LP Kangasala keeps getting visitors from Israel, even though there was already news about the handover win. The match will have bigger than normal security arrangements.
11:45am•Updated 12:25pm
The already canceled women’s volleyball Challenge Cup matches between LP Kangasala and Maccabi Haifa will be played after a good week at Kangasa on November 12. and 14.11.
On Sunday, LP Kangasala unexpectedly received new information from the European Volleyball Federation CEV that Maccabi Haifa will travel to Finland after all. This means that LP Kangasala has to restart the arrangements that have already been stopped once.
According to standard practice, LP Kangasala and Haifa were originally supposed to play one game in Finland and the other in Israel, but right from the start the clubs ended up playing both matches at Kangasa.
Greater security arrangements than normal
LP Kangasala got a hint about the topic on Friday of last week and on Sunday it was confirmed that Haifa will come to Finland.
– This was a bit of a surprise. We received the flight information of the name list yesterday. We already started reorganizing this match last night. We had already released the hotel and spa reservations, LP Kangasala’s manager Jani Hurme commented to Urheilu on Monday.
Since Israel is currently at war, the security arrangements for the match are tighter than usual.
– This causes more security measures than a normal match event. We have restarted the permit processes with the police this morning. This requires a little more policing than normal.
Normally, it takes about three weeks to organize a similar match event, but now LP Kangasala has to make the arrangements in about a week.
– The costs increase when we make reservations so close to the event. No calculations of additional costs have been made yet. These European games are not lottery winnings in Finland anyway, so all additional costs are of course challenges, Hurme stated.
“A good thing for the team”
According to Hurmee, the team has a positive attitude towards the meeting with Haifa.
– For the team, this is a positive thing. The players are satisfied that they get to play tough international games. Sure, this switching caused a little confusion, but these are display positions for our younger players.
The next opponent of the match pair will be the top Italian team Chieri. It will still face Spain’s Sant Cugat, but is a huge early favorite in the pair of matches.