Champions League: Fakel ask CEV to relocate or postpone match vs. Perugia

2 min read

6 March 2020 Ivan

Russians of Fakel Novy Urengoy don’t want to travel to Italy for the rematch of the 2020 CEV Volleyball Champions League quarterfinal against Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia due to the epidemic of the coronavirus in Italy.
The Director of Fakel, Nikolay Kapranov, told RIA Novosti that the club asked the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) to “relocate the rematch from Perugia to neutral territory where the virus situation is calm, or postpone the match to a better situation in Italy.”
Fakel official added that they don’t want to fly because it’s a great risk to the health of the players and the whole team. A reason more for such a decision lies in the fact that those who come from Italy to Russia are put in quarantine for two weeks, which would prevent Fakel from playing the national championship.
Recall that also Poland’s Jastrzębski Węgiel named the exact same reasons when refusing to travel to Italy for the first match of the Champions League quarterfinals against Itas Trentino. And CEV agreed.
Fakel now await for an official decision of the CEV itself on this matter. The match is due to take place on March 10th, and Perugia won the first leg in Russia in four sets.