As of June 2023, the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), in which the Japanese national team participates, is taking place, while the European League, in which countries not participating in the VNL compete, is taking place in Europe. The Golden League, the top league of the European League, also includes the Ukrainian national team, which is still at war with Russia.
The preliminary rounds of the league are played on a home and away basis, but of course no matches are being played in Ukraine during the war, so instead the Ukrainian men's national team home games are being played in the Polish city of Lodz.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine, has accepted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees outside of Russia. At least 1.5 million people. And the city of Lodz is accepting 120,000 refugees as of October 2022. Considering that the city's population before the war was just under 700,000, you can see how many refugees it has accepted compared to its original population.
Therefore, most of the 860 spectators at the match against Belgium on June 14th, which I covered, were Ukrainian supporters. Many of them sang along with the players while placing their hands on their hearts when the national anthem was sung before the match, and during the match they cheered loudly for the national team while waving their country's flags and scarf towels.
The DJ at the venue also played Ukrainian songs to get the crowd excited, and there were several fans who acted as cheer leaders, and when they shouted "Slava ukrainy (Glory to Ukraine!)" other fans responded with "Heloyam slava (Glory to the heroes!)".It was a very unified venue, and even though it was in Poland, it totally felt like a Ukrainian home game.
In fact, the Ukrainian men's volleyball team has been getting stronger in recent years, making it to the quarterfinals of the World Championships last year. Their skills were on full display in the match that day, with powerful spikes from captain Plotnicki, who also plays for Perugia in the world's top Italian league, and Tupchy, who also plays in the world's top Polish league, scoring one after another, and Ukraine comfortably defeated Belgium 3-0. The Ukrainian national team has won all five of their matches so far 3-0 in straight sets, and has already secured a place in the semifinals with one qualifying round match remaining.
"The atmosphere at this venue is great. There is a lot of energy and it really pushes us," said captain Plotnicki. When asked to give a message to the people of Japan, he said, "I think a lot of people in Japan are supporting Ukraine. Thank you so much. And please keep doing that, because it means a lot to us. I would be happy if you come to see my national team and club team matches again. See you there!"
Photo: CEV, author
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