Uncertainty surrounds the future of the Beach Volleyball World Championships planned for Adelaide next year

With a sporting tournament set to bring an economic benefit of between $20m and $30m to SA, uncertainty surrounds the event due to funding.

Uncertainty surrounds the future of the Beach Volleyball World Championships planned for Adelaide next year, as the federal government has not committed funding.

The event, in November 2025, is expected to attract 96 teams and 17,000 spectators from interstate and overseas and will be broadcast around the globe.

The South Australian government has signed on as a sponsor but there was no funding allocated in the recent federal budget.

Uncertainty surrounds the future of the Beach Volleyball World Championships planned for Adelaide next year. Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images.

Volleyball Australia chief executive Andrew Dee warned there was “an absolutely genuine risk” the event would not go ahead if the federal government did not change its mind.

“We are still trying to get this over the line,” Mr Dee said.

“Unless we find a commercial partner to fill the gap... it would be very difficult to see this event going ahead if the federal government doesn’t contribute.”

The lack of federal funding was confirmed by Office for Sport official Travis Haslam under questioning by SA Senator and Liberal sport spokeswoman Anne Ruston during Senate Estimates hearings last week.

In a statement to the Sunday Mail a spokesman for federal Sport Minister Anika Wells said the government “never made a commitment to this event”.

However, it “has several major sport announcements to reveal soon”, he said.

Office for Sport officials will meet with Volleyball Australia again this week.

Ms Ruston said it was “incredibly disappointing to see that federal funding support for this important international sporting showcase has been knocked back”.

“It would be a very sad indictment if we lost an event like this,” she said.

It has been estimated the Beach Volleyball World Championships could deliver an economic benefit of between $20m and $30m.

SA Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said the SA government was sponsoring the event but Volleyball Australia was responsible for “funding and delivering” it.

Originally published as Uncertainty surrounds the future of the Beach Volleyball World Championships planned for Adelaide next year