Luxembourg, March 11, 2020. Only one game remained standing in this week’s men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2020 schedule. Following the constantly changing situation regarding the decisions related to protecting the health of all members of the Volleyball community in Europe from the spreading coronavirus, the only quarterfinal match to be played at this point is the return game between Poland’s ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Russia’s Kuzbass Kemerovo, which will take place behind closed doors.



Despite losing their first two sets in the Champions League this season, ZAKSA emerged with a narrow, but important 3-2 away victory from the first-leg game with Russian rookies Kuzbass Kemerovo. As the two sides meet again for the re-match, all the prerequisites for another exciting battle are there. The win is up for grabs. So is the spot against Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia or Fakel Novy Urengoy in the semifinals.

The game has been moved from the nearby town of Gliwice where it was supposed to be held initially to ZAKSA’s home Azoty hall in Kedzierzyn-Kozle and will be played without spectators despite the fact that six thousand tickets had already been sold. First whistle remains as scheduled, at 18:00 local time on Wednesday, March 11. ZAKSA will try to make it to their fifth appearance among the continent’s best four teams without the services of injured opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek, but with otherwise the strongest line-up available.

Sebastian Swiderski, president of ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle: "We are extremely sorry that we cannot appear in front of our own audience, and our fans will not see this competition of the highest sporting level. The decision is dictated by safety issues - health is the most important thing. We invite everyone to support the teams via the live TV coverage."

Kamil Semeniuk, outside spiker of ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle: "Nothing is a foregone conclusion in this competition, so we will face a hard fight for every point. Winning in Kemerovo has not guaranteed anything, and the Russians will undoubtedly put their best foot forward to defeat us. We are double-mobilised to win because of the epidemiological situation. I have never encountered such a situation in which a league or cup match is played without spectators, but, needless to say, we will play with our supporters in mind and perform with double motivation."




All Champions League games are streamed live on EuroVolleyTV.
For more info on the competition, go to the CEV Champions League Volley 2020 - Men section.