At the start of November the 29-year-old Barcelona player underwent a meniscus surgery. His participation at the European Handball Championship has been doubtful since day 1. Dolenec started an intensive recovery program immediately after the surgery and has been with the national team during its preparations from the very beginning. Together with the team’s medical-therapy staff he did everything to try be prepared for the handball championship in Croatia.

However, despite the effort, the results of Monday’s check-up in Barcelona showed that his knee is not completely healed and that playing at the European Handball Championship would pose a great risk. Both the Slovenian and Spanish medical teams agree with the results.

"The initial assessment after the surgery was that I would need around 3 months to recover, which is why we immediately started looking for additional solutions to try shorten the recovery period. The doctors in Barcelona found that the knee was in much better condition than expected. This was also confirmed by the Slovenian medical staff. However, the knee is still not in a state that would allow me to compete at the highest level, which is why I will sadly have to miss the European Handball Championship. I’m very disappointed. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity to play in such a tournament so close to Slovenia and in front of so many Slovenian fans. I believe our boys will play very well, and I wish that Slovenians come out to support them in big numbers," said Dolenec.

Coach Veselin Vujović is also disappointed: "We feared that Jure Dolenec would not be prepared for the European championship, and that has happened now. It’s a big loss for our team, but the young players have a chance now to prove and show that they have the strength and will to replace Dolenec’s absence. We expect Vid Kavtičnik’s situation to improve and that he’ll be able to play at the championship. We have no time to despair, we’re always ready to fight and we’ll see where that takes us."

Previously, also due to injuries, Slovenia lost Vid Poteko and Matej Gaber.