The men play in the Golden League, the women are chasing promotion from the Silver League.
Finland’s home tournaments of the European Volleyball League will be played in Tampere from the 16th to the 19th. May. The venue for both the men’s and women’s tournaments is the traditional Hakametsä ice hall.
Men play a three-team tournament in the Golden League and women play a three-team tournament in the Silver League. Finland’s men’s opponents in the home tournament are Croatia (European ranking 16) and Belgium (11).
Finnish women face Luxembourg (36) and Portugal (22). Finland’s rankings on the European lists are 15th for men and 27th for women.
– It’s really great to open the national team season in Tampere with a joint tournament for both men and women. Another great thing is that every day is Finland’s game day, Director responsible for events, marketing and sales of the Finnish Volleyball Association Riia Martinoja rejoices in the announcement.
The league culminates in the final tournament
The game systems of the European Gold and Silver Leagues will change substantially from the previous summer for the coming summer. Each team hosts one three-team tournament and plays two away tournaments. Thus, each team will have a total of six matches, all against different countries.
In the Men’s Golden League, 12 teams are in the same league table, from which the top three qualify for the four-team finals, in addition to the host country Croatia. If Croatia is in the top three, the fourth-placed country will also qualify for the final tournament.
The last one in the series will be relegated to the Silver League for 2025. Finland will play its other two Golden League tournaments in Gijon, Spain and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
One rises from the Silver League
Ten countries participate in the Women’s Silver League. The teams will be placed in one league table, and after the group stage, a two-part final will be played between the top two countries.
The winner of the Silver League advances to the Golden League next year. Finnish women will play two more Silver League tournaments in Budapest, Hungary, and Torshavn, Faroe Islands.