (Italy, United States and China) and the winners ofthe other continental qualifiers -- Algeria, Dominican Republic,Turkey and Brazil. "We watched the match and we all realised there was something wrongwith the Japan team," Thai head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkaitold the Thai daily Nation. "They played below their standard," he was quoted as saying."However, I don't want to say out loud what happened, but I thinkanyone watching could see it. My team did their best in thistournament and I'm proud of them." -AFP/ac. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as sony projector lamp Manufacturer , toshiba projector lamp, and more. For more , please visit sanyo projector lamp today!
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