The European Handball Federation EHF withdrew two referees from the official squad shortly before the start of the European Championship.
As the association announced on Saturday, North Macedonians Slave Nikolov and Gjorgji Nachevski will not travel to the tournament, which will take place from January 15th to February 1st in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. There is therefore a suspicion that recordings of a fitness test were manipulated in advance.
As part of the preparation, “all referee pairs must complete mandatory conditioning training and a fitness assessment” to ensure “the physical readiness” of those involved and to ensure that they “meet the performance standards of the tournament”. According to the EHF, two video recordings of a so-called “multistage fitness test” should be uploaded eight weeks and four weeks before the European Championships.
EHF withdraws nomination for European Handball Championships
“Following the submission of recordings by Nikolov and Nachevski, the European Handball Federation was informed at the end of December that the videos submitted by the two referees may have been altered and may not represent an accurate record of the entire test,” the association statement said. The material was then further analyzed by the experts from the EHF fitness partner Fitgood Pro and was also handed over to the integrity partner Sportradar. “The in-depth analysis revealed indications that the videos were most likely manipulated,” said the EHF.
In light of the available evidence and in order to protect the integrity of the European Championship, the EHF, after internal consultation with the tournament management, decided to withdraw the nomination of Slave Nikolov and Gjorgji Nachevski.
According to the association, 17 pairs of referees will be nominated, “the functionality of the championship’s refereeing system remains fully guaranteed.” The case will continue to be investigated and the EHF “reserves the right to take legal action before its legal authorities.”