Several test games canceled
The German handball team started preparing for the European Championship without Corona cases, but many other national teams have big problems. Several test matches were canceled, prominent players such as Bundesliga professionals Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia) or Jannick Green (Denmark) ran the risk of missing a large part of the European Championship due to fresh infections.
You now benefit from the fact that the European Handball Federation (EHF) relaxed the quarantine rules on Thursday (January 6th, 2022). Vaccinated infected people are now likely to travel to EM just five days after the infection is discovered if they can show a negative PCR test. However, the respective national health authorities have to play their part, in many places the quarantine times are longer.
Health risk for the athletes?
In order to be eligible to play at the EM, the infected need a second negative PCR test, which must be carried out at least 24 hours after the first test. This means that a player could theoretically be back on the plate six or seven days after an infection was discovered.
How great is the health risk for the actors? When asked by the sports show, the EHF emphasized that affected players need medical confirmation in order to return to the field.
Sports medicine specialist Wilhelm Bloch, professor at the German Sport University Cologne, says about such an early use of corona infected people: “If the infection actually remains symptom-free in vaccinated people, this is conceivable after a thorough sports medical check-up. But the following always applies here: health must take precedence.”
Protected by vaccination
Basically, handball players have a big advantage compared to the 2021 World Cup: Everyone has been vaccinated or recovered, because the EM is a 2G event. This mitigates the possible consequences of an infection. “The risk of getting seriously ill is certainly very low in vaccinated athletes,” says Bloch.
“According to the current state of knowledge, which is still low, I would not expect long-term performance losses, but I would not completely rule out it either.” Bloch is involved in an as yet unpublished study on the consequences of corona infections for top athletes.
In January, the World Cup organizers in Egypt had big problems at the beginning of the tournament with the Czech Republic and the USA having to cancel due to corona and the withdrawal of Cape Verdean in the preliminary round. But in the course of the tournament there were hardly any infections, the tournament bubble remained largely tight. Does that also work in Hungary and Slovenia?
No tournament bubble in Hungary and Slovakia
At the EM, the EHF waives a mandatory bubble rule, in which, for example, nobody is allowed to leave the hotel grounds without authorization. Instead, the only recommendation is to avoid public and crowded places and not to visit cafes or restaurants.
In addition, there is no quarantine obligation for contact persons of infected people if they have tested negative. Routine PCR tests are only carried out every two days; there are no tests on match days.
These points of the hygiene concept were communicated in November 2021, when Omikron was still unknown. Several current examples show how quickly the virus can spread in handball teams. Almost all players at the women’s Bundesliga team Thuringian HC tested positive at the beginning of January. And Japan’s national team around the former DHB coach trainer Dagur Sigurdsson had to cancel its participation in the Asian Cup due to ten corona cases in the team.
With infection on the plate?
So there seems to be a great danger that players with an as yet undetected infection will be on the plate at the EM. “This can not go well”, says sports medicine specialist Bloch. “If so, then only with daily testing, but even then there is still a risk.”
At the 2021 World Cup, the organizers had increased the test frequency to a daily rhythm after the start of the tournament. On request, the EHF refers to the fact that the EM hygiene concept is a “Living Document” so it can be updated again and again. However, no further adjustments are currently planned.
The health risk vaccinated athletes run when they play with an undetected infection cannot yet be assessed, says sports medicine specialist Bloch. “In principle, no athlete should play with an infection. New data show that vaccinated people usually have symptoms of an infection with Omikron, and the symptoms usually last for a week. However, we do not have any studies with athletes.”
In response to a request from the sports show, the German Handball Federation declares that it agrees with the hygiene concept and trusts the expertise and experience of the organizers.
Rules for subsequent nominations relaxed
The EHF has prepared itself for possible corona outbreaks during the tournament to the extent that it has relaxed the subsequent nomination rules. The teams in the 20-strong tournament squad are allowed to make two changes each in the preliminary, main and final round, for a total of six. Changes due to corona infections do not affect this quota. In addition, the teams can now, in exceptional cases, re-nominate players who are not on the official 35-strong squad list.
So there is a good chance that there will be enough healthy players available to finish the tournament. However, there is also the risk that the corona problem will overshadow the sporty until the final day.
As of: January 7th, 2022, 4:55 pm