EHF Court of Handball reaches decision following tournament cancellation

The EHF Court of Handball has come to a decision following the non-participation of the Serbian national team in the match against Kosovo on 23 March 2018 and the subsequent cancellation of the Women’s U20 World Championship qualification tournament scheduled on 23 to 25 March 2018.

The court found that the contrary to the arguments of the Serbian Handball Federation, the fact that the Ministry of the Interior decided that the playing of the matches would not be permitted does not constitute a case of force majeure but simply an element to be taken into consideration when defining the type and extent of the sanctions to impose.

The fact that security issues were likely to arise and could therefore have been expected when the national federation decided to organise the tournament was taken into consideration.

The court therefore found that the national federation withdrew from organising and participating in the tournament for which the following is sanctions are imposed:

(i) a fine of €15,000 half deferred for a probationary period of two years)
(ii) a suspension from organising EHF YAC national team competitions for a period of two years
(iii) the reimbursement of any additional costs, expenses and/or damage compensation incurred and/or suffered by the EHF or the other participating teams.

An appeal may be filed within seven days.