Paris (AFP)
The Nantes handball player's match at Veszprem in the Champions League on Wednesday was canceled at the last moment, announced the European Federation (EHF), because one of the players in the match tested positive for Covid-19.
Both teams were warming up when the initial kick-off (6:45 p.m.) was first delayed and then pushed back to 8:45 p.m., before the match was eventually called off as the teams returned to warm up.
The "H" mentioned on his Twitter account a "case of Covid declared among the actors of the meeting".
The sporting stakes were very limited as Nantes was guaranteed to finish sixth in their group at the end of the group stage and Veszprem was sure to finish in second place behind FC Barcelona.
Nantes is now awaiting the result of the meeting scheduled for Thursday evening between the Poles of Kielce and the Germans of Flensburg to know their opponent in the round of 16: in the event of defeat or a draw for Flensburg it will be Paris SG, in the event of victory German, it will be Kielce.
The group stage of the Men's Handball Champions League was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic with many postponed matches which could not be rescheduled in time and which were awarded on the green carpet by the Competitions Commission of the EHF (EHF Court of handball).
The formula has been redesigned so as not to penalize the clubs: initially the first two in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals and the last two eliminated, but the EHF decided to qualify the 16 participating teams for the round of 16 , scheduled for the end of March and the beginning of April.
The posters for the round of 16 and quarter-finals are determined according to the classification of the group stage.
© 2021 AFP