Brno, Czech Republic. It is almost time for the 12 teams participating in the 2020 edition of the CEV U20 Men Volleyball European Championship to step onto the court, with the competition getting underway on Saturday. The championship will take place in Brno and Ku?im and run until October 4, 2020.
The Czech national team (pictured) coached by Premysl Obdržálek will play their pool matches at the local sports hall in Kurim. “We are looking forward to the championship. We are currently finalising our intensive training programme and I believe that we will be ready to fight for the best possible result,” says the Czech national coach just before the start of the European Championship.
In the last week before the start of the competition, the Czech national team has been working hard in order to prepare as best as possible for the pool stage of the tournament. “Our group will not be easy, and the Italians will probably be the most difficult opponent. We try to get videos from all the teams in the group and analyse their game,” Obdržálek adds.
The captain of the Czech team will be Petr Špulák. “Currently, we train twice a day, working mainly on the game and fine tuning the physical condition. Personally, I am really looking forward to our first match against France – it will be one of the matches that will decide how the rest of the championship will develop,” says Špulák.
Due to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic, it has not been certain until only a few days ago whether the championship would take place at all and under what conditions. Finally, spectators will be able to attend the matches but the capacity will be very limited, while complying with all relevant hygiene and health protocols. The maximum capacity for the hall in Ku?im will be 199 spectators, for the Vodova hall in Brno a maximum of 500 spectators will be able to watch the matches from the stands.
All spectators will have to follow strict hygiene regulations, with their body temperature checked at the entrance – and they will have to be wearing face masks at all times. The fans will be able to enter the arenas 20 minutes before the start of the match they wish to follow and leave the hall right after completion of each match so that the staff can carry out the necessary cleaning and disinfecting protocols. After this break, the fans will be able to return to the arena to follow the next match on the programme – as long as they have a valid ticket for this purpose.
The tickets are available here: https://cvf.enigoo.cz/online/#/MEU20/. A limited number of tickets will be available at the venues as well, with their price standing at a rather symbolic CZK 50 per match (approx. 2 EUR).
Live streaming of all matches will be available at this link: http://www.me2020u20.cz.
Any media interested in following the competition on site should email Ms Barbora Mertova in order to request an accreditation: mertova@cvf.cz
Click here for further information.
Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball
CVF – Czech Volleyball Federation
