Court of Appeal rejects Bosnia and Herzegovina claim

The EHF Court of Appeal has reached a decision following an appeal by the Handball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina lodged on 20 February 2018.

The first instance decision to award the sixth round Group 6 qualification match for the 2019 Men’s World Championship to Switzerland following a protest has been upheld.

The protest related to the eligibility to participate by one of the players of the Bosnia and Herzegovina team, whose name did not appear on the match report signed by both teams ahead of the match. Bosnia Herzegovina won the game 21:15.

The EHF Court of Handball originally decided to award the match 10:0 to Switzerland, which also meant that Switzerland and not Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the next round and meet Norway in the play-offs.

The Court of Appeal agreed that responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of the match report, and therefore confirming the list of players eligible to play in the match, lay with the match officials of the respective national federations.

Having signed the match report, the official from Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed its accuracy and the federation was responsible for the fact that an ineligible player took part in the match.

According to the EHF’s legal regulations, the parties now have 21 days within which to bring any further claims to the EHF Court of Arbitration.