In accordance with the official guidelines to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak, the restrictions to host big events in our member nations, and of course out of respect and gratitude for all the people fighting to save lives, the EFVL summer tour of 2020 is cancelled.
The European Footvolley League planned for 2020 is cancelled
The executive committee has decided that there will not be European Footvolley League events until the 1st of September at the earliest. The Final championship event, planned in Rome, is currently still on hold. For now, we want to keep the option open to host at least one final event, maybe in a different form and at a later date in 2020 or early 2021..
Cities & Organisers
At this time and under normal circumstances the footvolley athletes would be travelling to training camps and the World challenger tournament of Cascais in Portugal. Players, referees, staff and fans were gearing up for the 5th European Championship tour, a jubileum edition. But now the entire world is in a (semi) lockdown because of the corona crisis. This means people are confined to their homes, not able to go outside (much), all major events are cancelled and travel is not allowed. We all agree that the health of humankind and that of the planet matter more than any sports competition. #unitedwecare.
First and foremost we would like to express our gratitude and support to the cities and event organisers of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Graz, Ios, Albufeira, Vienna, Berlin and Rome. Thank you for presenting such strong bids and for believing in our project. What would have been an amazing tour around Europe in seven stops will just have to wait until we are able to return. We are very committed to do so...
Looking forward
It’s hard to predict what will be possible later on in the year 2020. We are closely monitoring the decisions made by governments and experts. When we can play again, the focus will first be on the National Championships because they don’t require international travel, a large sponsorship budget and/or stadiums with stands. All member nations expressed the will to organise events for local and national players as soon as possible and provide a good live stream for the fans. EFVL will fully support and promote these national events..
At this time it’s unclear and probably unlikely that we will be able to host a European Footvolley Championship in 2020. This can only happen under the following conditions:
It needs to be officially allowed to host the tournament in a safe and responsible manner according to the guidelines of the organising country
The safety and the comfort of all participants need to be guaranteed before (opportunity and time to prepare), during (travel, hotel, stadium, on the field) and after the event (avoid 2 weeks of quarantine when returning home)
Teams from all member nations need to be able to travel. However we might decide to go through even if a few countries can not make it. This will be mentioned in the official title records
The stadium might be constructed without stands or seats if the fans are not allowed to sit and stand together closely
We will provide a high quality live stream for people to watch the European Footvolley Championship at home. Also a lot of attention will go to online promotion of our athletes before and after the events.
Meanwhile we have started preparing the season 2021. In the past weeks we already received applications from three new hosting cities for the Tour 2021. For now we hope everyone stays in good physical and mental health. Stay safe and hold on. You are not alone. Stay tuned. #unitedwewillplayagain
