For the past two seasons, Arkas Sports has won the Turkish Men’s 1st Volleyball League Championship, and this year the club is representing Turkey in the Indesit European Champions League. Arkas Sports is participating for the first time in the Champions League, where it will compete with the best European teams. Arkas Sports will play against Italian, Spanish and Austrian teams in the first phase of the tournament. The club will make history by bringing Championship League Matches to Turkey for the first time. In order to move on to the playoffs, the group will have to finish the first phase in first or second place.

After winning the Turkish Men’s 1st Volleyball League Championship two years in a row, Arkas Sports is building on its achievements by becoming the only men’s volleyball team to represent Turkey in the Indesit European Champions League. Arkas Sports will play its first match against Aon Hot Volleys Vienna in Vienna, the capital of Austria, on Wednesday, October 17th. In a pre-match press conference held at the Izmir Ataturk Sports Arena, the club called for all sports fans to give them full support.
In a speech at the press conference Cenk Değer, Member of the Board of Directors at Arkas Sports, provided information about the club’s opponents and how the European Champions League is organized.
He said, “In our meetings with the managers of our Spanish and Austrian opponents, they stated that they have been impressed by the success that Arkas Sports has achieved in such a short time and said that they view Arkas as a serious rival. We admit that the Italian team is very strong, but we have not forgotten our victories against PAOK and Modena last year in Izmir. We intend to win all of the matches we are going to play in Izmir and we have a team that can accomplish that. We think that victories we achieve in away matches will solidify our position in our group.”
Cenk Değer stated that the club will host the Champions League matches according to regulations and with traditional Turkish hospitality. He also noted that authorities from the CEV (Confederation Europeenne de Voleyball) have praised all of the work that has been currently carried out.

He said, “When it comes to organization, we are achieving the standards set by our European rivals. We are working hard with the intention of bringing the Final Four event to Izmir in the near future.”

The best three transfers of the season
In previous competitions in the CEV Cup and the Top Teams Cup, the Izmir team rose to the quarter finals in the Top Teams Cup and defeated Modena, one of the strongest teams in Europe and one which hosted the Top Teams Cup Final Four. This year, Arkas Sports has pulled out all the stops for the European Champions League, transferring middle blocker Ahmet Toçoğlu from Halk Bankası, Nuri Şahin from Fenerbahçe and Thiago Aranha from Brazil for the 2007-2008 season. Arkas Sports has lost no matches in the Turkish Men’s 1st Volleyball League after making these three transfers, putting it in third place overall.

Twelve matches to reach the European championship
A total of 24 teams are participating in the Indesit European Champions League this year, with four teams in six groups. In these group matches, Arkas Sports will play a total of six matches, three in Izmir and three away matches. If the Izmir team finishes these group matches in first or second place, they will move on to the next phase of the tournament. The four teams finishing with the best score in third place will continue to compete in Europe in the Challenge Cup.
If Arkas Sports manages to move on to the next phase, they will have to play two playoff matches plus the final four matches for a total of 12 matches in the tournament.


Arkas Sports European Champions League Match Schedule

OCT. 17, 2007 Aon Hot Volleys (Austria)-ARKAS SPORTS

OCT. 24, 2007 ARKAS SPORTS- Portol Drac Palma Mallorca (Spain)

DEC. 12, 2007 ARKAS SPORTS-Copra Piacenza (Italy)

DEC. 19, 2007 Copra Piacenza (Italy)-ARKAS SPORTS

JAN. 24, 2008 Portol Drac Palma Mallorca (Spain)-ARKAS SPORTS

JAN. 30, 2008 ARKAS SPOR- Aon Hot Volleys (Austria)