Women's European semis revert to Slough vs Leicester

Vice-president of the European Hockey Federation Marijke Fleuren has said the women's European Club Champions Cup (ECCC) semi finals will revert to the Slough vs Leicester and Den Bosch vs Laren matches that were initially announced..

This was the lineup publicised after the preliminary rounds in Den Bosch at Easter. However the European Hockey Federation subsequently announced a draw had been made pitting each of the two English sides against Dutch semi-final opponents.

Fleuren told hockey.nl that the rules of this year's ECCC had been changed to include a free draw for the semi-finals. Last year, the first for the competition, the rules had included a clause copied from the Euro Hockey League saying that if two teams from the same nation reached the semis they would play each other automatically. 

In the EHL this rule is about TV rights, but  Fleuren explained that, as this was not an issue with the women's tournament, this year that rule had been excised from the ECC regulations.  However she said the rule's removal had not been published - hence the confusion.

The EHF were obliged to stick to the old, published  rules, she said. And so the semi-final's revert to the Laren vs Den Bosch [and Leicester vs Slough] first annouced.

She described the failure to publish the rule change as "very sloppy" and said "We promise to do better. "

Match Schedule (all times CET - subtract one hour for UK time):

Friday June 10 2011

17.30 EuroHockey CCC Semi Final 1 (Women) 
Leicester HC (ENG) v Slough HC (ENG)

20.00 EuroHockey CCC Semi Final 2 (Women)
Larensche HC (NED) v HC ‘s Hertogenbosch (NED)

Saturday June 11 2011

11.30 EHL Semi Final 1
Reading HC (ENG) v Club de Campo (ESP)

14.00 EHL Semi Final 2
Oranje Zwart (NED) v HGC (NED)
16.30 EuroHockey CCC 3rd/4th Place Match (Women)

Sunday 12 June 2011
10.30 EHL 3rd/4th Place Match
13.00 EuroHockey CCC Final (Women)
15.40 EHL Final

EHF announcement attached