Poland will “choose” Russia from the next big event? Behind the scenes talks

Poland independently organized the men’s European Championship in 2016, and a few days ago the World Championship, which we organized together with Sweden, ended in Stockholm. The opening match between Poland and France was played in Katowice, and a total of 61 matches were played in four Polish cities, including Kraków, Buk and Gdańsk. The world champions were Denmark, who defeated France in the finalPoland finished the competition in fifteenth place. Our country will organize another great tournament like this In 2025 – it will be the World Youth Championship under the age of 21. There will also be 32 representations, but the competition will only take place in Poland.

However, the Polish Handball Federation would also like to organize large tournaments in women’s handball. And he has already applied to organize the European Championships in 2024 – along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. View these three countries However, he lost the vote in January 2020 in the EHF conference with Austria, Hungary and Switzerland – 21:28. The next European Championships will be held in Russia (2026), Denmark, Sweden and Norway (2028). It is similar to the World Championships – the organizers know until 2029. However, there is a chance that our country will take over the championship, which will be held in Russia in three years. Sports Europe is not interested in participating in any competitions in this countryWhich, of course, concerns the criminal attack of Putin’s forces on Ukraine in February 2022 and the ongoing war.

– We have already discussed this possibility with an international partnerBut I will not disclose any of them. We’ll continue to talk about it, and we’ll see what to do next – ZPRP President Henryk Szczepański tells us. As he admits, the country’s handball officials have this tournament “in the back of their heads.” Before the case moves quickly, there will be many behind-the-scenes talks about it. Please remember that we won’t be the only ones willing to do this. “We have to somehow sort everything out,” adds Henrik Szczybanski. A decision on this issue is not expected before 2024.

This year, Poland will also be the organizer of the Congress of World Handball Authorities, i.e. IHF – which will take place in early October-November in Katowice.