The board of Skjern Handball is both astonished and shaken by Danish Handball's immediate interpretation of the rules regarding promotion to the Champions League.
When Skjern Handball qualified for the DM final for the sixth time in history last Saturday, the club simultaneously secured the opportunity to apply for a spot in the Champions League in the event of a final loss.
But there has now been a question mark raised over this as a result of a sudden confusion regarding the rules.
Therefore, Skjern director Carsten Thygesen informed the player squad yesterday about the club's very clear stance on the matter.
- The resulting doubt was a blow in relation to Saturday's joy and euphoria. Now we wish and look forward to focusing fully on what we can influence - namely two or three exciting DM finals, says Carsten Thygesen.
Below, you can review Skjern Handball's lawyer Hans Jeppesen's interpretation of the regulations.
First and foremost, Skjern must meet Aalborg, and in the rule analysis below, it is assumed that Aalborg wins the championship - just as they won the regular season.
What do the rules say?
According to EHF's rules, Danish Handball can apply for an additional Danish team to participate in the Champions League.
It is Danish Handball that decides which Danish team to apply for, and therefore the Committee for Professional Handball adopted rules for this in 2021.
In the applicable rules, it is expressly stated that if Denmark were to receive 2 permanent spots in the Champions League and if the same team wins the regular season and the championship, then the 2 permanent spots are awarded to the gold and silver winners.
It does not explicitly state in the rules which team has the right to seek promotion, but it is very much implied - almost obvious - that it may be the same team that would be entitled to an additional permanent spot - namely the silver winners.
It is also the case that members of the Committee for Professional Handball, and several leaders from other league clubs in various contexts have indicated that the rules should be understood.
In other words, the Committee for Professional Handball has intended that if the Danish champions are the same as those who won the regular season, then the right to apply for promotion to the Champions League should go to the silver winners.
Danish Handball's administration believes that it is a prerequisite for being able to apply for promotion to the Champions League that the team is already qualified for participation in the European League.
Contrary to what has emerged from the media, neither EHF's rules nor Danish Handball's own rules contain such a prerequisite.
It follows from Danish Handball's rules that spots in the Champions League are first allocated and then spots in the European League, where Denmark is allocated 3 permanent spots.
Thus, the rules imply that if Skjern Handball wins the silver medals, then Danish Handball must apply for Skjern Handball to participate in the Champions League.
