Rumor has it Italian club team Trentino and Polish club team Zaksa tried to apply for a wildcard spot but didn’t get the approval from the CEV.
It’s great to see Fenerbahce (men’s and women’s team) back on the LIST!
It looks like it’s going to be another epic & star studded edition of the Champions League!
The European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) has confirmed the list of 28 men’s and 20 women’s teams participating in the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League.
Four clubs received wild cards for the men’s competition and one for the women’s competition. The League Round draws will take place on June 27 at the annual European Volleyball Gala co-hosted by the Austrian Volleyball Federation and the CEV in Vienna.
LP Salo, who received the wild card for the women’s competition, will be the first Finnish team to participate in the Champions League in its 15-year history.
“I am happy to see that the Champions League is expanding its geography to new countries,” CEV President André Meyer said. “This is our confederation’s flagship club competition and it is important that fans from more and more of our member countries get to enjoy some of that Champions League fever. Finland has been a volleyball power in national team competitions for years and I am glad to see them progressing at the club level as well.”
The men’s wild card list includes reigning European and world club champions Belogorie Belgorod from Russia. They are joined by a Champions League regular, Belgian powerhouse Noliko Maaseik. The two other special invitations for participation in the men’s competition go out to last year’s rookies Posojilnica Aich/Dob from Austria and Energy Investments Lugano from Switzerland.
All other participants were determined by the CEV European Cups Ranking List for national federations, which takes into consideration the results from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions of CEV’s three club competitions.
There are a total of seven debutant clubs in the Champions League. These are Belgium’s Precura Antwerp and Italy’s Sir Safety Perugia in the men’s tournament and Finland’s LP Salo, France’s Nantes VB, Serbia’s Partizan Vizura Beograd and Poland’s Chemik Police and Impel Wroclaw on the women’s side. For Sir Safety Perugia and Nantes VB this will also be their first participation in a European cup tournament.
“In today’s dynamic environment, not only in volleyball, but in pretty much any sphere of life, it is not only normal to have so many rookies in the Champions League, but it is also a positive trend,” President Meyer commented. “This is to show that, despite the economic difficulties the world is experiencing, our sport is vibrant and Europe’s club community is strong, flexible and vivid. Anyway, the level of our most prestigious club competition remains very high, which is illustrated by the fact that in both genders the last three winners of the Champions League will fight for the crown in the 2015 edition as well.”
Teams participating in the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men:
AUT – Hypo Tirol Innsbruck
AUT – Posojilnica Aich/Dob
BEL – Knack Roeselare
BEL – Precura Antwerp
BEL – Noliko Maaseik
BUL – Marek Union-Ivkoni Dupnitsa
CZE – Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice
ESP – CAI Teruel
FRA – Tours VB
FRA – Paris Volley
GER – Berlin Recycling Volleys
GER – VfB Friedrichshafen
GRE – Olympiacos Piraeus
ITA – Cucine Lube Treia
ITA – Sir Safety Perugia
ITA – Copra Elior Piacenza
MNE – Budvanska Rivijera Budva
POL – PGE Skra Belchatow
POL – Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
POL – Jastrzebski Wegiel
ROU – Tomis Constanta
RUS – Zenit Kazan
RUS – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
RUS – Belogorie Belgorod
SLO – ACH Volley Ljubljana
SUI – Energy Investments Lugano
TUR – Halkbank Ankara
TUR – Fenerbahce Grundig Istanbul
Teams participating in the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women:
AZE – Rabita Baku
AZE – Azeryol Baku
CZE – Agel Prostejov
FIN – LP Salo
FRA – RC Cannes
FRA – Nantes VB
GER – Dresdner SC
ITA – Nordmeccanica Piacenza
ITA – Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio
POL – Chemik Police
POL – Impel Wroclaw
ROU – Stiinta Bacau
RUS – Dinamo Kazan
RUS – Dinamo Moscow
RUS – Omichka Omsk Region
SRB – Partizan Vizura Beograd
SUI – Volero Zürich
TUR – VakifBank Istanbul
TUR – Fenerbahce Istanbul
TUR – Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul
Are you EXCITED?
We are! We are! We are!
