The men's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) leg in Orléans, which begins today and continues until June 28, has run into a complex issue due to the severe heatwave sweeping France. The Loiret Department is under a red code because of the heat, with temperatures in the area reaching 38–41°C.
Because of this, the prefecture has issued an order prohibiting the holding of sports events in the department — with one key exception: events in air-conditioned halls are permitted. This is precisely where the problem lies. The CO'Met Arena, with a capacity of 10,000 people, opened in January 2023, does not have air conditioning.
To salvage the situation, the French Volleyball Federation has paid for the installation of fans and air conditioning units in the hall to cool the space. This morning — just hours before the first match — a security commission is due to inspect the hall and the installed ventilation system.
According to information from the Federation and the Orléans Metropole, the holding of the matches should not be in question. The open question is whether spectators will be admitted — and this depends on the commission's conclusion. In other words: volleyball will most likely take place, but the thousands of spectators who usually fill the stands may not be admitted.
Uncertainty also reigns within the team itself. On Tuesday evening, one of the leaders of "the Roosters" (French national team), Trévor Clévenot, quoted by ici.fr, admitted that they still have no clarity on exactly how the matches will be played. The situation is made even more serious by the fact that during France's training on Tuesday, the day before the match against Iran, the temperature in the hall reached 37.5 degrees, L’Équipe reports.
The program foresees an opening with the Japan – Serbia match, and in the evening, the hosts from France will play against Iran. The group in Orléans also includes the USA, Japan, Iran, Serbia, and Cuba.
CO'Met is not an unfamiliar place for Bulgarian volleyball. Already with the opening of the hall in 2023, "the Lions" (the Bulgarian national team) — then under the leadership of Plamen Konstantinov — played their matches precisely here, as part of the facility's debut edition of the Nations League. At that time, the new arena created no problems with the conditions in the stands. Three years later, it is precisely the lack of air conditioning that proves to be the obstacle that may leave the hall without spectators.
Separately, the organizers are having headaches with the presence of the USA and Iran teams, who are scheduled to play against each other, against the backdrop of extremely strained relations between the two countries.