These days Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, is a co-host to the 2019’s Men’s European Volleyball Championship in its 31st edition, organised by Europe’s governing volleyball body, the CEV (Confédération Européenne de Volleyball or European Volleyball Confederation). For the first time the EuroVolley is being held in four countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Slovenia. The tournament started on Thursday, 12th of September, and will last until the 29th of September 2019.
According to the CEV’s announcement, the championship gets a huge media coverage in more than 150 countries and territories across the world. In all remaining countries, live streaming of the matches will be available through the CEV’s own OTT platform EuroVolley TV, as well as through CEV’s official YouTube channel. As Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, is one of the four cities (besides Montpellier, Brussels and Amsterdam) hosting the Championship, this means a great global visibility and promotion for Ljubljana as a sports destination.
All 9 matches that will take place in Ljubljana will be held in Ljubljana’s Stožice Sports Park Arena, the biggest multipurpose arena in Slovenia with the full capacity of 12,480 visitors. This Ljubljana’s state-of-the-art indoor arena, which was opened in 2010, is remarkable for its unique architectural design, created by the studio Sadar Vuga arhitekti. The Arena is one of the two parts of the Stožice Sports Centre, a hybrid 182,000 sq.m. sports complex, while the other part is a football stadium with 16,000 seats.
Since its opening, Stožice Arena has been a home to several not just city’s but also national basketball, handball and basketball teams. Even more than that, Stožice was the central venue for the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 and UEFA Futsal Euro 2018 final tournament. In its history it has also hosted an equestrian event, as well as a motorcycle competition. However, this popular Arena is not just a venue for sports events of a domestic and international character, but also a concert venue and a place for other large-scale events, like large-scale international congresses.
When it comes to concerts, Stožice has hosted some of the biggest names in music be it on the regional or global level. It very often happens that the stars performing in Stožice are so huge that the arena, divided into three rings, is sold long in advance. The big names, for example, include Jose Carreras and Leonard Cohen.
Arena’s location is also convenient as it is set on the northern edge of Ljubljana just within the ring road, thus, it is easily accessible from highway what helps avoiding the traffic downtown, but at the same time it is still less than 3 kilometers from the main railway and bus stations in the centre. Thus, its proximity to the city centre makes it also a perfect spot for a quick visit to the city centre – it is possible to take a bus or taxi, or a 30-minute walk to reach downtown. With 15 minutes more, one can also get to Ljubljana’s worldwide renowned charming Old Town and its dragons. The last game of the Men’s European Volleyball Championship in Ljubljana will be the semi-final taking place on the 26th of September.
