Dhe audience question at the handball world championship is to be raised again at a top meeting of the world association (IHF) and the Egyptian government. The IHF announced this Friday on a FAZ request that the topic will be discussed with the Prime Minister and representatives of the Ministry of Health on Sunday.
The reason for the request was the letter that 14 captains of European national teams had sent to IHF President Hassan Moustafa. In it they demanded that the previous planning, according to which the arenas at the tournament from January 13th to 31st should be filled with 20 percent of their capacity, should be reconsidered. “We have taken note of the concerns about the spectators at the World Cup and we respect them,” said the IHF. “The letter sent by the European Handball Players Union on this matter will be taken into account in the decision-making process.”
The meeting as such had been planned in advance, regardless of the initiative in which the German captains Uwe Gensheimer and Johannes Bitter also took part. There is a “continuous evaluation of the health situation in Egypt” by the authorities. When IHF boss Moustafa announced at a press conference at the beginning of December that the World Cup should be played with spectators – there was still talk of 30 percent occupancy – he referred to the ongoing review of the situation.
In the letter from the players to Moustafa, it said: “We are extremely concerned about the Corona situation and the decision that spectators can take part in the games. (…) We would therefore like to ask you to check whether this is the safest way to organize the World Cup and how you can organize the admission of spectators to the games in order to maintain the bubble concept for the teams. ”Furthermore it is also about the signal effect to play handball in front of an audience in Egypt, while in the home countries there are “severe restrictions” for people.
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