2022 European Women's Handball Championship

The bidding timeline was as follows:[7]

• 1 May 2017: Bidding nations to provide official expression of interest in the hosting of the tournament
• 1 July 2017: Bidding manuals sent to all bidding federations
• 1 November 2017: Deadline for completed bidding and application documentation to be provided to the EHF office
• 15 December 2017: Applications to be approved at the EHF executive committee in Hamburg
• 20 June 2018: appointment of host(s) of EHF Euro 2022 at the 14th ordinary EHF Congress in Glasgow, Scotland

On 4 May 2017 it was announced that the following nations had sent in an official expression of interest:[8]

• Macedonia

However, when the deadline for submitting the final bids was over, the following applications had been received:

• Slovenia, Macedonia & Montenegro

On the 20 June 2018, Macedonia, Slovenia and Montenegro won the hosting rights.[9][10]

Voting Results

Bids
	Votes[11]
Slovenia, Macedonia & Montenegro	41
Votes against the bid	1
Total	42

Country	Qualified as	Date of qualification	Previous appearances in tournament1
Slovenia	Co-hosts	20 June 2018	7 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2020)
North Macedonia	Co-hosts		5 (1998, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2012)
Montenegro	Co-hosts		6 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Norway	2020 champions	20 December 2020	14 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Netherlands	Group 3 top two	4 March 2022	8 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Poland	Group 1 top two		7 (1996, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Denmark	Group 2 top two	5 March 2022	14 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Switzerland	Group 1 top two	6 March 2022	0 (debut)
France	Group 4 top two		11 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Sweden	Group 6 top two	20 April 2022	12 (1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Germany	Group 3 top two	21 April 2022	14 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Spain	Group 5 top two		11 (1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Hungary			14 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Serbia	Group 6 top two	23 April 2022	8 (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Romania	Group 2 top two	24 April 2022	13 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Croatia	Group 4 top two		11 (1994, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

The pots were announced on 25 April 2022.[13]

The All Star Team and awards were announced on 20 November 2022.[20]

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Cléopatre Darleux
Left wing	Emma Friis
Left back	Cristina Neagu
Centre back	Stine Bredal Oftedal
Right back	Katrin Klujber
Right wing	Jovanka Radičević
Pivot	Pauletta Foppa
Best defense player	Kathrine Heindahl
Most valuable player	Henny Reistad

During their final training before the match against Slovenia, the Serbian players discovered in the stands two cardboard boxes in which someone had cut small holes. In one box was a mobile phone, and in the other a tablet, both recording with the camera pointed down towards the field. The Serbian federation immediately submitted a complaint to the EHF, which asked the Slovenians for an explanation.[23] The Slovenians admitted that it was their camera and apologized for the camera being there, but denied that it was deliberate spying on the opponent. According to the Slovenian federation, the camera was supposed to film a surprise party for a member of the EC delegation who had a birthday. Slovenia received a warning after the incident and EHF spokesman Thomas Schöneich said it "casts a shadow on our entire sport".[24]

Germany, Poland and Spain finished the preliminary round in group D with the same number of points and the teams advancing to the main round were determined based on goal difference and head-to-head results. During the last match of the group, between Germany and Spain, the Spaniards were leading with 20–23 with one minute left and Spain having the attack. A 3 goals victory for Spain would have meant advancing to the main round together with Poland and zero points, while a 2 goals victory for Spain would have qualified Germany along Spain and two points.[25] Leading by three goals and knowing a two goal win would see them advance to the Main Round with 2 points, Spain would let Germany score on them in the last seconds to win 23–21. The incident received widespread criticism in both Poland and abroad. However, the EHF decided not to investigate the situation.[26]

There were some teams that were unhappy with the refereeing decisions in their games. In the preliminary round, after the Netherlands won 29–28 against Romania, Cristina Neagu, captain of the latter, criticized the referees' performance during the game, calling it ”weird, I understood nothing of it”.[27]

Later in the tournament, Romania faced Montenegro in the main round in Skopje, in a controversial match that ended with a 34–35 victory for Montenegro. Austrian referees Ana Vranes and Marlis Wenninger were widely criticized by Romanian press for their performances. Romanian press described the referees' performance as ”absolutely scandalous”, with ”several decisions during the first half that cannot be explained.”[28] [29] After the match, Cristina Neagu posted a message on her social media accounts, saying ″Romania deserves more respect. I deserve more respect. What happened last night goes far beyond fair play and respect, values that I cherish so much in our sport. Sad moment for handball in general″[30] Outside of Romania, Norwegian handball expert Gunnar Pettersen discussed the incident in the local press, saying ”I have seen a lot of weak judging in my career, but this one takes the cake (...) It is a judgment I have never seen the likes of.” Norwegian player Maren Aardahl also commented: ”I think it's incredible that they don't see a double dribble. It is one of the most basic rules in handball. It is unbelievable and incomprehensible.”[31]

A few days later, before their game against Germany, the Romanian players prepared a protest: they wanted to wear white T-shirts with the message ″Respect our work″ during the training. Their protest was discouraged by the Romanian staff, who feared a possible long-term sanction against the delegation.[32] The Romanian players didn't proceed with their protest plans, but posted a picture of them wearing the white T-shirts after the game.[33]

Constantin Din, president of the Romanian Handball Federation, a former referee himself, initially criticized the way Romania was refereed during the competition. Following the match against Montenegro, he said that ″there were over 30 refereeing mistakes on both sides, most of them affecting us, such arbitration has no place at a European Championship.″ During a press conference, he claimed that ″We discussed with the members of the European Federation, we expressed our dissatisfaction... We didn't even get to the point, because they apologized.″[34] However, a few days later he backtracked and claimed that ″There was no robbery. The referees helped us more than Montenegro.″[35]

Later in the tournament, in the bronze medal match, where Montenegro beat France, 27–25, after extra time, some of the French team criticised their referees for their performances. French coach Olivier Krumbholz claimed that ”clearly, they had 9 players on court all the time (...) I am very sad for handball today because we as a sport fell very low in the quality of refereeing. Those teams who play at home can do anything they want on court.”[36] Captain Estelle Nze Minko said that she feels ”disgusted” after this match, „Really, I have a feeling of injustice (...) I have the feeling that their whole ride worked. Staying on the ground, pulling away, falling, everything worked.”[37] Fellow French player, Grace Zaadi, said: ”Tonight, there were a lot of things happening, it's absurd. In the end, you have to fight to get back to the score, but you also have to fight against the referee. It's complicated. I don't I don't want to say the word stolen, but I don't think we were helped either."[38]