They thought, hoped to be rid of it. 24 months ago, the Egyptian World Cup took place behind closed doors. A year ago, the virus had rotted the Euro in Hungary with positive cases and drastic isolations in hotel rooms for all delegations. France had paid a high price for it. But the 28th Handball World Championship (January 11 to 29), which takes place in Poland and Sweden, is once again under the sign of the Covid. The IHF, the international federation, imposes still terrible conditions on all teams.
To start the World Cup, everyone (players and staff) must present a negative PCR test, vaccinated or not. The Blues passed the tests before boarding the plane on Monday morning and all are negative. All will then be tested regularly throughout the competition. In the event of a symptom and a positive PCR, the patient will have to stay 5 days in isolation in his hotel room. It is the guarantee, in this case, to miss a complete round or the knockout matches from the quarter-finals.
Clearly, the Covid will disrupt the tournament especially since at the same time, no preventive measures are taken. No sanitary bubble is planned, the teams are accommodated in hotels open to anonymous customers without compulsory masks. As the virus circulates, escaping it will be a matter of performance: “It is incomprehensible to be the only sport to stand out from the others in a life where we have come out of protocols and restrictions, enrages Guillaume Gille, the coach of the Blues. We are forced to go through a front door, to show a negative test in order to be able to start this global campaign. We know that we are not in a bubble, nor in Covid protocol. The proof, I’m talking to you a few centimeters away when you’re not wearing a mask and neither am I. »
“I regret that the IHF has not heard the general call to change the protocol”
A year ago, the coach, who tested positive himself, had remained cloistered in his room for long days just like Valentin Porte and Kentin Mahé. “By not putting as one and only criterion the fact of being negative to a PCR test, we will have to deploy – and not only at home – positive cases which will taint the competition and annoy our daily lives, enrages Gille. Common sense would be to practice medicine. People who are sick or who have symptoms, we don’t make them train or play. And we keep moving forward. I regret that the IHF has not heard the general call to modify the protocol. »
The Blues especially regret that all the disciplines are not housed in the same boat: “We want to wash more white than white and I do not see the reason, still plagues the coach of the Olympic champions. During the month and a half of the World Cup in Qatar, we only talked about football. I have not once heard the words “Covid” or “PCR test”. Instead, he quips, we just mentioned the famous “air conditioning virus” you know, this virus well known to doctors which requires drastic isolation. “We understand the allusion… For the coach of the Olympic champions, this “air conditioning virus” which affected the French at the end of the tournament could just as well be the Covid.