Official: Egypt Handball World Cup to be held behind closed doors
The tournament's organizing higher committee decided to call off fans' attendance at World Cup games to be held in Egypt.
After International Handball Federation (IHF) received a hail of criticism over allowing fans to attend the 2021 handball World Cup to be held in Egypt between 13 and 31 January, the higher committee organizing the tournament have decided to hold the competition without fans' attendance due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic situation in the country and after many handball superstars threatened to miss out on the event.
The European Handball Players Union (EHPU) has earlier written to Hassan Mostafa, the president of the International Handball Federation (IHF), calling on him to reconsider fans' attendance at the courts' stands due to the severity of the current situation in Egypt that is facing the second wave of the virus nowadays.
The committee decided to accept handball stars requests:
In response to calls from several parties, the tournament's higher committee held a meeting attended by Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and the international handball federation president Hassan Mostafa to decide on the matter.
The committee finally decided that the competition will be held behind closed doors for the safety of everyone despite it had been decided earlier that fans can occupy up to 20% of the court's capacity during the tournament.
The Egyptian national team is set to start its journey in the tournament by facing Chile on Wednesday at Cairo International Stadium covered hall.