Wiederer: “We broadened the level at the top significantly”

“For the handball fan, this EURO is a dream,” superstar Mathias Gidsel said, for example. How do you assess the tournament so far from a sporting perspective?

Michael Wiederer: “Let’s take the final match day of the main round. Switzerland kept fighting until the very last second, even though it was only about final ranking. The same applied to Norway against Denmark — they kept up the pace right to the end and put on a great show until the final whistle. Spectators appreciate this honesty from the players, who give everything they have, without simulating or complaining.”

The semi-final line-up is unusual: All European champions since 2016 have missed out on the semi-finals, and major nations such as France or Spain have to play the World Championship qualification. Has everything become more balanced?

Michael Wiederer: “What the European Handball Federation can be proud of is that we have managed to broaden the top level significantly, so that anyone can beat anyone. Semi-finalists Germany struggled in the preliminary round against Austria, who finished 16th, and even lost to Serbia. The Faroe Islands delivered strong performances, Italy won a European Championship match for the first time since 1998 and suddenly even Denmark lost. That means the overall quality has clearly increased, the pace is much higher — and that naturally makes the matches more attractive.

“There is another important factor that added to the excitement: The qualification for the next World Championship. Who finishes among the top 16 teams to be placed in pot 1, and who avoids the earlier phase of the qualification? As a result, all matches in both the preliminary and main rounds were fiercely contested, even when the very top positions were not at stake.”

Several new referee pairs were appointed. How do you generally assess the referees’ performances?

Michael Wiederer: “Very positively. Especially the new referees showed a high level at their first European Championship. Of course, there are mistakes in individual matches, but that has always been the case — it is a normal part of the sport. Due to the much higher tempo, there are far more actions and, above all, far more goals, which naturally creates a higher likelihood for mistakes to happen from players and referees alike. Officiating the game is a complex task, because so many things happen at the same time.”

The EHF Executive Committee will decide on Saturday on a new officiating structure. What are the reasons behind this?

Michael Wiederer: “We have been dealing with the overall structure for some time, because decision-making processes have become much more complex. This concerns technical support tools such as goal-light technology — which was used, for example, during the famous timeout by Alfred Gislason — to video replay and the many other tools that support our officials. On the court, our DNA remains the same, but around it technology plays a much bigger role. We need this because everything has simply become faster and more complex.

“However, everyone involved in working with these technologies needs to be trained. When do I use which tool? How many angles do I look at as a referee during a video review? Our task is to provide the environment in which everything works — technology and people together. That is why, over the coming months, we want to build a new structure within the EHF to implement, for example, these training and development measures.”

A second topic to be evaluated by the EHF EXEC is the introduction of a Players’ Board. To what extent does the EHF want to integrate players into its decision-making processes?

Michael Wiederer: “So far we have only been dealing with players’ unions, but it is often unclear whom they represent. In Denmark, probably all players; in other countries, there is no clear structure, and in some cases players are not represented at all. That is why we want to take a step forward by establishing a Players’ Board with female and male players, which will also send representatives to the Professional Handball Board and the Women’s Handball Board. We want to integrate players better and we want to be able to convey information to them. At the moment, we are not able to do that effectively.”

There were some critics recently who said that only the same countries organise EHF EURO final tournaments. What is the reason for this and what is your opinion?

Michael Wiederer: “The Scandinavian countries, as well as Germany, organise events with large audiences that are also economically valuable for the organisers. In addition, there are not many countries that stage high-quality tournaments for both men and women. Those countries are Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany. These nations have a strong interest in hosting because they know that many spectators will attend. From our point of view, it is important to have full arenas and experienced organisers.

“What reinforces this impression, however, is the fact that the IHF now organises almost all tournaments in Europe. This naturally means that experienced organisers host a large number of events, and that also applies to the Scandinavian countries.”

This means those organisers know how to attract fans?

Michael Wiederer: “Why do fans attend sporting events? Firstly, because of their own team, and secondly, because of the overall experience. And they get that experience in Cologne or in Herning. They get it at European Championships when they are organised the way they are here. As a sport, we have had to learn to find a sensible balance between the pure sporting side — because our DNA must be preserved — and everything around it.”

In the future, there will be new hosts — Portugal again for the first time since 1994 (in 2028) and Czechia in 2030. How important are new arenas for European Championships?

Michael Wiederer: “That’s correct, we will be guests in different countries. In the women’s competition, where the situation is slightly different, we deliberately steered the EHF EURO 2026 towards a format with five hosts, none of which could organise a tournament with 24 teams on their own. Ultimately, that is why we decided to have more organisers. In this way, we are once again putting more countries on the map — just as we are doing in 2028 and 2030 with the men’s events.”

Photos © kolektiff images/Eva Manhart/Jozo Cabraja/Filip Viranovski