Mikko Keskisipilä, who pilots the Kokkola Tigers, is amazed by the volleyball league’s coronal guidelines. The leader of the championship league, Riia Martinoja, points out that the decisions made for different teams cannot be compared.
13.3. 16:13 • Updated March 13. 18:10
The crown regulations of men’s volleyball league games stir emotions. Piloting the Kokkola Tigers Mikko Keskisipilä is amazed that Sunday’s Etta fight must be played, even though the corona cases have severely taxed the team’s lineup.
– We last informed the federation on Saturday that we only have five healthy players that we can put on the field. But we got the answer that the match has to be played according to the program or we can even be excluded from the series, Keskisipilä told Urheilu.
According to Keskisipilä, the situation is very difficult because it is not desired to use sick or semi-fit men.
– This situation puts the coach in a difficult position, because we can’t put players on the field who are not healthy. That is now quite clear. And you can’t just go to a volleyball match with five players, Keskisipilä thinks.
However, the match between Sunday and the Tigers will be played once the Tigers have made special arrangements.
– We have now resolved the situation by asking the B-juniors for enough fill to get the match played. Personally, I don’t really understand this. Does the league serve the purpose of forcing matches to be played through with juniors.
“Why aren’t point averages used?”
In the men’s league, a decision has already been made that the order of the league table is determined by the teams ’point averages. Still, it has been made clear to the Tigers that all 30 regular season matches must be played.
– We have not been given any options, all matches must be played and score. On the other hand, for VaLePa, for example, two matches have already been canceled, Keskisipilä explains.
– I can’t understand why point averages are not used for similar teams in similar situations. It feels incomprehensible, Keskisipilä wonders.
Champions League leader Riga Martinojan According to VaLePa, it was in a more difficult situation than other league teams in terms of match transfers.
– VaLePa’s situation was considered unreasonable. Of course, we would have acted in exactly the same way if another team had been in the same situation as VaLePa, Martinoja emphasizes.
– VaLePa received a huge number of match transfers. By the time VaLePa had been able to play its postponed matches, there were corona cases for other teams. The matches still had to be postponed, Martinoja times.
According to Martinoja, the corona situation has changed so many times during the winter that it is impossible to compare the decisions made.
– For example, in January, decisions were made from completely different starting points, when the corona situation began to worsen again. Now the situation is different again, when the restrictions have been lifted, Martinoja points out.
According to Martinoja, teams that have increased their lineup over the season are now in a better position.
Korona also casts its shadow on the playoffs
The culminating playoffs of the volleyball season kick off on Wednesday. The Tigers, for example, are wondering whether healthy players will reach even the most important rallies of the season.
– Of course, the starting point is not terribly good. We don’t want to put anyone on the field too early and in good condition to get healthy men into the playoffs starting next week, says head coach Keskisipilä.
League director Martinoja is also upset that his athleticism has suffered when additional players have been drawn into league matches.
– No one thinks it’s right that teams have had to play farm or junior players. But the season as a whole has been very exceptional, Martinoja says.
Although the interest rate restrictions have already been lifted, there is still a long way to go to normal life.
– We no longer live under corona restrictions, but of course Korona still influences the composition of teams, Martinoja estimates.
The Tigers are certainly not the only league team to have suffered from corona cases. TuTo Volley from Turku struggled heavily as a deputy for the Sons of Perung on Saturday. TuTo may have to qualify for their series.
– Due to illnesses, we only had three players out of twelve, and the rest were from the second team farm team. If the situation doesn’t improve from this, how could qualifiers play, TuTon midfielder Karri Kutinlahti said to BTI.