Bonaventura twins first female referees at AKQUINET EHF Cup Finals

For the first time in its seven-year history, the AKQUINET EHF Cup Finals will see female referees in action: Charlotte Bonaventura and Julie Bonaventura of France will be in charge of the first semi-final between TTH Holstebro and hosts THW Kiel on Friday 17 May.

Also, Croatian referee pair Dalibor Jurinovic and Marko Mrvica will officiate the event’s final in the Sparkassen-Arena in Kiel on Saturday 18 May. Jurinonovic and Mrvica have been at the finals before - in 2016 in Nantes.

The Bonaventura twins have been officiating Men’s EHF Cup matches for nearly 15 years, giving their debut at a Round 2 game between Esch and Tatabánya in Luxembourg in October 2004, but have not been part of the finals tournament before. They also refereed at the Men’s World Championship 2017 in France and were in charge of the Men’s EHF EURO 2018 Qualifier Spain vs Bosnia-Hercegovina in November 2016.

The sisters are one of the leading refereeing pairs in women’s handball, where they have been in charge of the Women’s EHF Champions League Final in 2014 and 2018 and appeared at major events, most recently at the EHF EURO 2018 in France.

The European Handball Federation has announced the nominated officials for the event, where hosts THW Kiel, defending champions Füchse Berlin, TTH Holstebro and FC Porto Sofarma will battle it out for the Men’s EHF Cup 2018/19 title.

Overview of nominations for the AKQUINET EHF Cup Finals 2019:

Semi-final: TTH Holstebro vs THW Kiel, Friday 17 May, 18:00 hrs
Referees: Charlotte Bonaventura and Julie Bonaventura (FRA)
Delegates: Valerijs Jaskins (LAT) and Miroslaw Baum (POL)

Semi-final: Füchse Berlin vs FC Porto Sofarma, Friday 17 May, 20:45 hrs
Referees: Lars Jorum and Havard Kleven (NOR)
Delegates: Nicolae Vizitiu (MDA) and Georgios Bebetsos (GRE)

Match Place 3/4: Loser Holstebro/Kiel vs Loser Füchse/Porto, Saturday 18 May, 18:00 hrs
Referees: Morad Salah and Arthur Brunner (SUI)

Match Place 1/2: Winner Holstebro/Kiel vs Winner Füchse/Porto, Saturday 18 May, 20:45 hrs
Referees: Dalibor Jurinovic and Marko Mrvica (CRO)

The AKQUINET EHF Cup Finals 2019 take place on 17/18 May in the Sparkassen-Arena in Kiel. It is the first time that the finals tournament comes to the German city. Previous editions were held in Nantes (2013, 2016), Berlin (2014, 2015), Göppingen (2017) and Magdeburg (2018).