Welcome to the official website of the EGCA Champions League 2026 Niš Qualification Stage that will be held in Niš, Serbia from 26th to 29th March head-organized by GC NAIS in cooperation with European Goalball Club Association. This is the third and the last qualification stage of the season. 8 clubs from 7 different countries will take part in the tournament and Top 3 clubs will be qualified to the Final Stage of the Champions League 2026 Season that will be held in Berlin, Germany from 16th to 20th September.
The venue of the event is Sportska hala Aleksinac (Address: Tihomira Đorđevića 95, Aleksinac. The floor material of the hall is wooden parquet floor. Teams and referees will be accommodated at the Hotel NAIS.
CONTACT DETAILS
Tournament Director: Stefan Stevanovic
Email: goalballnais@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +38169659996
EGCA Representative: Bas Spaans
Email: baspaans@hotmail.com
WhatsApp: +31651435135
EVENT SPONSORS & PARTNERS
PARTICIPATING TEAMS, GROUPS & PLAY SYSTEM
Please find line-ups of the participating teams here
The tournament features 8 clubs, divided into two preliminary groups of four teams as follows:
Group A: Aisti Sport (FIN), GC NAIS (SRB), Kleio Thessaloniki (GRE), Nilüfer Buges (TUR)
Group B: Cankaya (TUR), Club Fenix (MKD), GC Niksic (MNE), Old Power (FIN)
Within the groups, teams play a single round-robin format. After the group stage, the tournament advances to the quarterfinals, where the winner of one group faces the fourth-placed team of the other group, and the second-placed team faces the third-placed team from the other group.
The winners of the quarterfinals advance to the semifinals, while the losing teams play placement matches for places 5–8.
The winners of the semifinals advance to the tournament final, securing their place in the Champions League season’s Final Stage. The teams that lose in the semifinals compete in the bronze medal match, the winner of which qualifies as the third team for the season-ending Final Stage in Berlin, Germany, in September.
The tournament will be played under existing IBSA 2025 rules.
A team earns 3 points from awin, 1 point from a draw and 0 points for a loss in a preliminary group game. The ranking of teams in a preliminary group is determined by following system:
A. Earned points
B. Goal difference
C. Missed goals
D. If two teams remain tied after criteria A–C, priority shall be given to the team that won the head-to-head match between them
E. If 2 teams remain tied after A-D criteria, there is an extra throw competition organized between those teams to determine their ranking
In the quarterfinals, semifinals, medal matches, and placement matches, each game is played to a decisive result. If the match is tied after regulation time, a 6-minute golden goal overtime is played (the first team to score wins). If the game remains tied after overtime, an extra throws competition is used to determine the winner.
REFEREES, PROTEST & TOURNAMENT JURY
Following referees will officiate in the tournament:
Bálint Benkő – Hungary
Antonios Christodoulos – Greece
Bülent Kimyon – Turkiye
Sarah Küper – Germany
Sorin Lapadatu – Romania
Bas Spaans – The Netherlands
Vilma Venckutonyte – Lithuania
Protest: A protest should be given literally to the chief referee or EGCA representative within an half hour after a game. Protest fee is 100 € and it must be paid by cash at the same time than a club is leaving the protest to the chief referee or EGCA representative.
You can find protest document on the official table.
If the protest is acknowledged, the money is given back. If not, the money goes to the EGCA for development of club goalball.
The tournament jury will talk about the protest and give a decision as soon as possible.
The tournament jury is:
Tournament Director: Stefan Stevanovic
Chief Referee: Bülent Kimyon (If Bülent has officiated in a match that is the subject of a protest, he will be replaced by another referee selected by the EGCA representative)
EGCA Representative: Bas Spaans If Bas has officiated in a match that is the subject of a protest, he will be replaced by another referee selected by the chief referee)
LIVESTREAM & SOCIAL MEDIA
All the games will be livestreamed on Goalball TV YouTube channel
The games will be mainly commentated by Christoph Scholtz and Dzenan Ajdinovic.
Please follow results and stats on this web page.
You can find game by game results, photos and much more from the GC NAIS’s Instagram Page
FINAL RANKING
Waiting for the results
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Waiting for the results
GROUP STANDINGS & SCORER LIST
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Attention: The time zone of Serbia is (UTC+1) and on Sunday (UTC+2).
Friday 27th March 2026
Game Number / Start Time / Group / Home Team – Away Team
1 / 08:00 / Group A / Nilüfer Buges – Aisti Sport
Scorers / Nilüfer:
Scorers / Aisti:
2 / 09:05 / Group A / Kleio Thessaloniki – GC NAIS
Scorers / Kleio:
Scorers / NAIS:
3 / 10:10 / Group B / Club Fenix – Cankaya
Scorers / Fenix:
Scorers / Cankaya:
4 / 11:15 / Group B / GC Niksic – Old Power
Scorers / Niksic:
Scorers / Old Power:
5 / 12:20 / Group A / GC NAIS – Nilüfer Buges
Scorers / NAIS:
Scorers / Buges:
6 / 13:25 / Group A / Aisti Sport – Kleio Thessaloniki
Scorers / Aisti:
Scorers / Kleio:
7 / 14:30 / Group B / Old Power – Club Fenix
Scorers / Old Power:
Scorers / Fenix:
8 / 15:35 / Group B / Cankaya – GC Niksic
Scorers / Cankaya:
Scorers / Niksic:
9 / 16:40 / Group A / Nilüfer Buges – Kleio Thessaloniki
Scorers / Nilüfer:
Scorers / Kleio:
10 / 17:45 / Group A / GC NAIS – Aisti Sport
Scorers / NAIS:
Scorers / Aisti:
11 / 18:50 / Group B / Club Fenix – GC Niksic
Scorers / Fenix:
Scorers / Niksic:
12 / 19:55 / Group B / Old Power – Cankaya
Scorers / Old Power:
Scorers / Cankaya:
Saturday 28th March 2026
13 / 10:00 / Quarter Final 1 / 1st Group A – 4th Group B
Scorers / ?:
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14 / 11:10 / Quarter Final 2 / 2nd Group B – 3rd Group A
Scorers / ?:
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15 / 12:20 / Quarter Final 3 / 1st Group B – 4th Group A
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16 / 13:30 / Quarter Final 4 / 2nd Group A – 3rd Group B
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17 / 14:40 / Places 5-8 / Loser Game 13 – Loser Game 14
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18 / 16:00 / Semifinal 1 / Winner Game 13 – Winner Game 14
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19 / 17:10 / Places 5-8 / Loser Game 15 – Loser Game 16
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20 / 18:20 / Semifinal 2 / Winner Game 15 – Winner Game 16
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21 / 19:30 / Places 7-8 / Loser Game 17 – Loser Game 19
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Sunday 29th March 2026
22 / 08:40 / Places 5-6 / Winner Game 17 – Winner Game 19
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23 / 09:50 / Bronze Medal Game / Loser Game 18 – Loser Game 20
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24 / 11:00 / Gold Medal Game / Winner Game 18 – Winner Game 20
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12:10 / Medal Ceremony