Champions League: Jastrzębski Węgiel disregard CEV decision and cancel the trip to match against Trentino

2 min read

3 March 2020 Ivan

Jastrzębski Węgiel refused to travel to Italy for the 2020 CEV Volleyball Champions League quarterfinal match against Itas Trentino.
Despite the fact that the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) assessed there’s no danger for players and staff of both clubs of coronavirus and confirmed that the encounter will take place in Trento as previously determined (March 5 at 20:30 CET), the Polish side kept insisting on a postponement.
Węgiel already requested to postpone the game against Trentino once.
After the decision of the CEV, the PlusLiga club didn’t only ask for the postponement again but also proposed Italian rivals to play both matches of the quarterfinals on neutral ground and even obtained an available location in Austria.

“During the day (March 2), we conducted three-way communication on the line: club from Trento, CEV, Jastrzębski Węgiel. Due to the conclusions and fears of the players arising from the dangers of the coronavirus epidemic prevailing in Northern Italy, our club maintained its position regarding the transfer of the match to a location other than Italy. However, the management of the club Trentino Itas maintained their position, the readiness to play match scheduled for March 5 in their own hall, because in their opinion – based on the position of the Italian government – there are no threats associated with playing this match in their hall,” Jastrzębski Węgiel said in a note.

Since the CEV didn’t make a new decision on the matter and because of a concern that members of their team might get quarantined, which would result in the inability to continue their participation in national competitions, the polish side club canceled the trip to the match. They stressed they are still waiting for the official position of the CEV.