SWEDEN, December 2, 2016 - As 16 teams arrive in four cities around Sweden, ready for the Women’s EHF EURO 2016 to throw off on Sunday, EHF officials and delegates are hard at work applying the finishing touches to their preparation.

After 1.65 billion people were reached around the world to follow the men’s teams in their quest to claim the European title in January, the Women’s EHF EURO 2016 is expected to be a big success – but that success relies on the details.

“Preparation for the European Championship is very serious. We are here for four days, from the 30th of November to the 4th of December. We prepare the new regulations, new Rules of the Game, everything important for the teams,” said newly elected Chairman of the Competitions Commission, Bozidar Djurkovic.

All EHF officials began their EHF EURO in Stockholm, where Group A featuring Sweden, Serbia, Spain and Slovenia will play the preliminary round. The first day of preparation included the Fair Play Commitment from delegates and referees, followed by lectures presented by members of the EHF Competitions Commission, theoretical tests, and individual coaching for referees.

The 12 referee pairs nominated for the event will complete their physical fitness test on Friday, before taking part in a mental preparation workshop and travelling to their respective host cities on Saturday. Delegates have also been kept busy meeting with members of the local organising committee, and will spend Friday in workshops.

Final site visits and venue preparations are to take place on Saturday in Malmö and Helsingborg, while test matches will be played in Stockholm and Kristianstad. The last piece of the puzzle falls into place with the 1st Technical Meetings to be held on Saturday and Sunday prior to each groups’ throw off.

“[There are] new rules of the game, new teams, new EHF teams: new competition chairman, new competition commission. It will be very interesting,” said Djurkovic. “We are expecting a very, very tough championship.”