National Women's Volleyball Team President Üstündağ Spoke about the European Championship Victory and Olympic Guarantee

Üstündağ answered the questions after the 2026 CEV European Championship final match played at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall.

Explaining that the atmosphere of the finals was different, Mehmet Akif Üstündağ said, "We believed in winning. A European championship at home, we played the final twice. This was the third time, we should have won, we won. I saw that the fans played a very important role in this victory. We started the match very badly, a very bad set. A great comeback, 1-1. Again a bad set, another great comeback and a great tie-break. The atmosphere of this final is different. There will be ups and downs here. Fighting until the last ball, "I kiss this team on the forehead. This team has brought all the beauties that can be experienced to this country. Everyone should support this team because they are role models and exemplary people and have given them all the pride they can experience. An Olympic medal is next." he said.

Üstündağ emphasized that the National Women's Volleyball Team is guaranteed to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games and said:

"We were going to guarantee it with points anyway, but in order to avoid any problems, even if it is 1 percent, today we are talking about a team that has guaranteed the Olympics. I would like to thank this fan who has not left us alone for a minute from the first day of the tournament until today. I personally present the championship to this fan. Everyone has made a great effort. I would like to thank everyone who contributed. The most important thing is that we are talking about a historical team that sang the National Anthem and raised the Turkish flag. This team gave us this victory. "I kiss all of them on the forehead for making it happen. We were a community that apologized when we played in the finals and lost. Why are we apologizing? We felt sorry for the excitement here today. They made us experience this perfectly."

TVF President Üstündağ concluded his speech with the following words:

"There are hundreds of messages. It was also followed on the screens. They sent such messages saying, 'If we had not taken the point in the second set, if it had not been our challenge intervention, it would have been 20-17. But it was not 20-17, we caught 19-18. It was the turning point from there. We are a team, a family. Of course, we will be together in good times and bad times. We will always be together when we fall and when we rise. If we are not in unity, these successes will not happen. Volleyball's "I would like to underline that this success is not a coincidence. There is a lot of effort."