Norway vs Denmark international match canceled – Danes respond – VG

The national handball match between Norway and Denmark on Thursday has been postponed. This was confirmed by the Norwegian Handball Federation in a press release. Saturday’s rehearsal before the European Championships can still take place.

– The decision is made on the basis of the outcome of the match if the match contributes to the spread of infection, says commercial director Jan-Erik Albo at the Norwegian Handball Federation in press release.

– The risk of injury is small, but the consequences are very large due to the strict rules of the European Championships. This is not a purely medical evaluation, but a comprehensive one, Norway national team doctor Thomas Torgalsen tells VG. According to the doctor, the player with corona will be banned before the European Championship from playing for 11 days from the positive test.

We were very excited to play on Thursday as well, because it will give us a good and important match. However, we consider the consequences very severe if there are cases of infection, says Norway’s director Christian Berg in the press release.

Danish goalkeeper Janik Green tested positive for Corona on Monday.

– We have one injury case, and Norway is concerned about the possibility of more, sporting director Morten Henriksen of the Danish Handball Federation tells Danish TV 2.

There is still some uncertainty about the possibility of more cases. There have been concrete examples of this in handball in several leagues where new cases emerged within three to four and five days, Torgalsen says.

The result, which ended with the cancellation of the match, came at a meeting between the two unions on Wednesday evening. In the Danish camp, they responded to the fact that the decision came too late.

– I am very upset about when the decision was made, says Henriksen and says he was only notified at 22:50 pm on Wednesday.

Although Thursday’s game has been cancelled, Saturday’s settlement is still scheduled to be played as scheduled.

– Target is still playing that match. Before that time, we have a few more days and hopefully both players will test negative, Albo says.

We think five days is safer than three or four. Nothing new happened, but we sat down and discussed all sides of the issue and found that this was the best solution at the moment, Torgalsen says.

– When do you decide if you want to play the match on Saturday?

– We have not decided it, but as I understand it, it will be played if nothing happens with us or with Denmark.

Sander Sagosin contracted coronavirus in October. According to the national team doctor, five to 10 Norwegian EC players are infected with covid-19. But Norway avoided injury during the World Cup finals in Egypt a year ago and during the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer.

Unlike the women’s national team The men’s national team has yet to be injured during a team rally.

Norway opened the European Championship against Slovakia on January 13, continues against Russia two days later and meets Lithuania on January 17. Two of the four countries qualify for the main round of the European Championship. The final will be held in Budapest on January 30th.