A crisis meeting was needed, and fast. Just a few hours after the German national handball team had to report the corona cases ten to twelve at this European championship on Wednesday, a video conference was hastily scheduled in the evening. Also present, from Germany and in Bratislava: representatives of the German Handball Federation (DHB) and the Handball Bundesliga (HBL). The big question that had to be clarified: Does it still make sense to leave the German national team in the starting field of the European Championship tournament in Hungary and Slovakia?
It still makes sense, according to the result on Wednesday evening, but there shouldn’t be many more positive cases in the German camp. DHB CEO Mark Schober reported that all committees, players and doctors exchanged views: “We have come to the conclusion that we can take responsibility for staying in the tournament.”
However, this decision is only valid for the moment. The situation is “very dynamic,” said Schober: It could already be the case that a situation will arise on Thursday that will necessitate a retreat. The German delegation is now having the European Handball Federation (EHF) check under what circumstances a possible withdrawal from the tournament would be possible in the coming days. A relocation of the first main round game against Spain (6 p.m. / ARD) is also being examined.
The German players in particular were in favor of staying in the tournament
The joy about the furious 30:23 in the last preliminary round match against Poland lasted only half a day, then the tense personal situation had worsened considerably. In addition to the nine positive tests from the first week of the tournament so far, there were three more on Wednesday: Sebastian Heymann, Christoph Steinert and Djibril M’Bengue were also informed of a positive PCR test. The procedure is now well known: the players have to be quarantined immediately and are not allowed to leave their single room; for at least five days, then they would theoretically have the opportunity to test themselves free with two negative PCR tests.
Christoph Steinert, Germany’s top scorer at the European Championship so far, is now also corona positive.
(Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa)
The German team in Bratislava now has an impressive 25 players: 13 of them can play against Spain and 12 are stuck in quarantine. There are also three replacements nominated by national coach Alfred Gislason on Wednesday evening: Right winger Tobias Reichmann (MT Melsungen) and backcourt players David Schmidt and Lukas Stutzke (both Bergischer HC) will fly to Bratislava from Germany. All three are due to join the team on Thursday. It is still open whether they will be used against the Spaniards.
Voices had previously been raised from the league that sounded more like a retreat. Uwe Schwenker, for example, the league president, had warned that with all the corona-related failures, you couldn’t “reload endlessly with players from the Bundesliga, that doesn’t make any sense”. But in the end, according to Schober, the DHB decided against a possible withdrawal “according to medical, sporting, legal and economic aspects”.
DHB sports director Axel Kromer reported that the national players in particular had spoken out in favor of staying in the tournament. The mood is good after the Poland game, the sick players are largely symptom-free or only feel slight signs of a cold. The healthy part of the team had another, additional PCR test carried out in the evening, the result is expected for Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Julius Kühn is out of the question for a game against Spain: the backcourt player was the first player in the German team to test positive at the European Championship, he was allowed to undergo the first of two possible PCR tests on Wednesday with the aim of testing himself free.
However, the result was not satisfactory, although Kühn felt himself to be in top form, Kromer reported. A return at this European Championship is therefore a long way off for Kühn.
