Source: CEV. After a careful assessment of the health and safety conditions across Europe as well as after holding a number of conference calls with representatives of member National Federations, the CEV has decided to cancel all of the age-group qualifiers pushed back to the month of August after the coronavirus outbreak disrupted the initial competition schedule earlier this year. In accordance with the decision taken by the CEV Board of Administration back in April, the CEV will allocate the vacant spots in the Final Rounds according to the respective European Ranking.
After weeks of intense work and following a continuous exchange of information with all stakeholders, it has appeared evident that the conditions for a safe delivery of the many qualifiers scheduled for the U17 Women, U18 Men, U19 Women and U20 Men continental championships could not be fulfilled.
Even though this is a hard decision, the well-being and health of everyone associated with the sport remain paramount. Moreover, travel restrictions are still in place in Europe, teams have limited opportunities to gather and practice, and therefore it appears that the organisation and delivery of these events is not feasible.
The CEV will liaise with the National Federations whose teams are eligible to participate in the respective Final Rounds as per the relevant ranking to determine the final list of participants. Further information will follow in due course.
At this stage, for the U19 Women and U20 Men events, only the hosts – Bosnia and Herzegovina & Croatia and Czech Republic, respectively – have secured their participation, with 10 and 11 vacancies still remaining for the women’s and men’s tournament.
As for the U17 Women and U18 Men age groups, apart from the hosts – Montenegro and Italy, respectively, after Greece confirmed their withdrawal from co-organising the men’s event – the winners of the 1st Round zonal qualifiers have already booked their ticket to the Finals as well.
These are:
• U17 Women: Serbia (BVA), Russia (EEVZA), Slovakia (MEVZA), Finland (NEVZA), and Italy (WEVZA)
• U18 Men: Turkey (BVA), Poland (EEVZA), Czech Republic (MEVZA), Finland (NEVZA), and France (WEVZA)
The remaining six teams per gender will result from the relevant European Ranking after the respective National Federations have confirmed their participation in the event.
All of the European Rankings are available here.
Source:
CEV – European Volleyball
