Men & Women Championships as a combined event!

The European Championships for Men and Women – Division A – will take place in the same place, in the same days.

Plans for the upcoming months continue to develop. As consequence of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 have been postponed to summer 2021. This led to a small postponement of another important event: the European Championships for Men and Women – Division A.

After long discussions, the final dates and the location for the event have been confirmed. This year, we will see the Women and the Men championships take place as a combined event. Both championships will act as a qualification for World Championship 2022, Dubai, UAE.

IWBF Europe has the honour to inform that the 22nd European Championship Men and the 17th European Championship Women has been awarded to FEDDF – Federación Española de Deportes de Personas con Discapacidad Física. IWBF Europe would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and availability of FEDDF in organizing the event. After starting with “only” the preparation of the Men Championship, the Spanish Federation achieved a bigger goal than planned: hosting the combined event, which will take place in Madrid, Spain, from December 2nd to December 13th, 2021.

After merging the Women Championships – Division A and B – six will be the national teams participating. Spain, France and Turkey will have to fight for the European title and for a ticket for the World Championship against the current World and European medals holders. At the previous Women World Championship in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018 and Women European Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2019, the podium was conquered by the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany.

On the Men’s side, twelve national teams will participate. Ten are the spots already covered: current world and European champion Great Britain, 2019 European silver medallist Spain, 2019 European bronze medallist Turkey, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Israel. The remaining two available spots will be decided at the European Championship Men – Division B planned for the summer.

Special measures are being prepared by FEDDF and the Local Organizing Committee, in collaboration with IWBF Europe, to ensure that the event will proceed with safety and the health of everyone participating in mind. The decision on whether to allow spectators at the games will come in the next months based on the evolution of the Coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the top championships for national teams at European level!