RECORD NUMBER OF TEAMS PLAY NEW COMPETITION FORMAT

European Championships 2006/07

Luxembourg, November 19, 2005. A record number of 43 men’s teams as well as 39 women’s teams have entered the European Championship 2006/07. In the drawing of lots carried out in Luxembourg on Saturday 28 men’s teams and 25 women’s teams were determined their opponents in the first as well as second round qualification of the European Championships 2006/07.

In presence of CEV president Mr. André Meyer, vice presidents Mr. Jan Hronek and Mr. Renato Arena, the European Sports Organising Commission, as well as the participating national federations, the drawing of lots marked the official start of the European Championship 2006/07. 31 national federations were represented at the drawing of lots with eight national federation presidents witnessing the procedure.

Opening the drawing of lots ceremony Mr. Meyer emphasised that the 2006/07 of the European Championship has broken the record number in registered teams, including the Small Countries Division. Whilst in the men’s competition a total of 43 countries entered, the women’s event boasts a total of 39 participating teams.
Further, he noted one of the important changes made in the competition format. Whilst in the past editions the first two best ranked teams from the preliminary pools were directly qualified for the Final Round, from now on only the first ranked team qualifies directly, whilst each second best ranked team will meet another in a third round “home and away” qualification match deciding the three winners to qualify for the Final Round.

Following a short explanation of the new 16-team competition format by the president of the European Sports Organising Commission Mr. Pierre Mulheims, the drawing of lots procedure took place.

Seven teams are already qualified for the Final Round.

	Men	Women
Final Round	Russia (organiser)	Belgium (organiser)
Teams directly qualified	Italy	Poland
	Serbia & Montenegro	Italy
	Spain	Russia
	Poland	Azerbaijan
	Greece	Netherlands
	France	Turkey

The nine remaining places for the Final Round will be decided between 28 teams in the men’s and 25 teams in the women’s following three rounds of qualification.

The drawing of lots resulted in the following:

Men’s qualification 1st round (home and away):

Georgia	vs.	Sweden
Luxembourg	vs.	Norway
Moldavia	vs.	Latvia
Azerbaijan	vs.	Austria

Men’s qualification 2nd round (pool play):

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C
Portugal	Czech Republic	Germany
Belarus	Hungary	Bulgaria
Belgium	Slovakia	Romania
Azerbaijan/Austria	Denmark	Moldavia/Latvia
Pool D	Pool E	Pool F
Ukraine	Croatia	Netherlands
Finland	Estonia	Slovenia
Turkey	Israel	Ex Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia
Luxembourg/Norway	Bosnia Herzegovina	Georgia/Sweden

Women’s qualification 1st round (home and away):

Israel

vs.

Norway

Women’s qualification 2nd round (pool play):

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C
Spain	Ukraine	Germany
Greece	Czech Republic	France
Sweden	Hungary	Latvia
Moldavia	Austria	Georgia
Pool D	Pool E	Pool F
Bulgaria	Serbia Montenegro	Romania
Slovakia	Slovenia	Belarus
Portugal	Finland	Croatia
Israel/Norway	Luxembourg	Bosnia Herzegovina

The first ranked of the second round pools will be qualified for the Final Round. The second ranked team from each pool has to play a third round “home and away” match, which will determine the remaining Final Round participants.

Comments after the drawing of lots:

Mr. André Meyer (CEV president): “The men’s as well as the women’s pools are generally well balanced. In the men’s, Pool C seems to be the strongest where it’s difficult to predict the final first two teams. In the women’s, Pool F is most interesting with Romania, Belarus, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.”

Mr. Antonin Lebl (CZE/president): “I’m satisfied with the drawing. Of course it could have been better, but it also could have been worse. I reckon the match against Slovakia will be the most interesting.”

Ms. Valentina Bifflin (CRO/general secretary): “I’m very happy, especially with the new system of the whole tournament.”

Mr. Lutz Endlich (GER/general secretary): “The women’s draw is satisfying with Germany being the favourites in Pool C. The men have a more difficult draw opposing the World League team of Bulgaria. Thus, I’m glad that there’s the playoff possibility for the second ranked teams allowing for a second chance to qualify for the Final Round.”

Mr. Arjen Boonstoppel (NED/general manager national teams): “I’m satisfied with the draw of our men’s team. We are currently building on a new team with younger players and I think within this group we stand good chances of qualifying.”

Mr. Claudio Gewehr (BEL/head coach men): “We were drawn into a tough group with Portugal being the number one candidate for qualification. We know Belarus and that we have a good chance against them. I guess we are in the dispute for second place.”

Please find in the PDF documents below the results of the drawing of lots for seniors, as well as the allocation of teams for the Junior European Championship 2006.

For further information please view www.cev.lu .

Senior European Championship 2006/07: Results drawing of lots

Junior European Championship 2006: Allocation of teams

Confédération Européenne de Volleyball

RECORD NUMBER OF TEAMS PLAY NEW COMPETITION FORMAT

European Championships 2006/07