The first European Championship title since 2016 would also be financially worthwhile for Germany’s handball players. The possible bonus for Alfred Gislason’s team is higher than ever before.
Initially, the record sum is 575,000 euros, as the German Handball Association announced. From 20 players on, the amount increases to a maximum of 600,000 euros, it said. There are 18 players in Denmark at the moment, the team arrived in Silkeborg on Tuesday afternoon, where they moved into the team hotel – not far from the match venue in Herning.
Golla, Köster and Wolff negotiated the bonus
DHB sports director Ingo Meckes negotiated the bonus regulation with captain Johannes Golla and the leading players Julian Köster and Andreas Wolff. However, reaching the final will probably be more difficult than it has been for years. With regard to the draw, Gislason spoke of the most difficult tournament of his coaching career.
The preliminary round opponents are already tough: Austria this Thursday (live on Erste and at sportschau.de), Serbia (January 17th) and Spain (January 19th). In the main round it will likely be against, among others, Olympic champions Denmark and defending champions France; Norway and Portugal are also possible opponents.
50,000 euros for group victory, 75,000 for the clean slate
The association also pays the players for achieving smaller goals. “Simply winning Group A is worth 50,000 euros, 6-0 points bring in 75,000 euros in addition to an optimal sporting starting position,” the DHB further announced. Reaching the final will be rewarded with 430,000 euros. Bronze is worth 300,000 euros. Reaching the semi-finals will be worth a maximum of 190,000 euros. The bonus for 5th place is 100,000 euros.
Last year, the DHB men had to settle for a total of 50,000 euros after the disappointing World Cup quarter-final against Portugal. A title would have brought them a maximum of 500,000 euros. The women received 300,000 euros for their silver medal at the World Cup in December. With gold it would have been 425,000 euros. Germany won its last major title in 2016 – there were 250,000 euros for winning the European Championship. Now the team can expect significantly more than twice as much.