So... its seems the FIVB found a way to finally promote merit over politics in the Olympic qualification process. Here's what I found on an Italian website, hopefully the FIVB will publish the whole thing in English soon.
http://dal15al25.gazzetta.it/2…ioni-olimpiche-del-volley
(a.a) L’Fivb, riunita a Marrakesh (Mar), ha stabilito il criterio di qualificazione olimpica per Tokyo 2020. Rimane invariato il numero di squadre che saranno 12 sia per il maschile che per il femminile. Oltre al Giappone si qualificano le prime 3 classificate al torneo “World Olympic”, dove parteciperanno 12 squadre: l’organizzatore, il campione Mondiale 2018 e le prime due per ogni continente. Al torneo “International Olympic” le 12 migliori rispetto al ranking Fivb. Le ultime cinque arrivano dai tornei di qualificazione continentali.
Highlights:
12 teams as usual
1 ticket for the host team
3 tickets for the top 3 teams of the "World Olympic Tournament", made of 12 teams: host (which means NOT Japan), 2018 World Champion, top 2 teams of every continent (aka continental CEV ranking I suppose?)
3 tickets for the top 3 teams of the "International Olympic Tournament", made of the top 12 teams of the overall FIVB rankings (this is pretty big news for Europe)
5 tickets for the 5 continental tournaments (the old world qualification tournaments, this time one per continent)
The World Cup seems to have been cancelled. Will it come back?