By Duncan Mackay

A decision on which countries will host the 2019 World Championships is due to be held at the International Handball Federation in DohaOctober 25 - Norway and Sweden have withdrawn their bid to host the 2019 men's World Handball Championships and instead thrown their support behind the joint application from Denmark and Germany.


The decision cements the hopes of Denmark and Germany, which was already the favourite to be awarded the event following their decision earlier this month to join forces having originally launched separate bids.

It leaves Poland and another joint bid, from Hungary and Slovakia, as their only opponents when the International Handball Federation (IHF) ruling Executive Committee votes on a host at its Congress in Doha on Monday (October 28).

"We find the cooperation between Denmark and Germany to be a highly interesting project," said Karl-Arne Johannessen, President of the Norwegian Handball Federation.

"To underline this statement and to simplify the awarding process for IHF, we will withdraw our application for men's World Championships 2019 and strongly support the Danish-German project."

The decision has been welcomed by the Danish and German campaign.

"Together we have created a strong vision for the World Championship in 2019, but more than that we have a solid plan to expand our great sport," said Per Bertelsen, President of the Danish Handball Association. 

"Together we have the opportunity to move handball to forefront of sport."

But Norway remain a candidate to host the women's World Championships in 2019, where they will face opposition from Japan, who could prove an attractive option a year before Tokyo is due to host the Olympics.

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