Everyone sensed it but it is now a certainty: the World Handball Championship in Egypt has not gone through the pandemic.
Even before the competition, some German players had preferred to give up.
Before the thunderclap, the Covid-19 forces the Czech Republic and the United States to give up their participation just before the start of the competition, leaving their "chance" to North Macedonia and Switzerland in what is increasingly akin to a lottery.
If you come across the "Virus" box, it is almost equivalent to bankruptcy.
And it's not over…
Cape Verde forfeit against Germany
This Saturday, the International Federation announced that the match between Germany and Cape Verde was canceled due to two cases of Covid-19 in the workforce of the archipelago, which could only bring 11 players into Egypt and therefore no longer have enough players to play the game from a regulatory point of view.
Germany therefore won by forfeit (10-0) this match of the second day of the first round scheduled for Sunday and is already qualified for the main round.
For its very first match in a World Cup, Cape Verde, which benefited from the expansion of the field from 24 to 32 teams for this Egyptian edition, lost Friday against Hungary (34-27) with only 11 players on the scoresheet already due to numerous cases of Covid-19 in its workforce.
Cape Verde was to be accommodated in the same hotel as Germany, France and Norway but was placed separately for security on arrival in Cairo, an organization official said earlier in the week to the 'AFP.
"It is true that there may be air holes"
Ludovic Fabregas
Hungary, it occupies the same hotel as the Blues, located opposite the pyramids and reserved for all the teams of groups A and E. Hence a certain concern of a possible spread of the virus.
Especially since there is no shortage of reviews.
Thus, on his arrival at the same hotel, the Norwegian Sander Sagosen described as “farce” the theoretical sanitary bubbles set up within the 4 hotels and 4 stadiums of the first round.
Within hotels, players can regularly meet journalists, organizers or staff, and the health monitoring of people outside the teams lacks rigor, as AFP noted on site.
"It is true that there may be air holes," commented French pivot Ludovic Fabregas in a press briefing.
“But you have to know how to balance things out and take responsibility.
We must all be able to respect these rules. ”
The rest of the Cape Verdean team must be tested again on Saturday and is not isolated, but it "is not allowed to come into contact with other teams, delegations or the IHF", specifies the latter. .
Cape Verde remains hopeful at this stage of being able to resume competition thanks to the arrival of reinforcements in its workforce, according to the tournament regulations adapted to the health crisis.
Additional players joining Egypt will be required to test negative before boarding a plane and then stay in their room until the result of a new PCR test performed upon arrival in Cairo is known.
Coincidence or coincidence, these concerns related to Covid-19 have given rise to multiple surprises in the field since the start of the competition on Wednesday.
The most beautiful of which came from a last minute guest, Switzerland ...
Switzerland, victorious almost after leaving the plane
The team of center-half Andy Schmid, a reference in the position, played - and won against Austria (28-25) - their first match in a World Cup since 1995, less than 48 hours after learning that they would participate as the second nation on a reserve list.
Leaving Schaffhausen at 6 am, she arrived in Cairo at the beginning of the afternoon and went directly to the hall of the City of October 6, in the western suburbs, without going through the hotel.
But the Swiss, who were unable to train in Schaffhausen on Wednesday because of the health protocol, each remaining isolated in their room, experienced two big fears in this day of madness: the takeoff of their plane was delayed by the snow and, once they got to the venue, they only collected their luggage an hour and a half before the match ...
Spain and Croatia surprises
An astonishing result among many others.
Thus, South Korea suffered a real correction against Slovenia (51-29) at the opening, the same Slovenia beaten in the wake by the Russian Federation (31-25) which itself could not do better than 'a score of parity against Belarus (32-32).
To lose his handball… Other surprises, Croatia and Spain conceded a draw (29-29 each) against Japan and Brazil for their entry into contention in the first round on Friday.
Seeing Brazil, who had beaten Serbia, Russia and Croatia in the 2019 edition, compete with European nations is no longer a surprise, while Japan was subscribed to the last places in the three previous Worlds.
With the sharing of points, he can aim higher for the future.
Croatia, finalist of the last Euro, will have to pull themselves together against Angola and then Qatar to keep their ambitions intact.
Spain, European champion, led at the break (16-13) against Brazil and had the opportunity to win from the penalty spot at the very end of the match, to no avail.
And it's only been four days since the competition started ...
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2021 World Calendar and Results
