Sweden fell in the EC semi-final against France on Friday evening after great drama in the final seconds.
Blågult then chose to send in a protest against not using the VAR system at a crucial stage – where French Elohim Prandis lifted more than a foot before the shot was fired.
Now they have received a response from the European Handball Federation – which rejects the protest.
“A judgment and not an obligation”
“After careful evaluation of the situation, it has been established that it is the judgment of the EHF judges and not the obligation to use the VR technology. VR is only used when the referees have serious doubts about making the right decision or when they cannot see the situation correctly,” says a press release.
Sweden’s national team manager Hanna Fogelström:
– We understood that the chances of getting the protest through were small, but still wanted to clearly show where we stand in terms of fair play, she says in a press release.
Not appealing
Sweden had the opportunity to appeal the decision but chose not to – but the case will be taken further.
– We will not appeal this decision, as we judge that there is no factual basis in today’s regulations. However, we will take this further after the championship and make an official letter to the EHF to get a change to the rules so that they become more clear and help handball become even better. We need to be clear that we do not intend to accept this in the future, says Fredrik Rapp, chairman of the Swedish Handball Association.
CLIP: SVT Sports experts’ criticism of the referees