A tale well-known speaks of years consumed by locusts, and for Montenegrin handball, everything vanished within a mere month—hope for the Olympics, the World Cup, and continuity…

Instead of being “devoured by locusts,” 2024 was meant to be unforgettable—with the women’s national team competing in the Paris Games and new men’s representation in the World Cup.

What seemed like an attainable dream has turned into a devastating reality; the “lionesses” have missed out on the Olympic rounds, the “lions” will not participate in the global championship, and most painfully, for the first time in 17 major competitions, our women’s handball team will not be part of the grand narrative. Likewise, the men’s team lost the chance to join the elite selections for four consecutive years.

Defeats are a natural aspect of sports, but the troubling truth is that these losses occurred against teams that Montenegro historically managed to handle with ease or relative comfort.

Following London, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo, the women will not grace the Paris Games, having been eliminated in qualifiers by Germany and Slovenia—the former team returning to the Olympics after a 16-year absence and the latter seeking its debut at the prestigious event.

Five years ago, the handball team triumphed over the Olympic and world champions, Denmark. In 2022, they placed 11th in the European Championship, defeating teams like Croatia and Slovenia, yet they fell short of qualifying for the 2025 World Cup after a loss to Italy—a nation absent from major tournaments since 1998.

After the Olympic qualifiers in Ulm, coach Bojana Popović hinted at her resignation, while Vlado Šola accepted responsibility and stepped down following the disappointing match against Italy.

But is it solely the selectors’ fault? It appears that is not the case.

The players share the blame for the failures, yet the ultimate responsibility lies with those who appointed Bojana Popović and Vlada Šola to pivotal positions in our handball framework—the Handball Association of Montenegro, led by Peter Kapisos.

It was during the tenure of the legendary handball player Lovcen that selector Kim Rasmussen, who guided the team to the Olympics against Norway and Romania, was dismissed—some may speculate that Kapisoda acted upon the dissatisfaction of many “lionesses” who wished for the departure of the Danish expert, a Champions League winner in 2016.

We must acknowledge that post-Tokyo’s less-than-stellar performances, the selection led by the former world’s best handball player garnered significant results, especially with the bronze medal from the 2022 European Championship. However, it ended in disappointment, particularly for Milena Raičević. Now, for the first time since Beijing 2008, the “lionesses” will not be present at the Olympic Games.

Additionally, RSCG, under Kapisoda’s guidance, gambled by entrusting the management of our men’s national team—currently in a gradual decline since the 2023 World Cup—to Vlad Šola, who only had a brief stint as a professional before coming to Montenegro.

Though commendable performances at the recent European Championship masked underlying issues, the matches against Italy revealed the shortcomings of the Handball Association under the leadership of a renowned goalkeeping legend.

Šola has departed, Bojana is likely to follow, and now it is crucial for RSCG’s leadership to assume responsibility—either appoint proven figures as selectors or entrust the position to someone who possesses the requisite expertise, authority, and passion.

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