Alan Nine
Slovenia defeated the Czech Republic to set up a Pool A decider against Italy at the Men’s EuroVolley. Elsewhere, Ekaterina Antropova reflected on her unexpected change of position, the Italian Women’s Volleyball League prepared for its presidential election and the Italian federation continued its work on the new rules for the domestic season.
Men’s EuroVolley
Slovenia came from behind to defeat the Czech Republic 3-1, setting up a decisive match against Italy for first place in Pool A of the 2026 Men’s EuroVolley.
Fabio Soli’s team recovered after losing the opening set and will face Italy at the PalaPanini at 21:05 on Thursday. The two sides go into their final pool match level in the standings.
The Czech Republic have completed their five fixtures with three victories and two defeats. Their final position will depend on the result of Greece v Slovakia, with the Czechs still in danger of slipping to fourth place.
Luca Porro, who is competing at his first European Championship, said Italy’s substitutes must always be ready to make a contribution whenever the players on court need support.
The outside hitter expects serving to play another decisive role against an experienced Slovenian team. He also described representing Italy in front of a capacity crowd at the PalaPanini as a special experience.
Italy’s 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic attracted a strong television audience. The match was watched by an average of 1.794 million viewers on Rai 2, representing a 10.2% share and generating 5.404 million contacts.
Sky Sport recorded an average audience of more than 306,000 viewers, with its reach climbing to 700,000 during the fourth set.
Women’s EuroVolley
Ekaterina Antropova has reflected on Italy’s silver-medal campaign a few days after the conclusion of the Women’s European Championship.
She revealed that she discovered shortly before the team’s departure that she would be asked to play as an outside hitter. The unfamiliar role brought uncertainty, but also presented her with a new challenge.
Antropova said she approached the change with courage and renewed motivation, drawing confidence from her belief in the team.
Although Italy finished the tournament with silver, she described the experience as something that went far beyond the final result and thanked her team-mates for supporting her throughout the summer.
Italian Women’s Volleyball
The race to become the next president of the Italian Women’s Volleyball League is entering its final stage ahead of the vote on September 29.
In addition to presidential candidates Vito Cozzoli and Massimo Beduschi (pic), nine people are standing for places on the new board.
Angeli, Leoncini, Veneziani, Marchioni, Paolella and Pirola represent Serie A1 clubs, while Mignemi, Condina and Buscaino come from Serie A2.
The 2026/27 season will be officially presented in Venice the following day. The League has also confirmed the dates, times and broadcast arrangements for the opening five rounds of the 2026/27 Serie A1 season.
The 14-team championship will begin on October 3 with Milano v Firenze. All seven matches in each round will be shown on DAZN, with at least one also broadcast on Rai Sport and three available through the League’s YouTube channel.
The League also received further recognition at the Sport Marketing Awards in Arezzo, where it was named Italy’s best sports league for fan engagement in 2026.
It now has the largest social-media following of any indoor sports league in Italy and ranks second among all Italian leagues, behind football’s Serie A.
Federation
The Italian Volleyball Federation is finalising its guidance on the new rules for the 2026/27 season.
The FIVB has already issued its instructions, and Italian referees are expected to receive operational guidance for domestic competitions this weekend.
The remaining question concerns how the CEV will interpret and apply the changes in European club competitions.
FIPAV is seeking a consistent approach to prevent teams competing in the Champions League, CEV Cup and Challenge Cup from having to follow different interpretations in domestic and European matches.
