In conjunction with the French organiser the IHF held a press conference on the final matchday of the main round in Metz to sum up the Women's World Championship in France. With great satisfaction, IHF President Dr Moustafa and André Amiel, OC President and head of the French federation (FFHB) looked back on the last 10 days full of high-class handball matches, fully packed halls, enthusiastic fans and an excellent and charming French organisation of the world title contests, in all ten venues (Paris yet to come) throughout France. Dr Moustafa was happy to announce a great media interest in the women's title contests and unveiled a number of interesting facts and figures:

 

- 78 matches - out of 92 in total - played in the championship up to then
- 244 650 spectators to date - sold out halls everywhere
Spectators watching the President's Cup: 26 200
- apprx 500 representatives from the print media
- 49 TV stations providing TV live and news coverage in over 100 countries
300 radio and TV representatives
- 232 642 visits to the IHF Web Site www.ihf.info in December up to now
- Live matches and highlights of all matches available on the Web - via Videospot
- 33 IHF representatives on site assisted by Local Organising Committees and
- 18 referee couples (2 female couples) from four continents
- approx. 2 500 volunteers

 

Host president André Amiel stated that it was an honour for the FFHB and the French people to welcome athletes, sportspeople and handball fans from all over the world to share moments of great sportsmanship. Dr Moustafa added this WCh tournament had already made a very positive contribution to the success of women's handball and to a greater popularity of the sport in general. He was equally pleased to see that continents outside Europe managed to catch up with the top handball nations, Angola's fascinating and successful play deserves a special mention in this context.

 

Furthermore Carin Nilsson Green, chairwoman of the Competition Management, and COC President Alexander Kozhukhov, reported on sports-related items, as did OC Director Michel Jacquet resuming from the organisational point of view.

All parties involved are looking forward to a thrilling final phase in Paris, featuring the quarter-finals on Thursday.