Italian Team Drops from EQC

The European Quidditch Cup committee has announced that the Milano Meneghins have dropped out of the 2016 iteration of the tournament, after realizing that they will be unable to attend the tournament this year, after a travel snafu.

The Milano Meneghins have had to drop from EQC due to travel difficulties | Photo Credit: Silvia Armanini

Players for the Milano Meneghins have already made flights and reserved hotels at Gallipoli in Çanakke, Turkey, while a few are in France’s Gallipoli, Saint-Cyr-en-Val.  One unfortunate beater, Velia Cavallini, has even made plans to travel to the heart of London, at a hotel near Gallipoli Cafe/Bistro.

“It’s really my fault,” said Michele Clabassi, Meneghin co-captain and board member of AIQ. “I should have coordinated the team’s travel plans. Instead, I gave them the option of choosing whichever option they liked best for themselves. I did not inform my players that the Gallipoli the tournament would be held at was the one in Italy.  I feel like this is my fault.  I guess I assumed when I said I was booking a train ticket everyone knew that meant it would be the one in Italy.”

The majority of the players had assumed that Gallipoli, Turkey was the destination, and due to the high costs associated with booking their Turkish escape, are unable to afford the trip to the South of Italy later this month.

EQC Tournament Director Jacopo Sartori has not yet announced how the Milan squad will be replaced. “We’re exploring a number of possibilities at this time,” he said. “We will let everyone know as soon as a replacement is found.”

Due to the last minute nature of the drop, the committee is expected to invite a national team, rather than a quidditch club, hoping they will have an easier time collecting the money needed to participate on such short notice. However, because most national teams are expected to be missing multiple players who will be playing at EQC as part of their regular team, attention has shifted to those countries that were unable to get a club team to compete in the tournament. The leading contender for the spot are the Irish led by their outstanding chaser line of Troy, Mullet, and Moran. Should the Irish decline, it is expected the Bulgarians will be invited led by star seeker Krum.