On Monday, it was announced, albeit late, that the European Handball Championship will take place in Denmark in December.

A decision that was delayed - first because Norway withdrew as organizer, then because the Danish government needed to give the Danish Handball Association the green light.

"An extreme gamble"

The reason for the delay is the same as the biggest source of criticism against arranging in the current situation: the corona pandemic.

Something SVT's handball expert Magnus Grahn thinks is reason enough to postpone the championship to the future.

- I think it's an extreme gamble.

We expose players to risk and you should be very aware of that, he says.

Ten days charging

With only ten days left until the game starts, Grahn believes that the conditions for both the coach's and the players' recharging are unreasonable.

- You can not go fully in before you know if something will get rid of, he says.

In an earlier interview with SVT Sport, Grahn has said that he would rather see a European Championship held later in the spring of 2021.

Pandemic's impact on players

But even with proper charging, Grahn points out the pandemic's impact on the players' conditions.

- In general, there are very many strange results right now.

I think people have a hard time keeping focus 100 percent with the pandemic in the back of their minds.

Apart from the fact that a European Championship winner will be crowned, Grahn wonders if it is really someone who is winning by completing the championship right now.

"There is like no winner in this"

In addition to the risk of infection among the players, he believes that the absence of the audience forces the organizer to a half-hearted event.

- There is like no one who is a winner in implementing this now.

But hand in hand with the hope of being disproved, Grahn hopes for a fifth-sixth place for the Swedish ladies.

CLIP: Chaos around the European Handball Championship

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Chaos around the European Handball Championship Photo: Bildbyrån