The European Handball Federation (EHF) has confirmed that it has received three bids spanning seven countries for the 2024 edition of the Women’s EHF Euro national team tournament.
Russia has submitted a bid to host the tournament on its own, while a joint bid has been proposed by Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have also submitted a joint bid.
Russia finished second at the 2018 tournament in France and is bidding to host the competition for the first time. Russia has proposed that Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Saint Petersburg and Moscow host matches, with the latter’s 12,000-seat VTB Arena Park having been put forward as the venue for the final.
Hungary hosted the Women’s EHF Euro in 2004 before co-hosting alongside Croatia in 2014. Its proposed co-hosts, Austria and Switzerland, have never staged the event before.
Under the proposal, Basel in Switzerland, Innsbruck in Austria and Debrecen in Hungary will stage preliminary round matches, with Budapest and Debrecen to stage the main round. An under-construction, 20,000-seat venue in Budapest, due to open in 2021, has been proposed to stage the final.
Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have never hosted the Women’s EHF Euro and their joint bid for the 2024 competition includes seven cities. The Polish cities of Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow have been proposed, along with Ostrava in Czech Republic and Bratislava, Samorin and Banska Bystrica in Slovakia.
Federations were invited to pitch to host the 2024 event back in April. The tournament will mark the first time that a women’s event has been contested by 24 teams.
Each of the three bids will now be evaluated by the EHF over the next two months, with site visits to be carried out to assess the countries’ suitability. The EHF Executive Committee will reveal the winning bid at its committee meeting on November 21.
The Women’s EHF Euro takes place every two years. The most recent edition was held in 2018 in France, with the host nation lifting the title.
The 2020 event will be held in Denmark and Norway, while the 2022 edition will be co-hosted by Slovenia, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro.
