EHF NEWS 77 – 06.06.2007 EURO 2008 in Norway PLAY-OFF MATCHES The 2008 Men's European Championship in Norway from 17 to 27 January 2008 will be played with 16 teams: ¾ The following nations have already qualified for the final tournament: FRA as defending champion, ESP, DEN, CRO, GER, RUS (teams 2-6 at the EURO06 in Switzerland) and NOR as organiser. ¾ The remaining nine places will be decided in the play-off matches taking place over the coming weekends: First leg matches: 9/10 June 2007 Second leg matches: 16/17 June 2007 9 The nine winners of the play-off matches will qualify for the 8th Men’s European Championship Final Tournament in Norway (Bergen, Drammen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Lillehammer) which will take place from 17 to 27 January 2008. Further qualification from the EURO 2008: ¾ The three best ranked teams at the EURO 2008 in Norway will qualify directly for the 2009 Men's World Championship in Croatia (16 January to 1 February 2009). ¾ The participants of the 2008 Men's European Championship will qualify directly for participation in the play-off matches for the qualification Europe for the 2009 Men's World Championship in Croatia. ¾ Alternations based on the implementation of the new qualification system are to be taken in consideration regarding direct qualifications from the EURO 2008 in NOR to the EURO 2010 in Austria. The draw for the Final Tournament of the EURO 2008 will be carried out in Oslo, Norway, on Friday 22 June 2007, 20:00 hrs. The official event website for the competition will go online today at www.ehf-euro.com. Besides the qualification for the final tournament the results of the play-off matches will be the basis for the seeding in subsequent competitions. Please find more details regarding European competitions on the EHF homepage www.eurohandball.com. EUROPEAN HANDBALL FEDERATION .