03/11/2020 11:52
Uralochka withdraw from #CLVolleyW, Calcit Volley KAMNIK take their spot
CEV Champions League Volley 2021
Luxembourg, November 3, 2020. Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG of Russia confirmed earlier this week their decision to withdraw from the CEV Champions League Volley 2021 citing concerns about the current global health crisis. Calcit Volley KAMNIK of Slovenia will be taking their spot in the pool stage of the competition.
Possibly the most decorated club in women’s Volleyball history, Uralochka have been a major force to reckon with for many years. They were due to contest the elite CEV Champions League for a third straight season, but decided to withdraw from the competition due to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the risks associated with international travel to focus, at least for the current season, on domestic tournaments.
As per the relevant Competitions Regulations (see Art. 14.1 §6), the Slovenian team of Calcit Volley KAMNIK will be taking Uralochka’s spot in Pool B. Earlier this season, they lost in the second round of this year’s competition to LKS Commercecon LODZ of Poland. Calcit Volley will join a highly competitive group featuring 2019 #CLVolleyW runners-up and reigning club world champions A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO of Italy as well as Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL. VB NANTES of France complete the list of teams due to contest the Pool B matches.
This will account for the second appearance of the Slovenian team in the pool stage of the CEV Champions League after their previous experience in the 2016 season – back then they were competing as Calcit LJUBLJANA – when they lost all of their six matches in a challenging group featuring VakifBank ISTANBUL, PGE Atom Trefl SOPOT and Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA.
Further to the CEV’s announcement made last week that single round-robin tournaments held in ‘bio-secure bubbles’ will replace the previously announced home and away matches (click here), the two Pool B tournaments are due to take place in Treviso, Italy and Nantes, France on December 8-10 and January 26-28, 2021 respectively.
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