France Team Land in Egypt to Partake in 27th IHF Men's Handball Championship

France national team landed on Tuesday in Egypt to partake in the 27th IHF Men's Handball Championship which will be held from 13 to 31 January 2021 in Egypt.

The tournament will kick off on Wednesday with the opening game between Egypt and North Macedonia that will replace the Czech Republic, after their withdrawal from the tournament.

Also, Egypt received several teams today; Tunisia, Croatia, and Slovenia as a part of preparation to host the tournament.

Egypt also implements all the precautionary measures, regarding the coronavirus pandemic to make everything safe to complete the tournament.

It is worth mentioning that Egypt made on Sunday a U-turn on its decision to allow limited fan attendance at the IHF World Cup, saying the tournament would be held behind closed doors.

The head of the local organizing committee Hesham Nasr, who is also the president of the Egyptian Handball Federation, said that rising COVID-19 cases have forced a re-think.

“The state fulfilled the wish of the European Handball Players Union to reassure them before they take part in the tournament,” Nasr told the World Championship official website.

The decision came following a meeting involving Nasr, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy and Hassan Mostafa, the International Handball Federation president.

[caption id="attachment_200500" align="aligncenter" width="1152"] France Team Land in Egypt to Partake in 27th IHF Men's Handball Championship[/caption]

Egypt previously announced that it would allow fan attendance at 20 percent of the capacity of the four venues that will host the World Championship.

The controversial decision sparked concerns among some teams, with Danish Mikkel Hansen saying he would reconsider his participation.

“I don’t know if the tournament should be canceled, but there shouldn’t be any spectators. That doesn’t make sense,” Hansen told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten last week.

Egypt will kick off the World Championship with a game against Chile at Cairo’s arena on Wednesday. The expanded 32-team tournament will run from 13-31 January.

[gallery size="large" columns="1" ids="200501,200500,200498"]