The European Handball Federation acknowledges the criticism related to the schedule of the championship and adds that the schedule for the EHF EURO is agreed between the organizers and the EHF long before the start of the championship.
All relevant stakeholder bodies are included in this decision-making process, i.e. the Steering Committee of Nations, which represents national associations. The schedule is known to all teams no later than the final draw of the tournament, more than six months before the start of the competition, the EHF claims, adding that it confirms that the teams coming from Malmö face a more challenging situation. However, it should be noted that in previous championships, the teams met with similar schedules, for example in 2018 at the EHF EURO, which was hosted by Croatia, Hina reports the EHF.
For the hotel accommodation of the teams in Silkeborg, the EHF and the organizing committee have received only positive feedback so far. Silkeborg was chosen as the hotel for the Croatian delegation to ensure identical conditions for the two semi-finalists meeting, Germany and Croatia. The Croatian delegation was subsequently informed about this on Wednesday evening.
Slightly longer trips at international championships are not uncommon. At the IHF Men’s World Championship in 2025, Croatia stayed in Karlovac, and then traveled to Zagreb for their matches, according to the EHF.
The media schedule for all teams, as determined by the European Handball Federation, is communicated to all teams well in advance. After the EHF EURO 2026, the European Handball Federation, together with the organizers, will evaluate the organization of the championship in detail and draw appropriate conclusions, the EHF statement says.
“The EHF does not think about the players and the teams, quality is not important to it, but only the sale of this event,” said Dagur Sigurdsson, the coach of the Croatian national handball team, at a press conference ahead of the semi-finals of the European Championship.
On Friday, starting at 17:45, Croatia will play the semi-final against Germany, while Denmark and Iceland will meet afterwards. After Croatia secured a place in the semi-finals on Wednesday, they had to travel by bus from Malmö, Sweden, to Herning, Denmark, for about four hours, where they will fight for the final.
“It’s only important for the European handball organization to put on some kind of good show. No one talks about the fact that we had to drive four hours from Malmö, where we played the group, to Herning. We had two days less than the others to play seven games. That’s ridiculous. Now we’re not located near the hall. We drove more than half an hour to this conference and the same amount back. Because of all this, we couldn’t hold training,” said the resigned coach of the Croatian national team.
(Vijesti.ba / Fena)
