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The World League is a men's Volleyball competition. Created in 1990 , it is the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the FIVB .The tournament is annual; in 2004 , $13 million dollars in prize money were distributed amongst the participating teams. HISTORY Origins The World League was created in 1990 as part of the intensive marketing programme that would become a distinctive mark of the FIVB's activities near the end of the century. The idea was to promote the Sport of volleyball by establishing an annual competition that would appeal to audiences all over the world. At that point, international competitions involving top volleyball teams (e.g., the Olympic Games , the World Championship ) took place only in 4-year cicles, and were usually confined to a host city or nation. By contrast, the World League was designed to be played on a one-year basis, with a system of rotating cities that allowed every team to host a number of matches in the preliminary round. Further restrictions on participation, such as mandatory local broadcasting, ensured massive TV & media coverage. The to 2004 , the total sum spent on prize money jumped from $1 to $13 million dollars - compensated in the eyes of the national federations for the competition's relative lack of tradition and prestige. Following the success of the World League, the FIVB launched a sister project in 1993 for women's volleyball, the Grand Prix . It was very effective in East Asia , where this type of event has become tremendously popular, but its results in a worldwide scale still remain timid. Winners In the 1990s , the Italians dominated the World League, winning the first three tournaments in 1990 , 1991 and 1992 . Playing at home, Brazil , at the time the Olympic champions, managed to take the gold in 1993 , but Italy regained the title in 1994 and 1995 . In 1996 , foreshadowing what would happen just a couple of months later at the Olympic Games , the Netherlands beat them in an extremely tight five-setter, before Italy once again won the gold in 1997 . In 1998 , the winner was Cuba , while in 1999 and 2000 Italy won again. As can be seen, Italy were clearly the dominant team in the first decade of the World League: from 1990 to 2000 , the World League was played 11 times, and Italy took gold eight times, while the remaining three titles were won by three different teams. Italy's supremacy in the World League began to wane in 2001 , when Brazil won a second gold medal, beating the Italians in three straight sets. With further titles in 2003 , 2004 and 2005 , the Brazilians were the preeminent at the start of the 21st Century , being also World and Olympic Champions. The 2002 title was won by Russia . COMPETITION FORMULA The FIVB is constantly adapting the World League's competition formula to improve competitivity and to make the games more attractive to the audiece. Nevertheless, a few basic rules and restrictions will probably remain unchanged in the following years.
WINNERS ''See also Detailed Palmares '' MEDALS SUMMARY EXTERNAL LINKS
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