It was during a press conference today that Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the country's health director Björn Guldvog issued a warning to sports, due to the fact that the spread of the coronavirus has gained momentum in Europe again.
Prime Minister Solberg believes that there are many indications that it will be difficult to arrange the European Handball Championship, which they share with Denmark, in Norway in December.
- We are currently working on the question of whether it is at all possible to have a health protocol for such a large event.
There are many signs that indicate that it can be difficult to get a protocol that works for so many people, says Solberg.
EHF responds after the statement
Following the statements from Solberg, the European Handball Federation, together with the federations from Norway and Denmark, issued a joint statement later on Friday afternoon.
“EHF, NHF and DHF realize the challenging circumstances that the current health situation entails for the implementation of international sports events.
At the same time, all parties emphasize the close cooperation and commitment to host the women's European Championship finals in 2020 ", the federations write.
By Monday at the latest, Norway must notify the EHF of how they want to do it, and no later than Tuesday morning, the EHF will in turn leave a final message to the public about the European Championship finals in 2020.
The host cities have been reduced
The championship will be decided between 3 and 20 December and two groups will play their group matches in Trondheim.
The playoffs will also be decided in the Norwegian city.
Initially, the championship would have been decided in three cities in Norway and three in Denmark, but in September it was reduced to one city in each country due to covid-19.