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In 2019, the German handball players met the Czech Republic in a friendly match
Photo: Peter Hartenfelser / imago
Due to numerous corona cases, the Czech handball players will not take part in the World Cup in Egypt, which begins on Wednesday.
This was announced by the head of the association, Jaroslav Chvalny.
A total of 17 people from the supervisory staff and the team are affected by the corona virus, "they are not able to travel to Egypt".
Head coaches Jan Filip and Daniel Kubes are among the sick.
"We saw no light at the end of the tunnel," Chvalny said.
The first successor for the World Cup is North Macedonia.
The team will meet Sweden in Group D on Thursday, with hosts Egypt and Chile as other opponents.
The World Cup host is threatened with further cancellations.
One day before the start, the corona virus broke out in several teams.
The German opponents in the preliminary round Cape Verde are also said to be affected; according to national coach Robert Hedin, 18 players in the USA have COVID-19.
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