From August 23 till September 3 next year all Volleyball lovers across Europe will turn their eyes towards Poland where the Final Round of the 2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Men will be played in the cities of Gdansk, Katowice, Szczecin and Krakow. The Polish Volleyball Federation welcomed many illustrious guests plus representatives from the 16 participating teams and of the four host cities as well to the Juliusz Slowacki Theatre in Krakow for what became a spectacular show.
A highlight clip recapping the best moments of the Drawing of Lots will be available on the CEV YouTube channel around noon on November 16.
Click here for a picture gallery of the DOL
Following today’s DOL the composition of the four preliminary pools reads as follows:
Pool A in Gdansk: Poland, Serbia, Finland, Estonia
Pool B in Szczecin: Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic
Pool C in Krakow: Russia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Spain
Pool D in Katowice: France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Turkey
The Drawing of Lots Ceremony for EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 held in one of Krakow’s most beautiful landmarks – the Juliusz Slowacki Theatre – impressed all attendees right from the start. Honorary guests such as CEV President Aleksandar Boričić, CEV Senior Vice-President Renato Arena, the President of the Polish Volleyball Federation Jacek Kasprzyk and the Mayor of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski could enjoy a wonderful opening, where the 16 participating teams were presented in an iconic show act.
Besides host country Poland, the national teams of Italy, Russia and France were seeded as head of Pools A, B, C and D respectively. The hosts of the tournament will be joined by Serbia, Finland and Estonia in Gdansk. In Pool B which will be contested in Szczecin, the national teams of Germany, Slovakia and Czech Republic were drawn to join Rio 2016 silver medallists Italy while the Russian team will face 2015 EuroVolley silver medallists Slovenia along with Bulgaria and Spain in Krakow in Pool C. 2015 gold medallists France will get the chance to defend their title starting this challenge against Belgium, The Netherlands and Turkey in Pool D in Katowice.
“We all still cherish the memories of the fantastic organisation of the World Championship in 2014 when Poland showed with their enthusiasm, knowledge and excellent organisation how profoundly they support our sport. Once again this will be a chance for Poland to be a role model in the organisation of major Volleyball events,” CEV President Aleksandar Boričić said looking forward to what will become the Volleyball party of 2017.
