EHF EURO 2016 Preliminary Round Groups drawn in Krakow

Men’s EHF EURO 2016 hosts Poland will start their European Championship 2016 campaign next January against defending champions France, FYR Macedonia and Serbia.

The four preliminary round groups were decided at the final tournament draw which took place in the ICE Exhibition Centre in Krakow on Friday afternoon.

EHF EURO record winners Sweden have to play 2013 world champions Spain, Germany and Slovenia.

The complete overview for EHF EURO 2016 is as follows:

The Men’s EHF EURO 2016 will be played from 15 to 31 January 2016. Poland is the 12th nation to host the 12th Final Tournament since the event was introduced in 1994.

The Preliminary Round will be played in Krakow (Group A), Katowice (Group B), Wroclaw (Group C) and Gdansk (Group D). The Main Round will be played in Krakow (Group I) and Wroclaw (Group II); the final weekend will take place in Krakow. Besides these four cities, Malopolska, the region surrounding Krakow, is also the official hosting region for the tournament.

This is first time that a Men’s EHF EURO event has been extended to 17 days overall. The extension is due to change in the playing system for the Main Round. Instead of three there will be four playing days with two teams always resting on days 1, 2 and 3 – it is only on the fourth playing day that all six teams take to the court.

The arenas selected for this tournament are the newly-built Tauron Arena in Krakow with a capacity of 15,000 spectators, the Ergo Arena in Gdansk (11,000), the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Centennial Hall in Wroclaw (6,500) and the Spodek Arena in Katowice (10,000).

Tickets go on sale on Monday, 22 June

Ticket sales for the matches in Katowice, Gdansk and Wroclaw at the Men’s EHF EURO 2016 will start on 22 June. The sale for the final weekend as well as for all matches in Krakow already started earlier this year. Tickets can be bought via the official website www.ehf-euro.com.