The pivot of the Blues succeeds Luka Karabatic, who wishes to hand over the reins with a view to the 2028 Olympic Games.
Change of cuff to Blue. Ludovic Fabregas was elected the new captain of the French handball team on Monday, replacing Luka Karabatic who wanted to hand over because he could not “project” until the 2028 Olympic Games.
«I discussed it with +Gino+ (the coach Guillaume Gille, Editor's note) some time ago. It was a desire on my part: the French team is entering a new four-year cycle, and four years is a long time, I can't project myself that far, I think it's a good thing to 'anticipate“, Luka Kabaratic told the press on Monday. The youngest of the Karabatic brothers, aged 36 (162 sel.), hands over the armband to Fabregas (28 years old, 149 sel.) after the failure of the Olympics, where the Blues were eliminated in the quarter-finals and where he itself was below its usual level.
«It seemed quite unlikely or quite unrealistic to him to imagine that it could be part of the duration of this cycle which takes us to Los Angeles (2028 Olympic Games) and the 2029 World Cup (which France will organize with Germany, Editor's note). There was the desire for him to pass on the armband, which opened a moment of election: the players elected their captain», Explained Gille, coach of the Blues, meeting since Monday at the Maison du handball in Créteil (Val-de-Marne) for the first time since the Olympics.
“A real chance and a source of pride” for Fabregas
They face Sweden on Wednesday in Orléans then Norway on Saturday in Stavanger as part of the EHF Euro Cup 2026.
Gille noted that “it was jointly that this decision (had fallen)». «(It comes) both from Luka's initiative and from the +process+ that has been ours for several seasons: there is often at the start of the season a sort of vote of confidence to know if the representatives are still the right ones», Developed the coach.
Fabregas, a pivot in defense like Luka Karabatic but also playing in attack, received “with great pleasure the cuff». «It’s a real chance and pride, I hope to fulfill this mission as best as possible. The task is not necessarily simple, the responsibility is all the more important given the situation in which we find ourselves. It’s a very exciting challenge from a personal and collective point of view.», added the player from Veszprem (Hungary), Olympic (2021), world (2017) and European (2024) champion.
“I know that the French team and the captaincy are in good hands”affirmed Luka Karabatic, who had been the captain since the fall of 2022, succeeding Valentin Porte who had decided to concentrate solely on the role of player. Porte retired from international football this summer when Nikola Karabatic and Vincent Gérard ended their careers.
«I got older at the start of this new training course, many emblematic players stopped. My role has evolved a little, I have a bit of an old role that can stand on its own.», Explained Luka Karabatic.
