Africa-Press – Eswatini. The draw for the 28th edition of the Senior Men’s Handball World Championship is scheduled for July 2, in the Polish city of Katowice, competition to be held from January 11 to 29, 2023, in a co-organization of Poland and Sweden.
The event under the aegis of the International Federation of the sport (IHF) has the participation of 32 countries, and a total of 108 matches are scheduled. Nine host cities, Katowice, Krakow, Plock, Gdansk (Poland), Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Jönköping and Kristianstad (Sweden), all still subject to inspection, will host the competition.
“It will be the biggest event in the history of handball in Poland, as it is the first held in the country. We will welcome fans from Spain, Norway and Germany, especially during the preliminary round, if they qualify for the World Cup. you will find in Katowice/Silesia and Krakow/Malopolska the great Polish hospitality, famous all over the world”, assured the Polish leader, Grzegorz Gutkowski.
Sweden, in turn, intends to host the IHF competition in the best possible way, after the experience at Euro’2020. It is the fifth time that Sweden has hosted the World Cup.
“We will put more emphasis on the finals in Stockholm. Our aim is to make the world stop during the games. Together with Poland, we want to create a concept of handball/versus entertainment of the highest level, cooperation with hospitality facilities The finals, at the Tele 2 Arena, will include four matches, where you will be ranked from first to eighth in the league table”, explained Krister Bergström, head of handball Sweden.
Ticket sales in Poland and Sweden started on the 18th of last month. The opening match will be played in Poland and the closing match in Sweden. Among the participants, highlight to Denmark, current champion, as it is already qualified for the tournament. Sweden, also already qualified, is runner-up in the World Cup in Egypt.
Mascot “Peace”
The mascot of the World Cup is a red squirrel named “Pax”, which means Peace in Latin. Dressed in a dark blue shirt, white shorts and blue sneakers, Pax will act as a handball player, wearing the number 23 jersey.
Regarding the choice of name, fans of the sport had three options to choose from: Pax, “Sticky” and “Sweski”. After the Local Organizing Committees collected name suggestions on social media, Pax was chosen for the mascot of the IHF’2023 Men’s World Cup.
“It was a symbolic choice and it is also proof of the awareness and sensitivity of the fans, who participated in the survey”, reads on the website of the International Federation.
On the African continent, the countries qualified for the 2023 World Cup will be announced in July, after the African Cup of Nations (CAN). After the withdrawal of the CAN organization to the kingdom of Morocco, the African Confederation should announce, in the coming days, the country that will host the men’s CAN.
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