Denmark on Home Ground at the 2015 Women's Handball World Championship
Today, the International Handball Federation, IHF, announced that Denmark will host the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship.
While many Danes are flocking to Sweden these days to support the Danish handball team for men and give them a feeling of playing on home ground, the team’s female counterpart will actually play on home ground in 2015 when Denmark is hosting the Women’s Handball World Championship.
The excitement has hardly worn off since December’s European Women’s Handball Championships in Denmark until the country has once again won the rights to host a major international handball event. In 2015, the Women’s Handball World Championship is marked with red and white in the Danish Handball Federation’s (DHF) calendar.
Secretary General of DHF, Morten Stig Christensen, says from Malmö: “We are looking forward to staging the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship in the wake of all the other major handball events in our hosting portfolio. The staging of the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship is clearly in line with the strategy we have made in cooperation with Sport Event Denmark to attract major international handball events to our country on a regular basis. We are going to stage the 2014 European Men’s Handball Championships as well and now also the Women’s Handball World Championship nearly two years after. And who knows; we may bid for the Men’s Handball World Championships later on”.
Morten Stig Christensen continues with a smile: “These days it is almost impossible to be negative. Over the past few months, both our national teams (women and men) have been a great, and to a certain extent, unexpected sporting success. The Danish handball women were ranked as number four at the 2010 European Women’s Handball Championships and in Malmö, as I speak, our men are warming up for the semi-final of the Men’s Handball World Championship. In general, the Danes have become very enthusiastic with the handball sport. We saw it in December in Herning and we see it now here in Malmö. The ones who are not in the sporting arena are lined up at home in front of the tv. Furthermore, as per 1 February, all our clubs are ready to register the handball stars of tomorrow, when we run our summer handball schools”.
CEO Lars Lundov of Sport Event Denmark, who presented the Danish bid in Malmö today together with DHF, adds: “For DHF the staging of the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship is a great opportunity for growth and development. In addition, the handball sport and Denmark as a tourist and sports event destination are exposed to positive and heavy media coverage thanks to the staging of the event. Furthermore the event adds value to the Danish community thanks to all the international handball visitors travelling to our country. It is worth noticing that handball is an Olympic sport in which the Danish handball women have been a decisive factor in as many as three Olympic Games”.
Major international handball events in Denmark
• Denmark has hosted three European Women’s Handball Championships: 1996, 2002 and 2010 (the latter together with Norway)
• Denmark has jointly hosted the Women’s Handball World Championship in 1999 (Norway, however, had the main part of the tournament)
• Denmark is hosting the European Men’s Handball Championships for the first time in 2014
• Denmark has once before hosted the Men’s Handball World Championship, i.e. back in 1978
For further information, please contact:
Morten Stig Christensen, Secretary General, Mobile no. +45 40 55 66 72
Lars Lundov, CEO, Sport Event Denmark. Mobile no. +45 40 31 48 55
While many Danes are flocking to Sweden these days to support the Danish handball team for men and give them a feeling of playing on home ground, the team’s female counterpart will actually play on home ground in 2015 when Denmark is hosting the Women’s Handball World Championship.
The excitement has hardly worn off since December’s European Women’s Handball Championships in Denmark until the country has once again won the rights to host a major international handball event. In 2015, the Women’s Handball World Championship is marked with red and white in the Danish Handball Federation’s (DHF) calendar.
Secretary General of DHF, Morten Stig Christensen, says from Malmö: “We are looking forward to staging the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship in the wake of all the other major handball events in our hosting portfolio. The staging of the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship is clearly in line with the strategy we have made in cooperation with Sport Event Denmark to attract major international handball events to our country on a regular basis. We are going to stage the 2014 European Men’s Handball Championships as well and now also the Women’s Handball World Championship nearly two years after. And who knows; we may bid for the Men’s Handball World Championships later on”.
Morten Stig Christensen continues with a smile: “These days it is almost impossible to be negative. Over the past few months, both our national teams (women and men) have been a great, and to a certain extent, unexpected sporting success. The Danish handball women were ranked as number four at the 2010 European Women’s Handball Championships and in Malmö, as I speak, our men are warming up for the semi-final of the Men’s Handball World Championship. In general, the Danes have become very enthusiastic with the handball sport. We saw it in December in Herning and we see it now here in Malmö. The ones who are not in the sporting arena are lined up at home in front of the tv. Furthermore, as per 1 February, all our clubs are ready to register the handball stars of tomorrow, when we run our summer handball schools”.
CEO Lars Lundov of Sport Event Denmark, who presented the Danish bid in Malmö today together with DHF, adds: “For DHF the staging of the 2015 Women’s Handball World Championship is a great opportunity for growth and development. In addition, the handball sport and Denmark as a tourist and sports event destination are exposed to positive and heavy media coverage thanks to the staging of the event. Furthermore the event adds value to the Danish community thanks to all the international handball visitors travelling to our country. It is worth noticing that handball is an Olympic sport in which the Danish handball women have been a decisive factor in as many as three Olympic Games”.
Major international handball events in Denmark
• Denmark has hosted three European Women’s Handball Championships: 1996, 2002 and 2010 (the latter together with Norway)
• Denmark has jointly hosted the Women’s Handball World Championship in 1999 (Norway, however, had the main part of the tournament)
• Denmark is hosting the European Men’s Handball Championships for the first time in 2014
• Denmark has once before hosted the Men’s Handball World Championship, i.e. back in 1978
For further information, please contact:
Morten Stig Christensen, Secretary General, Mobile no. +45 40 55 66 72
Lars Lundov, CEO, Sport Event Denmark. Mobile no. +45 40 31 48 55