EHF EURO draw follow-up and up-coming activities

Three days ago, the EHF EURO 2008 Final Tournament was drawn in Ohrid, MKD.

Directly after the draw the basic match schedule (without throw-off times) was published and the venue assignment for the Preliminary Round Groups was announced and reads as follows: 

A two venue system will be used during the EHF EURO 2008 in MKD playing in Skopje and Ohrid. For this purpose the basic match schedule has been adapted accordingly which leads to an alternation of playing days and foresees that two groups are playing on one and two groups on the other day.

This automatically results in the fact that two groups finish a day earlier with the Preliminary Round and start a day earlier with the Main Round than the other two groups. Due to this situation with the advantage of having a rest day every second day during the Preliminary Round, the two groups meeting each other for the Main Round have to play at different venues during the Preliminary Round in order to enable them to play on the same match day.

Following the preconditions stipulated and the requirement to keep the direct relation between the Preliminary Round and the Main Round Groups, the following consequences have to be assumed for the EHF EURO 2008 match schedule: 

 - Preliminary Round Groups C/D end on 6 December 2008, A/B on 7 December 2008;

  - Main Round Group I including Preliminary Round Groups A and B will be played in Ohrid (first playing day 9 December 2008) and Main Round Group II including Preliminary Round Groups C and D will be played in Skopje (first playing day 8 December 2008).

The detailed coordination with TV stations regarding the throw-off times for the EHF EURO 2008 has already started. The publishing of the Official playing schedule is to be expected in the middle of August 2008 after taking into consideration the inputs of all parties involved (MHF, Infront, TV, EHF).

During the preparatory phase in the next months the following activities are planned with regard to the EHF EURO 2008 in MKD:

 - Nomination of EHF Officials in September 2008

 - TV Host Broadcaster visit September/October 2008 with TV partners from all over Europe taking part;

 - Head of Delegations Conference (HDC) 3 to 5 October 2008 including technical and organizational information on Saturday and site visits on Sunday;

 - Organisational Workshops in the areas of media management, key personnel (floor managers, public announcers, team guides, etc.) on the occasion of the Head of Delegations Conference;

 - Officials Conference including Delegates Conference, Refereeing Workshop and Technical Briefing prior to the event with separate sessions in November 2008;

All specific details regarding the EHF EURO 2008 can be found on the official tournament website: http://www.ehf-euro.com/ and the EHF website: www.eurohandball.com.