22.04.2020 

Corona pandemic forces the LIQUI MOLY HBL to abandon season early

Cologne, April 21, 2020 - The 2019/20 season of the 1st and 2nd Handball-Bundesliga will end with immediate effect. The decision to terminate the season was taken by a very clear majority of the 36 professional clubs. By terminating the 54th season, german professional handball is reacting to the massive restrictions imposed by Covid-19.

The decision by members to abandon the 54th season clears the way for the evaluation of the prematurely ended season by the eight-member presidium of the Handball-Bundesliga e.V.! The abandonment table used for this purpose was drawn up based on the quotient rule after a thorough legal examination. This results in the following scores:  

 

  • THW Kiel is the "German Champion" of the 2019/20 season  

  • SG Flensburg-Handewitt is second in the table and thus also qualified for the Champions League 2020/21  

  • Places 3-5 in the table entitle the player to participate in the Euro League (previously EHF Cup) 2020/21 (SC Magdeburg, TSV Hannover-BurgdorfRhein-Neckar Löwen are qualified) 

  • HSC 2000 Coburg is champion of the 2nd Handball-Bundesliga (2. HBL) 

  • Promoted in LIQUI MOLY HBL: HSC 2000 Coburg and TUSEM Essen (second place)   

  • Relegation rule: There are no sporting relegations from the 1st and 2nd Handball-Bundesliga 

  • Up-and-coming from 3rd division: After consultation with the German Handball Federation, instead of three teams as provided for in the basic agreement, four clubs from the four 3rd leagues will be promoted to the 2. HBL in the coming season 

At this point in time, the seasonal evaluation would result in an increase in LIQUI MOLY HBL from 18 to 20 clubs and in the 2nd Handball Bundesliga from 18 to 19 clubs (HSG Krefeld had not received a license and is now relegated from the 2nd HBL).    

HBL-President Uwe Schwenker: "The primary task for all of us remains to continue to push down the infection rate in a stable manner. Only with extreme discipline we will be able to get the corona virus under control. Of course, we would have loved to finish our season. We have done everything we could to achieve this, but the corona pandemic simply does not allow this at present. It's no longer possible to return to the game at an even later date, as the window of opportunity we would have until 30 June would be too small to give the players any chance whatsoever to prepare themselves for the tough competition in training. That's why the abandonment of the season is very bitter, but there is no alternative."  

 

HBL-Managing Director Frank Bohmann: "After six weeks of corona crisis, our situation remains very serious. Thanks to very good crisis management, we will also master the coming weeks. However, the end of the season underlines the threat we are facing more than ever. It will now be existentially decisive when we can play in front of spectators in our arenas again. We are therefore doing everything we can to get the Corona crisis under control so that the politicians can reassess the situation as soon as possible.” 

 

Information about the HBL events: The All Star Game of German handball, which was supposed to be held on May 16, 2020 in the ZAG Arena Hanover, has been cancelled. The basic ticket price of the 6,000 tickets sold will be refunded to the buyers.   

A new date is to be found for the REWE Final4 2019/20. The decision of the German government last Thursday, which prohibits the staging of major events until at least 31 August 2020, makes it necessary to postpone the REWE Final4 again. A new date has not yet been set, is dependent on the further course of the corona pandemic and will therefore be announced later. Tickets already purchased remain valid. 

 

All 36 clubs and their employees, HBL GmbH and all sponsors and subcontractors hope that the number of new infections will continue to decrease. Connected with this is the hope that the Minister Presidents and the Federal Government will be able to reassess the corona crisis at their next meeting (30 April), which will provide planning security about the start of the 2020/21 season.