Meet the Joker!
Story of the day
On Sunday night, a 19-year-old setter, Liam McCluskey, joined the Belgian national team in Kraków. Against all travel and time odds, on Monday fans at the Tauron Arena could already see him during the team presentation in the EuroVolley match against Poland. In fact, it all happened in less than 24 hours. How was it possible? He is a joker - a medical joker! New regulations introduced by CEV during the pandemic allows teams to replace players in certain cases. As these regulations are new, let's learn more from this situation, especially since he might not be the only one.
"Medical joker" is the term used for a player when he/she joins a team as a replacement on a short-term basis. This replacement is allowed when it is justified by duly proven medical reasons or Force Majeure. In addition, during the EuroVolley 2021, participating teams have the right to change a player who has been proven to be contaminated with the COVID-19 virus, or officially quarantined, with a player registered on the relevant Form 05 (the list of 24 players). McCluskey joined the team due to the injury of his teammate Matthias Valkiers, but obviously, before arriving to Poland he had to meet all safety requirements. This story is even more extraordinary! His arrival was a big logistical effort, not only because of the Covid-19 protocols and transport demands, but also because the organisers had to prepare for this rare and unconventional situation, for example, the graphics which are used during the official presentation of the teams. This unique mission was obviously successfully completed.
"Yesterday I was with my family, I just came home from my training and then around noon I got a call that maybe I would have to go to Kraków and then three hours later I was already in Brussels waiting for my flight. Yesterday I trained with my youth national team and now I'm at the European Championship with the senior national team in Poland. It's all quite funny. I'm very happy to be here with these guys. I have known them since April. They were happy to see me again and I'm happy to see them too. I'm happy to be a joker," - said Liam McCluskey.
McCluskey not only arrived in Poland, but also played his first EuroVolley game ever on Monday. Belgium's head coach, Fernando Munoz Benitez, decided to check his disposition in the clash against the hosts, Poland, giving him a chance to play in the second and third set against the reigning world champions. The encounter itself ended with straight set victory (25-18, 26-24, 25-16), but Belgium showed their teeth, like the Yellow Tigers are used to doing.
Liam McCluskey"I was very nervous with a lot of stress, it's typical for a young guy, but my teammates helped me a lot. But when the whistle blew, I just did my job. I trained a lot with the team at the beginning of the summer ahead of the European League, but for EuroVolley I have only trained with them twice - one of which was today in Kraków!"
setter of Belgium
Earlier on Monday, Serbia had the chance to play almost all of their players, and defeated Portugal 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17). Poland and Serbia have already qualified to the next round, but Belgium has a big chance to reach the next phase, too.
Liam McCluskey"Our goal is to play our best Volleyball and we will see what result it will bring. Today we played a very good game and Poland is Poland - they are the world champions and you can see it on the court. We tried to play our best volleyball"
setter of Belgium
If you would like to find out more about medical joker procedures check the Official Communications
