Significant changes in European Water Polo are around the corner!
Belgrade Final 8 has gone down in history and for sure we all came back wiser. Needless to say, a lot of people supported us with that.
Sport, as we have written in the past is like life. Therefore, another common denominator is that it is not staying still, but changing. This time the reason we will discuss change is wonderfully pleasant as all the corrective decisions that are just around the corner in European water polo are positive and shows the intention of the new LEN Administration. According to #AQF24 information, a series of moves have already been expected with the best in mind for the future.
Specifically, the changes that we were informed that are coming are initially the beginning of the European Championship of Split, Men, and Women, coaches will secure the right to declare 15 players, while the 13 players can be changed up to an hour and a half before the game without the obligation to declare the same athletes in each match.
Plus, the Champions League is changing, and to be more specific the Final 8 is changing. Next year in Belgrade the scenario has not been confirmed but is under thought, is an alternative form since there will be essentially the quarterfinals in which Novi Beograd will have a place next year as an organizer, but there will be a difference as the disqualified teams will no longer be obliged to play 5-8 ranking matches and will be able to return to their countries.
As a result, there may be the semifinals and a small and a big final while the scenario is that there is a day in between as a break for the teams before the finals. Simultaneously, there is the goal after the organization of the Final 8 of the next year in Belgrade, since Novi obtains a three-year contract with LEN the intention is to return to the traditional Final 4!
In conclusion, there will be 12 Wild Cards for the Champions League next year, one for each country (except for Serbia where Novi will be the organizer and Radnicki will have a Wild Card) and four teams will enter the group stage from the qualifiers.
We are also waiting for the third and new European Cup after the Champions League and the Euro Cup, which is progressing in terms of its design and we will presently know the criteria for participation, with the LEN Management wishing to include participation from countries that at the moment they do not play a leading role at the high club level, as they are unable to compete in various ways with the big European clubs!
In a conclusion, in the European Championship U 15 for boys and girls, planned for the next year and aims at the development of the sport, there will be a free application from any country that wishes to participate, without the need for qualifiers.
And even more are coming, with Greece being the key power in all this!
