Three EHF EURO 2012 venues sold out

Bozidar Djurkovic, the secretary general of Serbia’s Handball Federation (RSS), spoke to the EHF about the country’s final preparations for next month’s EHF EURO 2012 in four Serbian cities and the host nation ambitions in the tournament.

Djurkovic stressed that three of the tournament’s five venues have been sold out and said he also expected capacity crowds in the other two, when the 16-team EHF EURO enters the Main Round and the Medal Round.

“Finishing touches in four venues are in their final stages and Serbia is looking forward to hosting the European Championship in January,” Djurkovic said in an exclusive interview to the EHF.

Djurkovic went on to explain how EHF EURO 2012 tickets are selling like hot cakes.

“So far we are delighted because Preliminary Round venues in Nis, Vrsac and Belgrade have sold out. Ticket demand has really increased in the last six weeks for Preliminary Round matches in Novi Sad, while we also expect capacity crowds for Main Round games in the Belgrade Arena and the Spens Arena in Novi Sad,” he said.

“Undoubtedly, we should have a full house for the medal rounds in the Belgrade Arena because some fans buy tickets for the latter stages only after their teams have qualified and we have every reason to be optimistic,” he underscored.

Djurkovic was confident that EHF EURO 2012 will prompt the fans to throng to the refurbished venues to watch the continent’s top teams in action.

"The Pionir Arena, where Serbia will play their Preliminary Round games, is sold out and fans will turn up in their numbers to support the home team while they will also be thrilled to watch top-level players from the other nations taking part in the tournament,” he said.

“Fan groups from other Serbian cities, namely Nis, are set to make the trip to Belgrade in order to support the host nation and as Serbia may have to wait for a long time to host another major international handball event” Djurkovic pointed out.

The Serbian Handball Federation Secretary General acknowledged Serbia had a unique opportunity to get handball back on the map of its trophy-laden sports, having last tasted success a decade ago as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which also included Montenegro.

“If we reach the Main Round, the Belgrade Arena will have our very passionate fans supporting them and they appreciate high quality handball. We have a great chance to do well on home soil, having won our last medal in 2001 when we finished third in the World Championship,” Djurkovic said.

“We have good players who are yearning to delight the home fans but one must bear in mind that EHF EURO 2012 is an extremely tough tournament with 16 good teams, many of which will be vying for a medal.

"Our basic goal is to reach the medal rRounds and winning some silverware would mean a lot to everybody: the players, fans, coaches and last but not least, the Serbian Handball Federation.”