Serbia to host Women’s EHF EURO 2012

Following negotiations with the Serbian Handball Federation, the EHF can announce that the Women’s EHF European Championship will be held in Serbia from 4 to 16 December 2012.

The Netherlands withdrew from the organisation of the flagship national team event on 4 June and the EHF opened up the possibility of the organisation of the event to its national federations.

Eleven nations expressed their interest in holding the EHF EURO including: Croatia, Denmark, FYR Macedonia, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Sweden.

The championship will be held in Belgrade, Nis, Vrsac and Novi Sad, the venues that successfully hosted the Men’s EHF EURO 2012 in January 2012. The final weekend will also be held in the Serbian capital.

Commenting on the decision, EHF President, Tor Lian, said: “I am delighted that we are to return to Serbia in December 2012, the Serbian Federation did an exceptional job of organising the men’s event and I am confident that the Women’s EHF EURO in December will be just as successful. 

“The huge interest from our national federations around Europe in the organisation of the event made the choice of host a difficult decision for the EHF Executive, but this underlines just how important and valuable this event has become.”

Iceland awarded final place

Already confirmed for the Final Tournament in December are the national teams of Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Russia, France, FYR Macedonia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Ukraine, Spain and Norway as defending champions.

Iceland has been awarded the remaining place in the championship, which had been reserved for the Netherlands as host.

With the top two teams from each qualification group going forward to the Final Tournament, and Serbia having already qualified, Iceland qualified as the best placed third team. This position was calculated based on the matches against the top two teams in each group.

Draw at EHF Congress

The draw for the Final Tournament of the Women’s EHF EURO 2012 will take place in Monaco during the course of the EHF Congress on Friday, 22 June 2012 at approximately 18.00/18.30 hrs.

Handball fans will be able to follow the draw on the eurohandball.com live ticker and via twitter @EHFmedia.

Photo: Defending champions, Norway, will defend their 2010 title in Serbia in December 2012 (Credit: Uros Hocevar/EHF)