CANNES WELCOMES CEV

Women's Indesit European Champions' League 2005/06

Cannes, France, March 18, 2006. Preceding the Final Four of the women’s Indesit European Champions’ League, the CEV received a warm welcome in the city’s town hall by Mr. Bernard Brochand, the Mayor of Cannes.

“We have dreamt of the Final Four for ages and now we have it!” The Mayor of Cannes Mr. Bernard Brochand outed himself as a true sporting fanatic, having been President of the famous French football club Paris Saint Germain for several years. Consequently, he expressed his gratitude to CEV President Mr. André Meyer for entrusting RC CANNES the organisation of the Final Four. A decisive factor was surely the construction of a new sports hall, the ‘Palais des Victoires’, which seats over 5’000 spectators. Already one week before the Final Four, the tickets for both days were sold out.

Press conference

A first press conference was organised on Saturday in presence of CEV President Mr. André Meyer, Mrs. Riet Ooms, President of the European Cups Commission, Mr. Gil Pellan, President of the French Federation, Mrs. Anny Courtade, President of RC CANNES, as well as Mr. Alberto Morgando, Marketing Manager of ‘Indesit’ France, loyal sponsor of the Champions’ League.

The CEV have pushed the volleyball club of RC CANNES for more than six years with the aim of presenting a competition hall, which will fulfill all requirements necessary to be able to compete in the Champions’ League, which is becoming ever stronger and more popular. Finally, the French club, who has participated in the Indesit European Champions’ League from its beginning in 2001 and has claimed the title twice in 2001/02 and 2002/03, possess a hall providing all requirements necessary to stage such a high level sporting event.

 

 

 

Mr. Pellan described the organisation of the IECL Final Four as an “important international reference” in the world of volleyball, for Cannes as well as for France. Thanking everybody involved in the organisation of this eventful weekend, i.e. the CEV for their pressure, the players for their loyalty, the coaches, the volunteers as well as the sponsors, Mrs. Courtade wished everybody the best of luck and many pleasant matches.

CEV President Mr. Meyer supplied the present journalists with several informative points regarding the system of European Cups in the two subsequent seasons. As the season 2007/08 will kick off with a new competition system, next year will already see some significant changes, for example the stocking up of teams participating in the IECL from 20 to 24 in the men’s and from 12 to 16 in the women’s competition. “The main objective is to attain a more balanced European Cups system, where the teams have the possibility to play as many international matches as possible”, Mr. Meyer declared. Further, Mrs. Ooms emphasised the main advantage of the new system, which is the “more balanced level of tournaments”, as the teams will be handed over their place in one of the European Cups depending on the newly defined European clubs’ ranking list.