President of the Romanian Handball Federation (FRH), Constantin Din, told a press conference on Monday that 2026 will be "a landmark year" for Romanian handball, as the country will host three major final tournaments: the European Men's U-20 Championship, the Women's U-18 World Championship, and the European Women's Championship.
"We start in July with the European Men's Youth Championship in Cluj-Napoca and Turda, then at the beginning of August we will finally organize a Women's Junior World Championship with 32 teams in Pitesti, Mioveni, Ramnicu Valcea and Craiova, followed in December by two groups of the European Senior Championship," Din said. "It's a very important European Championship, which also helps a lot in terms of our main goal, that of qualifying for the Olympic Games. Never have we organized in Romania three such important events in the same year," he explained.
The FRH official also announced the launch of the volunteer recruitment campaign for the three tournaments. "We need professionalism, we need to grow our handball community and we all need to take advantage of these final tournaments. We need hundreds of volunteers, the more volunteers there are, the better the organization will be. We should not minimize their role at all. With their support, we can have a better organization, but at the same time we want this handball community to grow, and this is a good opportunity," Din added.
Ticket sales for the European Women's Championship are already encouraging. "At the moment there are almost 3,000 tickets sold. We are by far the first among the five organizing countries with the highest number of tickets sold," Din said.
He thanked Narcisa Lecusanu, member of the International Handball Federation Executive Committee, for supporting Romania's bid to host the Women's U-18 World Championship. "I hope that the international federation will be satisfied with the way in which we are involved in the organization of this world championship," Din went on to say.
In her turn, Lecusanu emphasized that Romania deserves to host the event. "I know it is very difficult for the Romanian Handball Federation to organize it, because there are no less than 32 teams and there is little hotel infrastructure, but thanks to your professionalism, the World Championship is coming to us. I hope that as many volunteers as possible will come (...) we must feel proud," she stated.
Former national team player Aurelia Bradeanu encouraged young people to volunteer. "I can tell you from experience how much organization at the highest level matters. Behind each game is a team that makes everything possible... for young people it is an opportunity to be part of a major competition," she said.
Player Sorina Grozav also urged broad participation. "For us it is a responsibility and a privilege to play in front of our own spectators. Even if volunteers are not in the foreground, they are important to us. We expect as many of them as possible, not only the young but also the older ones, to join us in organizing the tournament," Grozav said.
During the press conference, coach Ileana Morari received the title of emeritus sports coach after 35 years of activity.
Romania will host the European Men's U-20 Handball Championship (July 8 - 19) in Cluj-Napoca and Turda, the Women's U-18 World Championship (July 29 - August 9) in Pitesti, Mioveni, Ramnicu Valcea and Craiova, and the European Women's Championship (December 3 - 20), organized together with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey, with matches in Oradea and Cluj-Napoca.
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