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Ja samo znam da je netko od njih dobio prisilan rad.

A pitanje sad?
jel ´prisilan rad pomogao da igraci shvatu da njim trava nije dozvoljena??
Ili mogu li se ocekivati jos takvih skandala u nasem vaterpolu?

"Ili mogu li se ocekivati jos takvih skandala u nasem vaterpolu?

"

mislim da vaterpolo i "trava" nemaju nikakve veze......- ne treba sad ici u "lov na vjestice". radi se o pojedincima, a ne o kompletnom sportu.

Apsolutno. Nazalost zbog previse slobodnog vremena i manje jakih utakmica vaterpolisti su najpodlozniji zastranjivanju, ali definitivno je rijec o pojedincima a ne o sportu (vaterpolu) kao cjelini.

Kad smo već kod nedostatka jakih utakmicama, imam neke novosti. Nadam se da svi razumijete engleski


Revolutionary changes in the European Cup Competitions

Revolutionary changes are to happen in the Men's European Cup Competitions. There will be much more matches, and totally changed playing modes - the range of change can be compared with the extension of the Football Champions League a couple of years ago. The LEN Champions League, the most prestigious competition for club teams in the world, will be renamed in Euro League, and the European Cup Winners Cup will not be contested any more. These decisions still have to be confirmed by the LEN Bureau on the occasion of the next meeting to be held on 28-29 March 2003 in Kranj (Slovenia), and they will already be valid for the 2003-4 season.
There are two major reasons for the radical change. First, new playing modes should make the competitions more interesting for supporters, media and sponsors. At the moment it is possible that teams are playing two or three matches within three days at an away tournament and suffer a knock-out without playing one single match at home. "That's not good for sponsors and teams," Marcello Sitarenios, editor of the well-known magazine "World waterpolo", stresses some disadvantages of the current system, which is to be changed to show waterpolo in a better way. This was aslo one of the reasons, why the Association of Waterpolo Clubs (AWPC) was found last year in Nice (France).
For the reasons mentioned above the teams from the stronger nations want to play more matches - and especially more matches at home. By the new playing mode there would be more waterpolo in the media in any case, and some teams can also earn more money by sponsors or TV contracts. Although it is often not possible to earn money by European Cup matches, it is nevertheless an important bonus for sponsors, who want to see their teams in international matches. The new playing mode could also be a good deal for the spectators. By the new system there will be not only much more matches in European Cup Competitions next year, but also more top matches. So waterpolo is to benefit in total by the new competition formulas.
Second, in view of the decreasing interest the European Cup Winners Cup, which was established in 1974, will not be held any more. In the past three years there were no Qualification Round Tournaments any more due to the lack of entries, and this season only 15 teams are taking part. After quite a number of good years the LEN Trophy was now also facing a visible decline in participating teams in the 2002-2003 competition. In contrast to the Football Champions League clashes in the international waterpolo calendars did not play a role for this decision. The reduction from three to two competitions will not only present much more matches, but also more top matches.

The new formula of the Euro League

First of all, the European Champions Cup and the Champions League, which was established in 1997, will be renamed in Euro League (a very honest decision, because it is not a classical European Champions Cup any more). The top eight nations of this year's LEN Champions League (Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Yugoslavia, Germany und France) can enter up to three teams for the 2003-2004 season. All other federations can enter up to two teams. The competition will consist of five phases; according to their ranking the teams from the top eight nations will enter the competition on different stages.
Phase A of this new competition formula, which has taken some ideas from the current football competitions, will consist of eight groups; each of them will be a tournament to be played on a round-robin basis in one pool. Each of the top eight nations will only be represented by the club ranking third in their national order, while all other nations will start playing in this phase with both teams. The top two of each group will go to Phase B of the Euro League. The teams ranking third in each group are eliminated from the EURO LEAGUE, but will be eligible to play in Phase B of the LEN TROPHY.
Phase B of the Euro League will consist of four groups with six teams each; each of them will be a five-day tournament to be played on a round-robin basis in one pool. The 16 qualified teams from Phase A will now be joined by eight teams from the top eight top nations, which are ranking second in their national order. The top two of each group will qualify for the Phase C of the Euro League. The teams ranking third and fourth in each group are eliminated from the EURO LEAGUE, but will be eligible to play in Phase B of the LEN TROPHY.
Phase C of the Euro League will now be played in the former Champions League mode. There will be four groups with four teams each, and there will be six single matches on a home and away basis. The eight qualified teams from Phase B will now be joined by eight teams from the top eight top nations, which are ranking first in their national order (this would be the 2003 national champions of Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Yugoslavia, Germany und France). The top two of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
The winners of the four quarter-final duels, which will now be played with two matches in a knock-out system on a home and away basis, will qualify for the "Final Four" tournament, which will be played in one venue on the existing Champions League system. The draws will decide about the matches in the semi-finals. So there will be very mixed system in 2003-4, but there will be nevertheless a great waterpolo festival at the end of a long club season again.

The new playing mode of the LEN Trophy

The new playing system in the LEN Trophy will almost be the same as in the Euro League. In the LEN Trophy each nation can enter up two teams. All entered teams have to play in Phase A in any case, which will consist of eight groups to play tournaments on a round-robin basis in one pool. The top two of each group will go to Phase B. Phase B will consist of eight groups with four teams each; each of them will be a three-day-tournament to be played on round-robin basis in one pool. The 16 qualified teams from Phase A will now be joined by 16 teams, which have been eliminated in Phase A and B of the Euro League. The top two of each group will qualify for the Phase C.
Another revolutionary change will happen in phase C of the LEN Trophy, which will now be played in the former Champions League mode: There will be four groups with four teams each, and there will be six single matches on a home and away basis. The top two of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals, which will be played with two matches in a knock-out system on a home and away basis, will qualify for the "Final Four", which will be played in one venue on the existing Champions League system. The draw will decide about the matches of the semi-finals.

Some pros and cons

First of all, the teams from the stronger nations have reached their major aim - to play more matches, which is to present waterpolo in a more attractive way. And they have now have five teams in total - one more than before. Furthermore an increase of calendar clashes, one of the major problems in European waterpolo at the moment, is not likely. The calendar for the new system will include eight weekends for the three phases of the group matches, two other days for the quarter-finals (which could be played on Wednesdays) and the "Final Four" tournament, which will be played on the existing system. This idea is promising a fair deal for all participating nations.
For the representatives of the "smaller" nations there will be no real changes, at the moment the changes even sound more promising. The teams will start with a tournament like the years before, and now the clubs, which are ranking third in Phase A of the Euro League, still have the chance to play another tournament in Phase B of the LEN Trophy. If you took this year's results for comparison, national champions like SC Kreuzlingen (Switzerland), Polonia Lodz (Poland), Ilyichevets Mariupol (Ukraine) or Hammersmith Penguins (Great Britain) would play at least one more tournament in phase B of the LEN Trophy.
For "weaker" teams from the stronger nations it will probably be more difficult to gain top results in European Cup Competions. For example, advancing to the top eight in a competition is now more difficult than before, but some of the quarter-final participations in recent past were caused in reality only by lucky draws, not by the performances of the teams. But even these teams would have the chance to play another tournament in Phase B of the LEN Trophy. So the number of matches should be at least the same or perhaps even more.
The playing mode has one real disadvantage, it is indeed a little bit confusing for media and spectators. In the first three phases it could be a difficult job not to lose track of what is going on in four or eight groups. Furthermore is thinkable, that there will be more national duels in the later stages of the competitions, which is not really attractive. This is already happening in this year's semi-finals of the LEN Trophy, where three Italians team are facing one club from Greece this time. But altogether there will be not only much more matches in European Cup Competitions, but also more top matches. So the new system is promising a good deal, in any case we'll see a very interesting season 2003-2004. There was no change of this size in European club waterpolo until now.