The Board of Directors of Italy’s Serie A Women’s Volleyball League met in Milan this week to discuss important issues related to the further development of the league, according to Gazzeta.it. The topics of discussion ranged from the league’s budget, the league’s system of relegation and promotion, and most importantly, the league’s policy on the signing of foreign players.
Recently, Bruno Cattaneo, the president of the Italian Volleyball Federation, had declared that Italy’s bad result in the 2017 Women’s CEV European Championships had left a bitter taste on his mouth, and that it would be in the the best interest of Italian volleyball to reduce the number of foreign players in the female national championships at its two top tier leagues (A1 and A2). According to him, this would help to thwart an ironic logic, as foreign players come to Italy to develop their skills and careers, and later help their national teams eliminate Italy’s squad in international competitions:
“There is so much disappointment regarding the elimination from the European Championship, it still burns. It was not foreseeable, especially if we look at the Grand Prix and World Cup Qualifying results. For the next 3-4 years we have to decrease the number foreigners in the league. Each team will be allowed to have two foreigners in their roster instead of the usual three. Consider the Netherlands, who knocked us out of the CEV European Championships, almost all of its athletes play or have played in Italy, so we have to do something about the presence of too many foreigners in our league.”
It doens’t look like Cattaneo’s wish will come true though, as the league’s Board of Directors has formally declared that it opposes the president’s view on the reduction of the number of foreign players in the league. This comes as potential good news to female volleyball players all over the world, as Italy boasts one of the world’s strongest and best playing female leagues on the planet.
In the current rules, each A1 or A2 team must have at least 4 Italian players on the court at all times. In addition, as from this season, a maximum of two players from one federation will be allowed in each team’s roster.
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Limits to foreign players’ participation on domestic leagues around the world has been the topic of many discussions. Recently, Russian Volleyball Federation’s president, Stanislav Shevchenko, has stated that this limit is the key for the success of the Russian SuperLeague, which he considers to be the strongest in the world.
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