Barcelona's handball stars to play in Dubai in inaugural 500 Super Final

Sport360 staff 19:24 23/01/2018
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  • Barcelona and Vive Kielce players were on hand for the 500 Super Final inauguration.

    FC Barcelona Handbol and Poland’s PGE Vive Kielce will participate in the inaugural 500 Super Final Handball in Dubai in December, organisers announced on Tuesday.

    Barcelona, who have won the European Champions League nine times, and Kielce, the 2016 winners, will face off for a prize purse of $500,000 – $300,000 for the winners, and $200,000 for the losers.

    The 500 Super Final will be held in Dubai every December for five years, with this year’s match scheduled for December 21.

    Slawek Gebka, the owner of the event, described the 500 Super Final as an “ambitious long-term project”.

    The winners of this year’s Super Final will also earn an automatic spot in next year’s match, for which the second team has already been finalised.

    The Super 500 organisers hope to build grassroots interest in handball in the UAE.

    The 500 Super Final organisers hope to build grassroots interest in handball in the UAE.

    “I can officially confirm that the team who will play in the 2019 500 Super Final Handball, against the winner of 2018, will be Telekom Veszprem HC of Hungary,” said Gebka. “I would also like to announce that if a team wins this title three times in a row, they will receive an additional bonus of $300,000.”

    Gebka added that the 500 Super Final is part of a bigger project through which he hopes to see more children in the UAE playing handball. To that end, Frenchman Bertrand Gille, considered one of the best pivots to ever play the game, has been named Director of Youth Development in the UAE.

    “We are not afraid of failures and we are willing to take chances to make this game exciting, fun and educational for the viewers around the world,” said Gebka, who expects the match will be broadcast live around the globe.

    “We want to see them enjoy this great sport of handball by producing fantastic entertainment around the game. But most importantly, we want youths here in the UAE to get interested by bringing the world’s best handball players here, and the world’s best clubs, and they will come here with a positive message.

    “I believe if you create the right environment for any sport, and awareness and opportunities on a professional level, success will come sooner or later. You need to be patient, but you need to be absolutely determined.

    “My only request is to give us time to produce what we have come here to do. Please don’t judge us today. It will be a long, hard journey but the partners sitting with us here today will make it much easier.”

    Two-time Olympic gold medallist Gille agreed with Gebka, saying: “Handball is a very popular sport in Europe, but it suffers from its regionalism. It is present almost exclusively in Europe and the challenge is to see it develop in all the countries of the world in the coming years.”

    The Super 500 Final is expected to be televised over the world.

    The 500 Super Final is expected to be televised around the world.

    Gille, who has also won two World Championships titles and a World Player of the Year gong, added: “For this reason, we, along with Slawek Gebka, came up with a project to develop this sport in the UAE.

    “It is a project that aims to combine several elements, with the ultimate goal being to increase the number of handball players in the United Arab Emirates.

    “Among other things, we will organise regular inter-school competitions so that the spirit of competition is also present. In addition, we will organise regular training courses with teams from European countries, who come here to participate in the 500 Super Final Handball match.

    “The 500 Super Final Handball must be the showcase of this educational project and must be the focus that allows children to nurture dreams of performing at a higher level.”

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