31.01.2020, 11:57
Rest in Peace Thierry Dentz

OBITUARY: Handball mourns the passing of French referee

Rest in Peace Thierry Dentz

It is with sadness that the European Handball Federation has learned of the passing of one of its most respected referees, Thierry Dentz, after a long illness. He was 52.

A referee for 26 years, Thierry put down his whistle with the EHF in June 2017 having overseen hundreds of matches alongside partner Denis Reibel, including games at EHF EURO 2014 and a EHF Champions League FINAL4 semi-final between Hamburg and Kiel in Cologne in 2013.

Reibel told the French Handball Federation: “My little brother has left. We shared more than just referees’ topics together. We had known each other since nursery school. The past few weeks have been very difficult. To see him leave in this way, peaceful, is ultimately a relief.

“We promised each other that if one of us were to stop refereeing, the other would do it too. When he fell ill, he encouraged me to continue with someone else, but I reminded him of our promise. We had a lot of fun together. We were always happy refereeing, it was our job and we had fun doing it.”

Everyone at the European Handball Federation’s thoughts are with Thierry’s family and friends at this sad time.

Rest in Peace, Thierry.

TEXT: EHF/ab