CEV President invites fans to come out and support teams competing at Olympic qualifier in Łódź

On Wednesday afternoon, the city of Łódź was announced as the host of the only FIVB Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament due to take place in Europe. The information was shared during a press briefing hosted by the President of the City of Łódź Hanna Zdanowska and Polish Volleyball Federation (PVF) President Sebastian Świderski, who were joined by CEV President and FIVB 2nd Executive Vice-President Aleksandar Boričić, who has been paying a visit to Poland this week.

From September 16 to 24, 2023 at the iconic Atlas Arena, the women’s national teams of Poland, Italy, USA, Germany, Thailand, Colombia, South Korea, and Slovenia will fight for two highly coveted Olympic tickets in Pool C. The Atlas Arena is well-known to Volleyball fans as it has hosted many major events including women’s EuroVolley in 2009 and 2019 and the 2022 Men’s World Championship as well.

“Łódź is the city of women’s Volleyball as it was proved by the results of Łódź teams this year - ŁKS Commercecon were crowned Polish champions and Grot Budowlani finished third. So somehow Łódź was a natural choice because they deserved this tournament and great Volleyball. They proved it also last year when they co-hosted the World Championship. Our team achieved big results here, progressing to the quarterfinals. The venue was full and the atmosphere in the stands was fantastic. We believe that also this year history will be made in Łódź,” commented the PVF President Sebastian Świderski, who hopes that Poland women’s team will make it to the Olympic Games for the first time since Beijing 2008.

CEV President Aleksandar Boričić arrived in Poland on Tuesday evening to meet with representatives of the Polish Volleyball Federation before heading to Łódź on Wednesday, where he attended the official announcement of the city of Łódź as the host city of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier. Afterwards, he attended the CEV European Golden League match between Ukraine and Belgium at the local Sport Arena Łódź.

“The European Volleyball Confederation hopes as many teams as possible from our continent will compete at the Olympic Games. In the past, the qualification process was not perfect, because it happened that weaker teams from other continents qualified for the Olympic Games. Now the system is getting better, and I hope that really the best teams will go to the Olympic Games,” emphasised the CEV President during the meeting with Polish journalists. “Poland has organised many big events at European and world level, including multiple World and European Championships. For many years, Poland has achieved great results, but now a new era is coming. Poland has a very strong men’s team, but now their women’s team is on the verge of playing at the Olympic Games too. It can be one or two results, one or two balls deciding if you are in or out. Therefore, my message to the Polish people is – come and support your team like you always do! Volleyball has a special place in Polish society, and you are a great example for many countries. I want to thank the Polish fans for their passion for the game,” Mr Boričić said.