Serbia: EHF EURO 2012 Workshop

On11-12 April 2011, exactly one year after the Qualification Draw of the Men’s EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia, the EHF and the local organising committee from the Serbian Federation met in Belgrade again to discuss details in the event plan.

Following recent approval of the Executive Committee, European Handball Championships will now be played over two additional days. The Men’s EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia will therefore be carried out from Sunday 15 January 2012 to Sunday 29 January 2012.

On the agenda of the workshops was to examine relevant implications to the match schedule and to the event programme.

The opening day the tournament will now be played on Sunday instead of Tuesday and – as on an ordinary Preliminary Round match day – include matches of only two groups. Up to now, the opening day incorporated games of all four groups, involving every participating team.

The change will mean the opening of the EHF EURO at the weekend, aimed at generating more interest from the general public as well as TV and media.

The new schedule also allows an additional rest day for the final weekend. The break on Saturday between the semifinals on Friday and the bronze medal match and the final on Sunday means less physical burden on players and an improvement in performance during the final matches.

As an output of the workshop the adapted match schedule for the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia was fixed and will be published next week.

The workshop also dealt with questions about ticketing and particulars of the final tournament draw – to take place on on 15 June 2011 in Belgrade – as well as of the rundown of the entire final weekend.

EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer underlined the good relationship between the Serbian Federation and the EHF over many years and made clear that regarding the EHF EURO 2012 a comprehensive preparation phase will be on the agenda of the next weeks.

Find more information on the tournament on the official website: www.ehf-euro.com/SRB2012/

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