European Handball Federation finally cancels Latvian and Belarus national team game / Article / LSM.lv

However, after several days of fluctuations in the Latvian and Belarus national team game scheduled for October 7, the European Handball Federation (EHF) decided to postpone the continental championship qualification match in Valmiera indefinitely, according to information published by the Latvian Handball Federation (LHF) on Tuesday.

The Belarusian national team will not be able to come to the game in Latvia due to stricter restrictions on the distribution of Covid-19.

Due to the difficulties caused by the pandemic before, the EHF decided to postpone indefinitely the game of Norway and Latvia scheduled for November 4 on the outskirts of Oslo, which would be the first match for both national teams in the qualification of the 2022 European Championship. The decision to postpone the game was made by the EHF after consultations with the Norwegian and Latvian national federations.

Both the Latvian and Belarusian Handball Federations previously encouraged the postponement of the match between the two teams, but EHF insisted for a long time that the game should take place according to plan. Due to travel complications and epidemiological constraints, neither the Latvian nor the Belarusian national team could play in the best line-up.

Thus, in the group of four teams, only one match from the first round of matches will take place at the scheduled time, when the Norwegian team will meet with the host Italy on November 8 in Pescara. Both the Latvian and Belarusian national teams will start the qualifying tournament later. The LHF would prefer to accept the option of holding qualifying games in a safety bubble with a team run, which the EHF is initially prepared to accept only as a last resort, if there is no other option. The postponed games will probably take place in January, when the Norwegians plan to play both matches against Belarus.

24 national teams will take part in the finals of the 2022 European Championships in Hungary and Slovakia. In the qualification, a place in the final tournament will be provided by 20 teams – the two strongest teams in each selection group and the four strongest third place winners. The places in the final tournament have already been guaranteed by both organizers, as well as the winner of the previous championship Spain and the finalist Croatia.

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