As the President of the Polish Handball Federation I would like to invite all of you to Poland in the year 2016. PHF is an organization with strong historical traditions and a lasting place on the sports map of the country, Europe and the world. It is also open to the new ideas, modernity and organizational challenges. Challenges such as hosting the 12th EHF Men's European Championship!

 

Recent years have brought us many successes of the Polish men's national team - vice championship of the world in 2007 in Germany, World Championship bronze medal two years later in Croatia, fifth position in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and fourth place in the Euro 2010 in Austria. These results had a direct influence on the increase of the popularity of handball in Poland. Nowadays thousands of fans of the game support our players in the sports halls all over the country and millions of them cheers for their favorites in front of the TV screens. For our over 38-million nation, handball - thanks to its versatility, clear rules and universal-modern form of communication - has become almost a national discipline. Among all the stars of the Polish sport, the best handball players became one of the most recognizable. Our discipline gained the undisputable sympathy of the fans, media, local and national authorities.

 

It all resulted in the fact that people of Poland started to dream of the Men's Handball European Championship taking place in our country. Of course we all share that dream, at the same time being sure that we will be a great host for the best handball players and fans from all over the world. I am sure that Poland deserved to be the host of such a fascinating event. In these eorts Polish Handball Federation has the full support of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Polish Olympic Committee. Poland is a rapidly growing country of the European Union with a number of sports-serving investments. We already have plenty of experience in organizing major sports tournaments, which also resulted in the development of the new sports arenas and in the unprecedented growth of communication and hotel networks. Hosting the 12th EHF Men's European Championship would be a great chance for further development of the Polish handball. We guarantee a high level performance and an atmosphere of cordiality and friendship. We would love to share our country's culture and the hospitality of our people with all the members of the great handball family. I truly hope that will we all meet in Poland in the year 2016.

 

Andrzej Krasnicki

President of the Polish Olympic Committee

President of the Polish Handball Federation

 

Why Poland?

With a great pleasure and hope, we would like to submit Polish application for the organization of the Men's EHF EURO 2016.

In February 1958 our men's national team participated for the first time in the World Championship. In 1976 came the first big success - the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Montreal, followed by the third place at the 1982 Word Championship in Germany. Last years brought the excellent results for Polish team led by charismatic coach Bogdan Wenta.

Today, these historic times seem to be distant, but our great tradition was passed to the younger generations of players, coaches and officials. It all translates into the development of handball in Poland and the struggle for its popularity among all the team sports.

We care about the popularization of our discipline and we want to ensure its optimum conditions for further growth. For sure, hosting the EHF EURO 2016 would be one of the best opportunities for a direct contact with handball at the highest level for all the fans and, what is even more important, for all the young people. Let their choice will be just handball!

We can guarantee an innovative and professionally organized tournament which will stay in your memories for many years. In our efforts we have the full support of the Polish government, local authorities, Polish Olympic Committee and a strategic group of sponsors, which allows us to meet the financial aspects of the event organization.

Poland is one of the biggest countries of the European Union, fast-growing, very attractive to tourists, known for its friendliness. A country with more than one thousand years of history and culture. We already have the infrastructure and logistics facilities fulfilling all the requirements of the International Handball Federation. We can provide a varied standard of the hotels, from luxury accommodation to international chains of tourist class hotels. In our offer we also have social events and cultural activities.

The decision to award our country with the right to host the EHF EURO 2016 would be a great, historical opportunity for the Polish handball, and a magnificent reward for our great fans and of course the Polish Handball Federation itself. Dear handball friends, we all look forward to welcome you to Poland in the year 2016.