The German volleyball players did not compete in the Nations League after a controversy about corona cases with opponents China. A detailed explanation will follow.
The German team refused to play against China in Quezon City (Philippines) “although the Chinese athletes had been cleared by local authorities after testing positive for Covid-19”, the World Volleyball Federation announced on Thursday (06/23/22). There had recently been several corona cases in the Chinese team, which caused the Chinese game against France to be canceled on Wednesday.
Score for China
The German Volleyball Association (DVV) justified its cancellation of the game, which was scored 3-0 for China, in a longer statement. Accordingly, “21 members of the Chinese delegation” were tested positive for the corona virus on June 18 – confirmed with PCR tests. The DVV considered the risk of their own players becoming infected and thus endangering further participation in the Nations League to be too great.
“The world association rejected our repeated demands for a retest of our planned opponent”the statement said.
More games in Osaka
In the Nations League, the top 16 teams in the world for men and women play against each other at three venues over six weeks. After twelve games per team, the eight best advance to the final round. The games in the Nations League are important for the world rankings.
The German men first played in Ottawa, Canada. After Quezon City we continue in Osaka (Japan).