Qatar 2015 draw set for July 20 in Doha

By Sports Reporter/DohaThe draw for the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship will take place at Ritz-Carlton Hotel on July 20, 2014.After the previous site inspection by the International Handball Federation, the location for the evening gala event — the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Doha — was approved and confirmed. The venue has already played host to the IHF Congress in 2013 and was IHF officials’ hotel several times during IHF Super Globe events in Doha. As part of the programme, the heads of delegations of all 24 participating teams will be invited not only to the draw event, but also on a tour to see the venues and the team hotels, which is a first. So all questions regarding accommodation, transport, logistic, competition and training will be answered on-site around the draw event.Ahmed al-Shaabi, vice president of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship, said, “The world of handball will have all eyes on Doha, and the Organising Committee and the Qatar Handball Association will give a warm welcome to all 24 nations which will participate in this prestigious event and will represent their teams at the draw in Doha. We are eagerly awaiting the result of the last steps on the road to Qatar in Europe, Oceania and Pan America.”“This draw event will set another global milestone on the road to Qatar 2015,” said Patric Strub, competitions manager at the IHF Head Office in Basel after the inspection in Doha.So far 11 of 24 participants of the World Championship have confirmed. The qualification process will continue with the Oceania Continental Championship, where one spot for Qatar 2015 will be determined. Nine spots will be decided during the European play-offs, played on June 7-8 and June 14-15. The final three spots will be confirmed in Montevideo, Uruguay, upon the conclusion of the Pan-American Championships from June 22-29.The six pots for the draw will be allocated according to the IHF seeding list, including reigning world champion Spain and European champion France seeded in row 1. Each continent has so-called performance and compulsory places based upon the results of the 2013 World Championship in Spain.The performance row of World Championship host Qatar (row 3) will finalise the draw, as according to IHF regulations the hosting nation can choose the preliminary round group after all other rows have been drawn.“It will be a pleasure to know on July 20 which opponents our rising Qatari team will face in the first stage of the tournament. We are willing to be a host full of fair play and hospitality, but it is the clear goal of handball in Qatar to qualify for the eight-finals. We are well-prepared from organisational and sporting point of view for the World Championships,” said Dr. Thani Abdulrahman al-Kuwari, director general of the Qatar 2015 Organising Committee, adding: “The draw itself will be a remarkable event just like the mascot and countdown launch events. Qatar will showcase its abilities to the world: we are ready for the tournament.”Hosts Qatar will kick off the proceedings on January 15, 2015. The preliminary round will be played in four groups with six teams each at four venues – Al Sadd, Lusail Multipurpose Arena, Qatar Handball Association Complex and Aspire Dome. For the first time ever at a Men’s World Championship all venues are in one city – Doha. Teams ranking fifth and sixth in the preliminary round continue in the President’s Cup to determine positions 17 to 24. The four best ranked teams from each group clinch their berth for the round of 16.