“The executive board decided unanimously to stay in the tournament. We took part in two games that were unfair to the Slovenian team. At the first game, the criteria were questionable, while the second game saw a material violation of the rules of the sport. Unfortunately, both of our appeals have been rejected. We were not surprised. However, we decided to remain in the European Championship for the benefit of our players, our fans, and the public,” explained RZS President Franjo Bobinac at a news conference.

Bobinac added that Slovenia will continue its legal appeal at the European Handball Federation’s Board of Arbitration and may even seek a verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

A coalition of the willing for change
Bobinac also announced that RZS will try to create a coalition of “willing countries” that will call for a change in handball rules. “The changes must minimize the subjective role of the referees. We have a situation where we have professional players who are refereed by amateurs. Handball is a wonderful sport with 115 million fans throughout Europe, so it deserves a change for the better,” concluded Bobinac.

The RZS decision was met with approval from the Slovenian team, which beat Montenegro 28:19 on Wednesday to advance to round two. In round two, the team will play three games in Varaždin against Denmark, Spain and the Czech Republic.

Romanian and Lithuanian referees had made things difficult for the Slovenian team
Slovenians first lost against Macedonia (24:25). After viewing a recording of the game, Slovenian coach Veselin Vujović identified at least 19 errors made by the Romanian referees. In the game against Romania, the Slovenians were already celebrating a 25:24 win when the Germans filed an appeal. After viewing the video, the Lithuanians gave a red card to Blaž Blagotinšek, who was not removed three meters from the German player making a free throw. They also awarded Germany a seven-meter penalty, which was enough for the Germans to tie. The penalty for the Slovenians should only have been a two-minute suspension and a repeat of the throw-off.

Slovenia’s appeal rejected twice
RZS filed an appeal with the disciplinary Board of the European Handball Federation (EHF), but the appeal was rejected on Tuesday. The second appeal was also unsuccessful. In a statement, EHF wrote that the decision of the referees was made in the given moment and that the referees had video analysis available. “The referees’ decisions are final, so the commission rejects RZS’s appeal,” read the statement. RZS will now call for arbitration in the case.