Handball World Cup: "No one is afraid of Corona, only of a failed test"

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Handball World Cup in Poland and Sweden: "It's a damn shame"

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Tom Weller / dpa

The Corona guidelines before and during the upcoming Handball World Cup in Poland and Sweden (January 11 to 29) are met with criticism from the players.

The Icelandic national goalkeeper Björgvin Pall Gustavsson, who spoke to lawyers about the issue, wrote in an open letter on his Twitter account that the players' human rights were curtailed by the rules.

“If the IHF wanted to implement these measures to protect the players, they achieved exactly the opposite,” the letter says: “And I think I speak for everyone.

The Corona trauma of the last tournaments is still very present among the players and affects the athletes, who are healthy as a horse, more than Corona.«

The 2021 World Cup in ÄgTypen and the European Championships in Hungary and Slovakia in the previous year were strongly influenced by the corona pandemic.

There were more than 100 positive tests at the EM a year ago during the tournament.

In the German EM delegation, almost the entire team was affected, and in the meantime there was even talk of withdrawing - but the vast majority remained symptom-free.

In addition to vaccination or a recovered status, the regulations of the International Handball Federation IHF for the current tournament also provide for tests before the start of the tournament, before the main round and the quarter-finals.

Positive tests are followed by a quarantine period of at least five days before professionals can test themselves free.

These rules are in contrast to the legal requirements at the venues: in Poland and Sweden there are no quarantine requirements and other measures in everyday life.

There was also criticism from other countries: "It's a damn shame when you play the World Cup at home and can't live like we usually live in Sweden," said Sweden's assistant coach Michael Apelgren of the newspaper "Aftonbladet".

He doesn't understand why you're doing that.

The Corona period is over in Sweden, the virus is no longer classified as a disease that is dangerous to society, said the 38-year-old.

And: »Nobody is afraid of Corona, only of a failed test.«

Germany's national coach is hoping for a "normal" tournament

Appelgren regrets that the players have to stay away from the fans as a result of the regulations, so autographs or photos for children and young people are not possible.

Alfred Gislason, Germany's national coach, did not refer directly to the rules of the IHF in a conversation with the Sport Information Service before the start of the World Cup, but he said on the Corona issue: "I long for a normal tournament.

It would be nice if all teams could line up with complete teams this time and there would be no more corona alarms.

For a while you had had calluses in your neck and throat from testing several times a day.

That was enough for life.«

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