The home European Championships were successful for the German handball players, but national coach Alfred Gíslason’s contract is about to expire. Will there be an extension?
The German Handball Association (DHB) would like to hold “prompt” discussions about a contract extension with national coach Alfred Gíslason. As the association announced on Saturday, the presidium met for a regular meeting on Friday.
Gíslason also took part in the meeting to present his evaluation of the home European Championships in January. The German national team fulfilled its goal of participating in the semi-finals at the tournament and ended up in fourth place.
Gíslason appeared relaxed
Gíslason’s contract expires after this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. The qualifying tournament for the games is scheduled for the DHB team in mid-March. If the team fails to qualify, Gíslason’s contract would expire immediately.
The Icelander himself was completely relaxed about his future at the European Championships. “I’m very, very relaxed about it,” he said, referring to the successful rejuvenation of the national team. “Ultimately, I’ve made this rocky journey to rebuild the team so far,” said the 64-year-old. “Things are looking very good with the boys and whoever looks after them will have a lot of fun with this team,” continued Gíslason.
Gíslason wants to continue
But he also emphasized that he was definitely interested in continuing his work. “I have signaled that I would like to do it, but in the end it is not my decision.” The top of the handball Bundesliga has already advocated further collaboration with Gíslason.
Women’s national coach Markus Gaugisch is also interested in continuing his work. He presented his analysis of the World Cup last December at the DHB executive board meeting on Friday. The DHB women took sixth place and thus achieved their best result at a World Cup since 2007. Gaugisch and his team will qualify for the Olympics in April. If this is successful, the national coach’s contract would automatically be extended until 2026.
The executive board has “taken note of the respective reports,” the statement says. The DHB board will now lead the discussions about contract extensions.