EThis is an exchange of blows that has been going back and forth for weeks: Managers from the handball Bundesliga warn of the possible consequences of the World Cup, representatives of the German Association (DHB) and the World Organization (IHF) appease. The focus is already on the 17th matchday on February 7th with the top games Flensburg against Magdeburg and Melsungen against the Rhein-Neckar Löwen: Will the Bundesliga continue exactly one week after the final of the world tournament in Egypt? Or will numerous players from home and abroad who have tested positive prevent the league from starting in 2021 in just under five weeks? Is there a threat of a second demolition season? Is there a need for a shortened format, do play-off games decide on promotion and relegation? Even now, some clubs like MT Melsungen hardly know how to accommodate their postponed games – after two Corona breaks, the North Hessians have ten games, while other clubs have already played five more games.
The closer the World Cup, which begins on January 13th with the game of the Egyptians against Chile, and the more information about the upcoming tournament comes in, the louder the criticism – which is mostly expressed from a distance. On Tuesday, the world association announced that the four competition arenas should each be occupied by 20 percent of the possible spectators; previously there was even talk of 30 percent. Sander Sagosen, the Norwegian in the service of the THW Kiel, thinks this is “embarrassing”. He told the NTB news agency: “The way the world looks right now, you have to recognize that it is simply stupid with an audience.” The IHF thinks “more of the finances than the health of the players,” added the 25-year-old backcourt player .
Established Bundesliga managers like Dierk Schmäschke from SG Flensburg-Handewitt also find it questionable to let the tournament take place in front of an audience as planned in advance. Schmäschke and his Kiel colleague Viktor Szilagyi have not been saving criticism of the World Cup for months. Schmäschke also sees the necessities and circumstances, he said: “We have a queasy feeling when our national players travel to the World Cup now. I share the concerns and concerns of my colleagues. But there is an obligation to deposit the associations. And we’ll follow suit. “
Criticism of the hygiene concept
He did not influence the professionals: “We gave our players the choice of whether they would go to the World Cup with their countries in Egypt or not.” Almost all of the squad players will be in action for their countries. Only the Norwegian Magnus Röd canceled his participation due to a hand injury. Despite all the worries, Schmäschke does not share the criticism of the past few days about the hygiene concept of the Egyptian hosts: “The Egyptian hosts have drawn up a hygiene concept that we and the DHB have to trust. If there is such a World Cup, there has to be the best care for everyone there. I’m sure of that. From Germany, I cannot judge whether the concept works. I do not assume that there is great danger there. But you will only be able to see how everything works when you are there. ”That is also Bob Hanning’s attitude.
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The DHB’s vice-president of competitive sports said to the broadcaster RBB: “I don’t know where we get the arrogance from that we can do everything better than other countries.” Hanning referred to Carsten Bissel’s criticism of the hosts’ hygiene concept. The head of HC Erlangen had described the “bubble” in which the tournament is to take place at the beginning of the week in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” as a “joke”. Schmäschke did not want to comment on Bissel’s assessment. For the Flensburg managing director it is now a matter of assessing the situation on site precisely and, if necessary, drawing his own conclusions: “If something is different from what the hygiene concept promises, the DHB must respond. I expect that too. ”That would mean: departure.
The players and the staff have eluded the heated discussion about the sense and nonsense of the World Cup. “We have shelved the topic,” said Captain Uwe Gensheimer. On Tuesday the DHB convoy flew to Graz. This Wednesday (1.45 p.m., live on ZDF) there will be played against Austria in the European Championship qualification. The second leg in Cologne will follow on Sunday (6.10 p.m., live ARD). The next Tuesday the German delegation will fly to Egypt. From a German point of view, the World Cup starts at Giza on January 15 against Uruguay.
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