Belgrade will once again be a host of a major sports competition since the European water polo championship is being held in Serbian capital from 10th of January until 23rd of January 2016.
The largest city in Serbia will be a host for both male and female water polo players because the water polo championship is being held for both sexes at the same time. Men’s competition will be the biggest one ever at this level because 16 countries are competing, instead of 12 which was the case earlier. European championship will also be a qualifying tournament for Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Besides the host, Serbia, the other participants of the tournament are Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Greece, Spain, Romania, Netherlands, Georgia, France, Slovakia, Germany, Malta, Russia and Turkey.
Countries are divided into four groups with four contenders, and all teams qualify for the knockout phase, so the performance in first part of the tournament matters only for the strength of the opponents in the next phase.
For the first time in the region, a big pool will be installed inside the Kombank arena. Practically a lake will be awaiting visitors inside of the prettiest sports hall that Serbia has. Not only that, the arena will be able to ake 12.000 people, even though there will be a seat reduction because of the pool installation. Never in Europe was a water polo match watched by this number of viewers. Besides that, all the matches of the European championship will be played in the same pool for the first time in the competition’s history, whilst the other city pools will be used for training.
European swimming league (LEN) once again showed it’s trust towards Serbian water polo federation for organizing 32nd European water polo championship. Belgrade was an amazing host in September 2006.
Group A: Montenegro, Spain, Netherlands, Slovakia.
Group B: SERBIA, Croatia, France, Malta.
Group C: Italy, Romania, Germany, Georgia.
Group D: Hungary, Greece, Russia, Turkey.
