Zika Bogdanovic EHF EURO 2026 BLOG: How Loud Can You Stay Silent?
Luka Cindrić has spoken up. Everyone else curses the schedule in their hotel rooms. They stay loudly silent. They like an Instagram post with his statement. Two months ago, something called the Players’ Union released a video featuring dozens of global stars from men’s and women’s handball. We saw their sad, exhausted faces, a few scars, worry — and a message. Crystal clear: you have too many matches. You’re not machines. And that was it. A few years earlier, there was another video with the message “don’t play the players.” And that was it.
In the meantime — over those few years — maybe they’ve added one extra day of rest between semi-finals and finals at major tournaments. That’s all. Fifteen years ago, teams played day after day, and that generation kept quiet. Every now and then, in a burst of pure anger like Luka’s, someone would say something — but most stayed silent and counted injuries.
And now, when they play seven matches in 12–13 days, and even we journalists and fans are starting to feel how exhausting it is to follow every game, every goal, every quote — they’re quiet. Do they really think they’ll change the world because they filmed themselves for five seconds on a selfie camera, and someone edited it into a video and posted it online?
“We’re not just a part of the game — we’re the heart of it.” – Players raise voices!
They won’t. Another major tournament is already on its way in 2030, to amplify that silence a little more. Nobody even thinks anymore about a rest day between the semi-final and final at the EHF Final4. In basketball it’s possible; in handball it isn’t.
Balić’s generation stayed silent. Karabatić’s. Jícha’s. Hansen’s…
Now Gidsel’s generation is silent. Mem’s…
Play while you can. Patch up tendons and ligaments, and when you get injured, post gym photos and “pump” while you count the months until you can return to the court. That’s it. No journalist, no fan, no federation president will care about you more than you care about yourself and your own body. One Instagram post every three years isn’t enough.
Look at what the women did in the WNBA. No money, no charter flights? We won’t play. Someone has a problem with that? We’re here to protect each other.
Will anyone walk out today in Herning or Malmö wearing a shirt that says “don’t play the players,” because they have to play two matches in 24 hours — their seventh and eighth of the tournament? Will anyone make a symbolic gesture of disagreement? Have you ever gathered to talk about what your shared interests are? Have you formed a union modeled on Euroleague basketball and defined what you can do, what you want, and what you won’t accept? Who are your allies among sporting directors, owners, federation officials? Are you at the table — or far from it, unable to understand that your voice carries farthest when you act together?
And as soon as the confetti stops falling from the roof of BOXEN, club handball will be waiting impatiently. There won’t even be two or three days of rest.
The show must go on.
Or, in the new handball vocabulary:
“After review… nothing.”
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