As a tribute to the victims of plane crash, final four in Lodz is officially cancelled. Participating teams will conclude alternative competition calendar.
With the Polish Government having decided to cancel all public events, including sport competitions, starting this weekend and to call for national mourning to commemorate the President of the Polish Republic – Mr. Lech Kaczynski – and the many other victims that passed away in the plane crash that occurred earlier this morning in Smolensk (Russia), the local organizers – namely the club of PGE Skra BELCHATOW and the Polish Volleyball Federation – agreed with the CEV officials that they were no longer in the position to stage the final four tournament of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League as it was initially foreseen.
Mr. Philip Berben, CEV Senior Vice President, explained during a press conference staged in the Atlas Arena: “We are paying our full and highest respect and tribute to the victims of this tragedy and to the Polish nation. As we started receiving more and more details about this crash, we thoroughly analyzed all options and we finally realized that this is essentially a day of sadness and mourning, so the European Volleyball Confederation decided to stick to the line being set by the Polish authorities and to cancel the final four of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League to be played here in Lodz. On the other hand I can inform you that the four participating teams decided to sit together and agreed upon discussing, together with CEV and their respective National Federations, an alternative calendar to conclude the competition in the next weeks. More details will be communicated after a careful analysis about the various options on the table to be performed by the European Cups Commission in cooperation with the clubs and the National Federations concerned”.
Mr. Konrad Piechocki, President of PGE Skra BELCHATOW, concluded: “Our first priority today was to pay respect to those who died in this plane crash. This is actually why – even before the cancellation of the event was finalized – we had already decided that our team was not going to enter the court and play the eventual semifinal match against Dinamo MOSCOW. I also would like to thank CEV and the visiting teams for their sympathy and understanding in these tragic hours”.
from CEV
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