Adjustments made for Women’s EHF EURO 2020 to go ahead

03 Nov. 2020

Adjustments made for Women’s EHF EURO 2020 to go ahead

With the Women’s European Championship, the EHF EURO 2020, fast approaching, preparations for the event are ramping up. The European Handball Federation (EHF) and respective local organising federations from Denmark and Norway have had to make adjustments in order to ensure the EHF’s pinnacle national team competition can be played despite the pandemic.  

Following a September announcement by the EHF that the EURO would go ahead in December in Norway and Denmark as planned, the squad lists for the 16 teams have been submitted to the EHF and now released to the public. 

The Women’s EHF EURO 2020 will take place from 3 to 20 December, with France entering as defending champions after taking their first ever continental title in Paris two years ago. As hosts, Norway and Denmark were automatically qualified. The remaining 13 participants were determined based on their ranking at the previous EURO. The places were meant to be decided based on a qualification phase, but that was forced into cancellation after two rounds in the second stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The squad lists include 35 players, with the final 16 names to be submitted in the final days leading up to throw-off. 

One change in squad formations for the EURO will be the adapted player replacement concept. Usually, two players from among the 16 are allowed to be replaced by others from the original list of 35 in the preliminary round. The same has applied for the main round and final weekend. This process will remain. However, due to the pandemic and the consequential chance that a number of players in one team may test positive during the EURO, there will be no limit for the number of replacements in the case of proven infections.  

Along with the adapted player replacement strategy, the venues for the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 have also changed as a result of the pandemic. 

Originally, matches were to be held in the Norwegian cities of Trondheim, Stavanger and Oslo, with the final weekend to take place in the capital. Now, all games in Norway will be played in Trondheim, including the finals, with significantly reduced spectator capacity. 

“The Norwegian federation came to the decision to host matches solely in Trondheim in order to minimise infection risk, expenses and travel for competing teams and officials keeping in mind COVID-19 measures,” stated the announcement on the official website ehf-euro.com. 

In Denmark, the cities of Frederikshavn and Herning will remain as hosts, but also with reduced spectator numbers. 

As per the announcement, “Given the ever-changing situation surrounding COVID-19 in both countries, the EHF, together with both national federations, will endeavour to keep the public up to date on the status of the tournament.”

More information on the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 is available on the official website.