Player against admission of spectators

Dhe captains of 14 European national teams have expressed strong concerns to the International Handball Federation (IHF) about the planned admission of spectators to the World Cup in Egypt, which begins next Thursday. A corresponding letter has been sent to IHF President Hassan Moustafa.

“We express that we urge you to think urgently about whether a World Cup with spectators in these times is not too risky,” said Johannes Bitter, the German vice-captain, of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Bitter, like captain Uwe Gensheimer, is one of the signatories of the letter, which went to the IHF on Wednesday with the players’ association European Handball Professionals Union (EHPU) as the official sender.

At the beginning of the week, the IHF announced that the four halls at the tournament should be 20 percent full from next Wednesday until January 31st. In Giza, where the German team plays their three preliminary round matches against Uruguay, Cape Verde and Hungary, that would mean 900 spectators with a capacity of 4,500 people. Originally there was even talk of 30 percent. Bitter, who has already had a coronavirus infection himself, placed the external impact of such a public event in the foreground in the current pandemic.

“We all question whether you can allow spectators to attend the World Cup in Egypt if two families are not even allowed to meet at home to watch handball in front of the television,” said Bitter. “We handball professionals appreciate our privileges. But we have a responsibility and want to act as a role model. We want to offer the fans at home exciting sport and good entertainment in these difficult times. But only to an extent that we find balanced. By the way, it’s also about our health. “

“We want to play this World Cup”

On Tuesday, the Norwegian star Sander Sagosen from THW Kiel described the plans to play with an audience as “stupid”. “The last critical comments not only from Germany, but also from handball superstars like Sander Sagosen from Norway or Mikkel Hansen from Denmark have brought us to this demand,” said Bitter. “We didn’t say we wouldn’t be coming if the association didn’t react. We want to play this World Cup. But with a better feeling with us and the fans at home. ”The IHF could not be reached on Thursday for comment.

The German Handball Federation (DHB) supported the actors. “We support our captains, who express the wish not to allow spectators,” said Axel Kromer, the sports director of the DHB, opposite the FAZ. The team of national coach Alfred Gislason had their first of two European Championship qualifiers this week in Graz on Wednesday Austria and flew to Cologne with the Austrians on Thursday. The second leg is on the program there on Sunday before boarding the plane to Cairo on Tuesday. There, the teams – as well as organizational and hotel staff as well as officials and sponsors – will be part of a comprehensive “bubble” which is intended to ensure the greatest possible security against the coronavirus during the two and a half tournament weeks. In the meantime, work is continuing on the details of the concept.

According to Kromer, the DHB had “clearly demanded” from the IHF that a “very large distance” had to be ensured between the spectators and the teams and those responsible in the halls – more than the organizers had originally planned for contacts between the Avoid regularly tested staff in the “bubble” and external visitors. He sees “more an ethical, moral issue that the spectators in the stands could infect each other” than health risks for the players. The risk of “infections coming from the grandstand side towards the pitch cannot be completely ruled out,” he said, but it was “significantly lower”.

Common language of the players

Infectiologist Stefan Moritz from the University of Halle, on the other hand, sees the entire World Cup company as “difficult and critical”. In the “Restart-19” study, Moritz dealt with the risks and possibilities of spectator events under Corona conditions. “All in all, the question arises for me whether you have to hold an international tournament now,” he says. “At the moment, every single person who is infected is one too many.” On the one hand, his concerns relate to the concept of the “bubble”, which is “beautiful” in theory, but whose effectiveness depends very much on the participation of the residents. On the other hand, as far as the spectator aspect is concerned, much depends on the specific ventilation situation in the halls.

“Under certain conditions, you can organize a spectator concept that is reasonably safe, provided the ventilation is correct.” If this is not the case, aerosols pose a risk not only for the audience themselves, but also for the actors, especially those who do not be on the move, e.g. supervisors on the bench or substitute players. The risk can be reduced through buffer zones, as the organizers are planning. But: “Without looking at the ventilation of individual halls, it is a blind flight.”

Kromer meanwhile thinks it is possible that at least the issue of spectators will continue to move through the commitment of the players. It is the wish of “many participants” to forego an audience entirely, he said. “We are happy that the players speak a common language.”