Women’s handball: Romania will have two teams in Champions League

Romania will have two teams in the women’s handball Champions League, the 2019-2020 edition, champions SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea and vice-champions CSM Bucharest, the European Handball Federation has announced on Friday.

SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea won the right to play in the group as champions, but CSM Bucharest received a wild card which it requested from the EHF, due to the good evolutions in the competition.

The EHF Executive Committee has confirmed 15 teams, including reigning champions Gyor Audi ETO KC (Hungary), as well as former winners of the trophy such as Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro), Podravka Vegeta Koprivnica (Croatia), CSM Bucharest and RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana (Slovenia) directly into the group stage. Four other teams, including the winner of the Challenge Cup, Rocasa Gran Canaria (Spain), will take part in a qualifying tournament during September 6-8 for the last place in the group.

Besides CSM Bucharest, other teams such as FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (Hungary) and Brest Bretagne Handball (France) have also been promoted from EHF Cup to the Champions League.

The draw will take place on June 27 in Vienna.

The teams to compete in the Champions League are: Gyori Audi ETO KC (Hungary), Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro), Rostov pe Don (Russia), Metz Handball (France), Team Esbjerg (Denmark), Vipers Kristiansand (Norway), SG BBM Bietigheim (Germany), RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana (Slovenia), IK Savehof (Sweden), MKS Perla Lublin (Poland), RK Podravka Vegeta Koprivnica (Croatia), SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea (Romania), FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (Hungary), CSM Bucureşti (Romania), Brest Bretagne Handball (France).

The teams to compete in the qualifying tournament are: Rocasa Gran Canaria (Spain), ZORK Jagodina (Serbia), DHK Banik Most (Czech Republic), Kastamonu GSK (Turkey).