Great news arrived for Croatia volleyball on Tuesday from the European Volleyball Federation (CEV) headquarters in Luxembourg, as both the Croatia men’s and women’s national teams have been included in the 2022 CEV European Golden League!
While Croatian volleyball players have been in this Golden Group for several seasons, they now have the opportunity to jump into the elite ranks of European volleyball.
The spot was given to Croatia after great games this summer in the Silver Group and after North Macedonia, which won the right to play in the Golden Group, withdrew from the elite competition.
The other great news is that Croatia will also host the final “Final Four” volleyball tournament on June 18 and 19 next year.
The expert secretary of the Croatian Volleyball Federation, Frane Žanić, who attended the meeting in Luxembourg together with the director Valentina Bifflin, is proud:
“This is an opportunity that is not presented every day, so it is logical that we reluctantly accepted it. Joining the Golden Group of the European League for our men’s volleyball means a lot because we open the way to enter the Top 12 European national teams. According to the new scoring system, we can only progress, and the composition of the national team we currently have guarantees that we can achieve excellent results. Next year, the volleyball players will play in the Golden League, where we play in Group B against Ukraine, Belarus and Spain, and the qualifications for the European Championship. Since we are the hosts of the Final Four, we automatically won a place in the finals, and entering the finals opens up the possibility of playing the Challenger tournament, which is also qualifications for the prestigious Nations League.”
In addition to Croatia in Group B are the national teams of Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belarus.
It should also be noted that Croatia is hosting the Challenger Volleyball Tournament in July, the elimination competition for the Champions League. The men’s and women’s volleyball national teams will participate in the Mediterranean Games in Algeria at the end of June.
“All this is the result of our long-term investment in Croatian volleyball and partnership with the European Volleyball Federation. We have already proven ourselves countless times as good organizers and even better hosts of many competitions under the jurisdiction of CEV, so we have gained a rating there, and we no longer have to prove ourselves. The last was organizing one of the groups of the European Volleyball Championship, which was again professionally done. Entering the Golden Group of the European League was our wish, to be in some way equal to the men’s volleyball players, and now we have succeeded. We think we have both teams worthy of respect and can get great results. And this summer will be an opportunity for that because apart from the Golden Group of the European League, the Mediterranean Games will follow immediately, where we promised our COC to play in the strongest lineup, then the women’s Challenger and the European Championship qualifiers. So, we will have a long, warm, working summer again, which we are not afraid of but look forward to,” said the president of the Croatian Volleyball Federation, Ante Baković.
European Golden League Men’s
Group A: Turkey, Portugal, Slovakia, Denmark
Group B: Ukraine, Spain, Belarus, Croatia
Group C: Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia
Schedule of Croatia men’s volleyball players in the Golden Group B
Round 1 (May 25): Croatia – Ukraine
Round 2 (May 28/29): Croatia – Belarus
Round 3 (June 1): Croatia – Spain
Round 4 (June 4): Spain – Croatia
Round 5 (June 8): Belarus – Croatia
Round 6 (June 11/12): Ukraine Croatia
European Golden League Women’s
Group A: Bulgaria, France, Spain, BiH
Group B: Croatia, Slovakia, Belarus, Czech Republic
Group C: Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary
Schedule of Croatia women’s volleyball players in the Golden Group B
Round 1 (May 25): Croatia – Czech Republic
Round 2 (May 28/29.): Croatia – Slovakia
Round 3 (June 1): Croatia – Belarus
Round 4 (June 4): Belarus – Croatia
Round 5 (June 8): Slovakia – Croatia
Round 6 (June 11/12): Czech Republic – Croatia
Source: Croatian Volleyball Federation
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