18/12/2020 16:29
Record-breaking participation for 2021 European League!
CEV Volleyball European League 2021
Luxembourg, December 18, 2020. The 2021 edition of the CEV European League will feature a record-breaking 40 national teams representing as many as 26 National Federations! The top-tier Golden European League will involve, as usual, 12 elite teams per gender, with another eight men’s and women’s teams contesting the Silver European League. These figures are especially impressive in times of coronavirus pandemic and show that National Federations are very much looking forward to the return of the European League after the global health crisis resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 edition. The competition will get underway at the end of May.
The CEV Board of Administration confirmed at their last virtual meeting in late November that Belgium and Bulgaria would be hosting the men’s and women’s Final Four tournaments on June 18-20, 2021. They both were due to play host to the Finals in 2020 before the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in the spring of this year wreaked havoc on the international sporting calendar.
Turkey (pictured above) will be trying to retain the men’s title they won in 2019 in Tallinn and will start their journey in the competition in a pool featuring the likes of three strong and ambitious teams such as Czech Republic, Belarus and Portugal. Final Four hosts Belgium will take on Spain, two-time European League winners Estonia and an up-and-coming Latvian team that earlier this year qualified for the final stage of EuroVolley for the first time since 1995. The Netherlands, another former European League champion, will play Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania in Pool B.
Czech Republic are the titleholders of the women’s European Golden League following their success in 2019. They will be playing Croatia, Belarus and Hungary in Pool C. Bulgaria, winners of the 2018 edition, take on Ukraine, Slovakia and Finland in Pool B. Azerbaijan, who won the European League title in 2016, test the likes of Spain, Romania and France in Pool A.
The pool composition reflects the latest European Ranking for national teams – with Romania, as winners of the 2019 Silver League, eligible to join the 2021 edition of the Golden League.
The winners of each pool will join hosts Belgium and Bulgaria in the Finals – should Belgium and Bulgaria top the charts of their respective group, the second best placed team across all pools will make it to the Final Four as well.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, the CEV and the participating National Federations have agreed to amend the competition format for the pool stage of the competition – reverting to two round robin tournaments in each group instead of playing home and away matches, thus reducing international travels and the risk of infection for all involved.
The top two teams of the European Golden League will join hosts Croatia and Portugal in the women’s and men’s FIVB Challenger Cup 2021 – where a spot will be at stake to join the 2022 edition of the elite Volleyball Nations League.
As many as eight teams per gender will contest the European Silver League. Croatia will be trying to claim back the men’s title they won in 2018 as they feature in a pool including Austria, Hungary and Luxembourg. Three-time European League silver medal winners North Macedonia play Israel, Denmark and Cyprus in Pool A. Cyprus will be playing in the European League for the first time – after their women’s team contested the 2019 edition of the competition.
Three teams will be making their historic debut in the women’s competition – Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were due to do so in 2020 already before the coronavirus crisis forced the cancellation of the competition, while the ‘Red Lionesses’ of Luxembourg have registered for participation for the very first time. Luxembourg will play 2019 silver medal winners Slovenia in Pool A – as well as Austria and Israel. Portugal and Estonia complete the line-up for Pool B next to Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Pending the confirmation of an organiser for the respective Finals, the Silver League may continue, after completion of the pool phase, with semis and final matches in a home and away format.
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