"Talked to the world association": DHB team fears first game cancellation at World Cup


Update
"Talked to the world association"

DHB team fears first game cancellation at World Cup

In the preliminary round of the World Cup, the German national handball team will compete against Cape Verde. But in their selection there are not only corona cases before departure, but also after arrival at the venue Egypt. Association Vice President Bob Hanning is waiting for answers.

The first cracks in the World Cup bubble put the German team on high alert. As a precaution, Captain Uwe Gensheimer and Co. had their breakfast isolated in their rooms in the team hotel on Friday morning. The corona risk, which was warned for days, is suddenly very real thanks to four new players who tested positive in the second preliminary round opponent Cape Verde. The newcomer threatens to be excluded from the tournament before the first throw.

In any case, the German Handball Federation (DHB) is pushing for a quick decision by the world association IHF. Together with other nations they have expressed their concerns and "our concerns about guarantees that are given", reported DHB sports director Axel Kromer on Friday morning in the German team headquarters in Giza.

It is uncertain whether the game of the Africans will take place this Friday evening (8.30 p.m.) against Hungary. Also the German group game against the island nation on Sunday (6 p.m. / ARD and in the ntv.de ticker) is on the brink. "There seems to be all options," said Kromer after a technical meeting with the IHF on Friday morning. Further tests should provide information about the extent of the outbreak.

If Cape Verde misses the first round game, the IHF statutes provide that this will be rated at the Green Table with a 10:10 defeat. Should the team not even take part in the World Cup after the corona-related withdrawal of the USA and the Czech Republic, the Netherlands would be the next team on the list. However, it would also be possible that no further replenishment is made. Most recently, North Macedonia and Switzerland slipped into the field at short notice.

Three other players infected

Even before the journey to Egypt, the Cape Verdes team had had a number of corona cases. According to media reports, head coach Jose Tomas did not even travel to the Nile like half a dozen players suffering from Corona. Because of the positive findings, those responsible for the DHB managed to ensure that the island nation's delegation was initially isolated in a quarantine hotel and not initially accommodated in the German team's team quarters.

"The risk is not in here, but comes in from outside," said Hanning about the security in the World Cup bubble, which has been hotly debated for days. The German team feels safe. "We are in good spirits that nothing will happen to us here," said Hanning.

The cases near Cape Verde are not the only new corona cases that the world association IHF announced on its website late Thursday evening. Two Slovenian and one Brazilian players, a Portuguese journalist and a person who had traveled from the USA tested positive. According to the IHF, everyone immediately went into isolation.

In the turmoil about the new cases, the sporting fairy tale of the Swiss handball players about their outstanding Bundesliga star Andy Schmid (7 goals) almost went under. After they had only found out about their first tournament participation in 26 years on Tuesday evening, they went straight from the plane to the hall in Cairo on Thursday – where they won 28:25 against Austria. "To be honest, I had imagined a little different for the first time," said Schmid of the "Rhein-Neckar Zeitung" about his personal World Cup debut after a turbulent 48 hours for him and his team, "but that's for many Things in life like that. "

. (tagsToTranslate) Sport (t) Handball national team (t) Handball World Cup (t) DHB (t) Handball (t) Coronaviruses (t) Egypt