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On Monday, the Norwegian Handball Association (NHF) announced that Norway cannot yet host the European Handball Championship in December. The message came just 17 days before the start of the championship, prompting strong reactions in Denmark.
– It is outrageous. It is not due to a recent development of the coronavirus. It has been so long. In the last three weeks, everything has been canceled in Norway in various sports. They should have made this decision 14 days ago, enrages Danish TV 2 handball expert Bent Nyegaard.
Now Denmark is left as the sole organizer and has said it can take over Norway’s part of the championship if the European Handball Federation (EHF) covers the additional costs.
The Norwegian European Championships are canceled
– desperate
Commentator for the major Danish newspaper BT, Søren Paaske, believes that it is absolutely correct for Norway to drop out of the championship due to the infection situation in this country, but believes that the handling has not been good enough.
– The problem is that Norway and the EHF have waited too long to realize the obvious. Therefore, we are now in a completely scandalous situation where more than half of the games have no place to play. And it’s only 17 (!) Days before the start of the European Championship, Paaske writes in a comment on Tuesday.
– Even in the world of handball, where you regularly see things that you could not imagine, it is simply useless, continue.
Strike back
The president of the Norwegian Handball Association, Kåre Geir Lio, does not agree with the Danish reactions. He explains that the NHF has had a good collaboration with the Danes at all times and that the decision was made in agreement with both the Danish association and the EHF.
– We have had a race for months together with Denmark and EHF where we have constantly assessed the situation. We have shared views and made decisions together since it was an open tournament with a full audience until the restrictions went into effect. We made the last decision this weekend and he accepts them and says they will have a championship as long as other framework conditions are fine, Lio tells Dagbladet in a comment on Danish criticism.
The president of handball defends the use of time and explains it by saying that they have long wanted to find a solution.
– We have worked to find the best solution based on the situation in which we have found ourselves at all times, not the fastest. We make the decision at the time we think is right. I’m very happy with the process and the decisions we’ve made, Lio tells Dagbladet.
Silje Solberg tested positive for corona
– tasty
Bent Nyegaard doesn’t buy that explanation.
– It has been very clear that Norway will not be ready to fix this with Norwegian restrictions. It is a pity that the Norwegian Handball Association took so long, he says on his own channel.
As the leader of the Danish handball association Per Bertelsen has announced, the Danes are concerned that the European Championships in Norway will not increase costs for Denmark.
But it is not only Norway that is murdered in the Danish media. The European Handball Federation receives at least as much criticism on its way.
– I think EHF’s behavior so far has been unpleasant. It would help if you would step in here at the eleventh hour and show some format. Cut to the bone is the event of EM EHF. If you want to relax, you have to pay for the party. Then, for my sake, they are happy to give part of the bill to Norway, which has not handled it well either, writes BT commentator Søren Paaske.
