The European Wheelchair Rugby Championship starts on 22 April at Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague. Eight country teams will compete for the European title. This biennial event is an important step towards the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles 2028 and offers direct qualification for the World Cup in 2026.
The tournament starts on Tuesday evening 22 April with a spectacular opening ceremony and the Netherlands – Sweden match. Pool matches take place from Wednesday to Friday, followed by the intermediate round on Saturday. On Sunday 27 April, the finals will be played and the European champion will be crowned.
The greatest sport you’ve never heard of
Wheelchair rugby, also known as ‘murderball’, is a unique Paralympic sport for athletes with disabilities of arms and legs. The sport combines elements of rugby, basketball and ice hockey, offering a spectacular mix of physical confrontation, speed and tactics. Eight of Europe’s best teams – the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Poland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and France – will compete in The Hague for the medal of honour. According to Reda Haouam, player of the Dutch team, wheelchair rugby is ‘the most beautiful sport you have never heard of’.
Martin van Hinte, TeamNL national coach, agrees: ‘My American colleague joked the other day that in our sport, people with disabilities try to handicap other people with disabilities. Although this is an exaggeration, sometimes things get really tough. It’s all about tactics and sharpness, and spectacle is guaranteed!’
International allure and local pride
Sports alderman Hilbert Bredemeijer is proud that The Hague gets to host a parasports event with international allure. ‘The European Wheelchair Rugby Championship will be a fantastic sports tournament in the Sportcampus Zuiderpark, with exciting and spectacular top-level matches. It will be a sporting celebration for and with the whole city, showing that sport is for everyone, with or without disabilities. This tournament is a model of inclusive sport on which The Hague will build further, including by establishing a local wheelchair rugby team. A call to all sports fans: come along to the Sportcampus for a match or take part in the many cool side events.’
Social impact
The social side events are an important part of this event. Willem Gallé, project manager of the European Wheelchair Rugby Championship on behalf of organiser Team TOC, stresses, ‘We want to make an impact with unique sports. That is what we are doing this time with the European Wheelchair Rugby Championship. We are bringing absolute top sport to The Hague, and thanks to the involvement of the municipality and other partners, there are also many social activations on the programme. Thus, together we are creating lasting progress in inclusivity. Among other things, there is a blind grandstand for visually impaired sports fans and various clinics will be organised. During the tournament, multi-sport days will be held for people with a muscular disease or visual impairment, and on 19 April there will be pop-up pitches in the centre of The Hague. This is how we bring the sport to the people so that everyone can experience what it is like to play sports in a wheelchair!’
Photos : Team TOC / NOC*NSF.
Photo of alderman Hilbert Bredemeijer during a wheelchair rugby clinic – credit Valerie Kuypers.