Since its inaugural edition in 1952, the women's and men's World Championships were hosted by the same country. The FIVB decided to split the tournaments, awarding men's and women's to different countries, for 1966 the men's was held in Czechoslovakia and the women's was planned to be held in Lima, Peru between 12 and 29 October. Lima withdrew as organizer and the tournament was delayed until a new host could be found. With Japan chosen as host (the first time the World Championships were played in Asia), the tournament went ahead in January 1967. Due to international political tensions caused by the Cold War, hosts Japan warned it would not display the flags nor have the national anthems of North Korea and East Germany played. Both teams together with the Eastern Bloc countries (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Soviet Union) and China forfeited the tournament, leaving only four teams as participants.[1][2][3]