A letter of intent signed to organise EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 Opening Ceremony and Match at PGE National Stadium in Warsaw

At Thursday’s press conference, Jakub Opara, CEO of PL.2012+ (PGE National Stadium operator) and Polish Volleyball Federation President Jacek Kasprzyk signed a letter of intent regarding the organization of 2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Men Opening Ceremony and Match.

At Thursday’s press conference, Jakub Opara, CEO of PL.2012+ (PGE National Stadium operator) and Polish Volleyball Federation President Jacek Kasprzyk signed a letter of intent regarding the organization of 2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Men Opening Ceremony and Match.

- I am very glad that the decision was made to hold the Opening Ceremony and Match at PGE National Stadium. It will be a spectacular event and I hope that our stadium brings luck to our volleyball players, as it did to our football team. Additional tribunes will be constructed, with a capacity of around 8000. This might mean that another record of attendance will be broken, with even 70 000 fans able to see the match live inside the arena. I also hope that just like it was with the World Championship two years ago, the match at PGE National Stadium should set our team on a journey to the highest step of the podium in Kraków – said Jakub Opara, CEO of PL.2012+.

- We are really happy. It would be great to break the record of attendance at a volleyball match. This will be a tremendous event but also a great logistic challenge for us. We can do it, because we already have the experience from two years ago. We would like to play just like we did at the memorable World Championship opening match with Serbia. We started with a win and finished with gold, so let this story be repeated – said PVF President Jacek Kasprzyk.

- I watched the World Championship Opening Ceremony and Match on television and I was really impressed with the event. It was an extraordinary show. I am now very fortunate to have the honour of taking part in such a ceremony, such a match. It is an excellent idea and promotion of volleyball – said Ferdinando De Giorgi, Head coach of Poland.

On August 24, 2017 the Opening Ceremony and match at PGE National Stadium will officially launch EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017. The stadium will become the arena of a top rank volleyball event for the second time. The first official match of an international volleyball championship tournament held at a football stadium took place on August 30, 2014 and was the Opening Match of FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014.

PGE National Stadium shows that it is a universal venue. Top level sporting events of various disciplines such as speedway, track and field and football take place here, to name just a few, proving the stadiums quality and versatility. Let’s not forget that PGE National Stadium is a place for many non-sporting events and fills this role just as well.

The project to organise EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 Opening Ceremony and Match at PGE National Stadium has met with great interest from its operating company PL.2012+ and favourably received by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. It has also been welcomed enthusiastically by the European Volleyball Confederation.

EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 Opening Ceremony and Match is a huge logistic challenge for its direct organizer – the Polish Volleyball Federation. Just like in 2014, stands for a few thousand fans, surrounding a volleyball court, will be constructed on the stadium’s pitch. The experience gained with the previous event will allow for preparing an even better infrastructure, to meet the expectations of the audience.

Around 60 000 fans will find their seats around the court and inside the stadium. Ticket sales for the event are planned for February next year. An attractive Opening Ceremony with outstanding artists will be prepared for the fans at PGE National Stadium and the Opening Match will see Poland face the national team of Serbia, as it did in 2014.

photo/ Piotr Sumara