Gamova: Russia's Level Unclear Until Return to Europe
Two-time world champion Yekaterina Gamova says Russia's women can't gauge their true level until they compete internationally after CEV lifted its ban.
Yekaterina Gamova, twice a world champion with Russia, says the women's national team's real level will only become clear once it returns to international competition.
The European Volleyball Confederation cleared both the Russian men's and women's sides to compete under its banner on Tuesday. FIVB had already lifted its own suspension over the summer, opening the door to a first taste of international volleyball in four years.
"There are concerns about what our level might be. We cannot understand what level our team is at, because a lot of new players have come in with no experience of international competition. A fair number play for foreign clubs, which gives grounds for optimism about the national side, but plenty also play only in the domestic championship. We can guess whatever we like, and only a start on the international stage will show what level we are at now," Gamova said.
Russia's women last played a sanctioned international fixture in 2022, before the suspension. Gamova's point cuts both ways: some squad members have kept sharp abroad, others have not been tested outside the domestic league, and until Russia actually takes the court against foreign opposition, nobody, by her own account, can say with confidence where the side stands.
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