Teams confirmed for EHF EURO 2012 Qualification

TEAMS CONFIRMED FOR EHF EURO 2012 QUALIFICATION

A total of 30 teams are to compete for the right to qualify for the final round of the Women’s EHF European Championship, which will take place in the Netherlands in December 2012.

In addition, the Netherlands have already qualified as host nation and Norway, the reigning champions, have qualified automatically.

The registration phase for EHF EURO 2012 Qualification is now complete and the following nations will compete:

Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey and the Ukraine.

Round 1 of Qualification will take place from 3-5 June 2011 and will involve the national teams of Israel, Greece, Great Britain and Finland. Two teams from this tournament will go through to Round 2 of the EHF EURO 2012 Qualification.

16 teams will play at the Women’s EHF European Championships, and with two teams already qualified, there are 14 places available through Qualification, which will be played home and away on 19 – 23 October 2011, 21 – 25 March 2012 and 30 May – 3 June 2012.

The Draw for EHF EURO 2012 Qualification will take place on 27 April 2011 in the Netherlands.

Based on rankings from the last three top women's events, including the Women’s EHF EURO 2008 and 2010 and the Women’s IHF World Championship in China in 2009, the teams will be drawn in the following pots:

Pot 1
Russia, Romania, Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden and Germany

Pot 2
Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Ukraine, FYR Macedonia, Austria and Serbia

Pot 3
Belarus, Slovakia, Portugal, Iceland, Slovenia, Turkey and Poland

Pot 4
Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Greece*, Great Britain*, Finland* and Israel*.

* Two from four teams will qualify from Round 1.