CEV AND BELGOROD IMPRESSED ABOUT FINAL FOUR

Men's Indesit European Champions' League 2003-2004

BELGOROD, Russia, 31 March 2004 – With Russian Lokomotiv BELGOROD as the winner of the Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League, the world’s strongest club volleyball competition finished its season. The Final Four, held in the Russian city of Belgorod last weekend, turned out to be the greatest volleyball event in Russian history. Although the event is over, it is certainly not forgotten. Everyone is deeply impressed by the battles on the court, the sportsmanship of the athletes, the world class play, and the shows around the games this past weekend. All the citizens of Belgorod, a small southern Russian city, from the average worker to the company presidents are still talking about the Indesit European Champions’ League Final Four held on 27-28 March.

According to numerous different reports the event was organized and conducted according to the highest international standards. This accomplishment was achieved by a gigantic combined effort on the parts of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), the Russian Volleyball Federation, the Administration of the Belgorod Region and the organizing committee of the Lokomotiv BELGOROD Volleyball Club and its President Guennadi Chipouline.

‘I never had any doubt about the organizing qualities of Belgorod,’ CEV Vice President and CEV European Cups Commission President Riet Ooms said. ‘But I have to admit that the level of organization was even better than I expected. It was really a fantastic tournament. I have seen many Final Four tournaments in different European Cups in more than ten years, but this was really the best ever. I would like to congratulate Lokomotiv BELGOROD with the victory of the Indesit European Champions’ League. They proved to be much stronger than the opponents and are the deserved winners.’

When listening to people on the street here in Belgorod comments such as, “Fantastic,” “Marvelous,” “Never knew anything like this could happen in Belgorod,” “Unbelievable,” and “Fabulous!” can be heard. This is just a small taste of the feeling left over from this great volleyball event. It appears that those not fortunate enough to have tickets to the games were watching them on television.

No one was disappointed by what they saw on the court during the two days of the competition.  Every minute of every game kept all the spectators completely enthralled with the spikes, blocks, digs, athletic skills and sensational serves of the players on the court.  No matter what teams were playing, the palace of sport was always full. Even during Sunday’s bronze medal match between TOURS VB from France and Iraklis THESSALONIKI from Greece there were no empty seats in the Cosmos arena. It’s worth mentioning that for the first time in the history of the “Cosmos” Sports Palace two foreign teams played against each other on the Taraflex court.

Everyone enjoyed their time in the “Cosmos” last weekend – fans enjoyed spectacular play, journalists, both foreign and national, enjoyed working in the modern well-equipped press center that included twenty internet equipped computers and a large screen television mounted on the wall showing all the matches live.  During the two days of the competition there was no disappointed face in the arena. This was one of the most valuable awards for the organizers of the Final Four in Belgorod.

Head Coach and President of the Lokomotiv BELGOROD Volleyball Club Guennadi Chipouline stated that he is ‘extremely proud and happy that Lokomotiv defended its title and became Indesit European Champion’s League Champion for the second time in a row.’  ‘I am glad and satisfied that we were able to organize everything to such an extent,’ Chipouline said.  ‘It really took a huge effort to achieve these results. I’d like to say that it’s always more difficult to defend any title than to win it for the first time.’

‘Here in Belgorod we were bearing twice the responsibility and we felt that there was no room for mistakes both on and off the court,’ Chipouline continued. ‘We felt responsible to our fans, families, and the world that were watching us. We had to prove that Belgorod really deserved the right to host the Indesit European Champions League Final Four 2004. Our thanks go to the overwhelming and unlimited support of the CEV, our friends, relatives, the Administration of the Belgorod Region and of course our fans who helped us realize our greatest dreams. “Even now I’m getting more and more positive responses both about the level of the organization for the Final Four.’

Organizing Director Alla Surkova and Vice-Director Stephen Young stated that they were very impressed by the dedication and sacrifices, that everyone involved, made to the success of this tournament.  They further commented that the professional conduct and sportsmanship displayed by the teams was ‘most impressive and truly sportsmen like and in the end no one lost, there were only winners.’

More on the net (including statistics, match reports, photos and other information) at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:
14-16 May 2004: Qualification Tournaments Men’s European Championship 2005, Various.
21 May-11 July 2004: European League, Various.
4-6 June 2004: Qualification Tournaments Women’s European Championship 2005, Various.
10-13 June 2004: European Beach Volleyball Championships, Timmendorfer Strand, Germany.
9-11 July 2004: Final Four European League, Opava, Czech Republic.
2 September 2004: Drawing of lots 2004-2005 Indesit European Champions’ League, Vienna, Austria.
3-11 September 2004: Women’s Under 19 European Championship, Bardejov,Presov, Slovakia
4-12 September 2004: Men’s Under 20 European Championship, Zagreb, Croatia.
17-19 September 2004: Qualification Tournaments Men’s European Championship 2005, Various.
17-19 September 2004: Qualification Tournaments Women’s European Championship 2005, Various.