“I’m glad we’re not playing in Hungary”
Axel Kromer, sports director at DHB
Those: picture alliance / Marco Wolf
The European handball championship begins on Thursday in Hungary and Slovakia. The different ways in which the host nations deal with the corona virus also affects the German national team.
EActually, Axel Kromer is responsible for the development of the national teams and structural alignment in his function as the sports director of the German Handball Federation. But since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the job description for the functionary has changed a little: He is now also something like the hygiene protection officer of the association and guardian of compliance with the strict regulations at major tournaments.
The 45-year-old admits that this doesn’t always seem easy: “I feel like Karl Lauterbach of the German Handball Federation, because I have been mainly supposed to express myself on Corona matters for more than a year.”
Kromer has now managed five international events with the women’s and men’s national teams of the DHB under different corona measures at the respective event locations. The upcoming European Championship in Hungary and Slovakia, which starts on Thursday, is the next big challenge for him and the Germans. Dealing with the virus is once again an annoying companion in the continental title fights.
Axel Kromer with captain Johannes Golla (l.) And left winger Lukas Mertens (r.)
Those: picture alliance / Marco Wolf
With the greatest caution, they are approaching the preliminary round matches against Belarus on Friday (6 p.m., ARD), Austria (Sunday, 6 p.m., ARD) and Poland (January 18, 6 p.m., ZDF) at the world’s largest handball association. In the “Lindner Hotel Gallery Central” team quarters in Bratislava, the German selection should live completely shielded from the outside world, contact with hostel employees is limited to a minimum, and their own cook came to the capital of Slovakia on Wednesday. “We know that we live in our bladder and that the hotel is closed to other guests,” says Kromer. “We have achieved a great deal of insulation and live on our own floor.”
The captain has already learned with pain that such precautionary measures cannot completely protect the German players. After returning from the 2021 World Cup in Egypt, Johannes Golla tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
It is still unclear whether he was infected in the national team’s last game against Poland on January 25th or afterwards. What remains, however, is the fear of repetition. “I still have respect for the disease,” explains Golla WELT: “Back then, I made the experience that you can adhere to hygiene concepts and still get caught in the bladder. This risk cannot be ruled out anywhere in the world. “
376.6 to 380.6
In the case of the European Championship, the fact that the two host countries have completely different requirements make things even more difficult. With a current seven-day incidence of 376.6, Hungary allows the halls to be used at 100 percent. In Slovakia, where Germany not only plays the preliminary round matches but also the main round matches if they advance, only 25 percent of the possible fans are allowed in the arenas with a similar incidence of 380.6. And they all have to be vaccinated – so 1G prevails.
Johannes Golla prevailed against Nikola Karabatic at 35:34 in the last test match before the EM. The French superstar tested positive for Corona in advance
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa
“We have all recently had to experience that many decisions based on scientific findings and advisory staff are not always understandable per se for everyone,” says sports director Kromer on the subject. “Even during the European Football Championship, we were amazed that in some stadiums in Europe the seams were almost torn and in others there was a yawning emptiness. We also have that in Germany that spectators are allowed in some halls and not in others. I am currently happy that we are not playing the preliminary round in Hungary. ”
Meanwhile, some experts are already unaware that the team with the fewest corona cases in the squad will become European champions. Because even in the run-up to the title fights, numerous co-favorites for the European Championship triumph were caught: The Swede Hampus Wanne was tested positive for Corona as were France’s superstar Nikola Karabatic, Croatia’s playmaker Domagoj Duvnjak or Denmark’s goalkeeper Jannick Green.
The European Handball Federation (EHF), as the organizer, has therefore already softened the strict rules: Infected players no longer have to be in quarantine for two weeks, but can test themselves after five days.
Knorr has to fit
In any case, only players, supervisors, doctors and coaches who have been vaccinated or have recovered are admitted to the EM. Both of these must not be older than six months. A regulation that prevented the German talent Juri Knorr from participating. The game designer fell ill with corona 14 months ago and suffered from severe symptoms such as chills and fever. But he did not want to be vaccinated afterwards – and voluntarily renounced the EM.
“He made this decision for himself and is now living with the consequences,” says Golla about his renegade teammate: “For us as a team, it is certainly a bitter loss, Juri has great prospects ahead of him. He would certainly have got a lot of playing time at the EM and could have taken the next important international step. “
.
