Čupić before Vardar's return to the elite: "The Vardar shirt is heavy and it is not for everyone"

Ivan Čupić, the man who scored Vardar one of the most important goals in the club's history, now sits on the bench as coach - and in September he is taking the club back into the Champions League after a four-season absence. The Croatian won the Macedonian Super League title, the first since 2022, and with it the ticket to the elite. His words about the club are not protocol: "Not everyone can play for Vardar and not everyone can be Vardar's coach. That is not a question of one love, but of one life." Group B holds MT Melsungen, Nantes and Wisła Płock, and the first opponent is the German side coached by Roberto García Parrondo - a former Vardar coach and Čupić's own former coach. The target, he says, is a top-two finish. The first home game is on 16 September against Nantes, and Čupić calls the Jane Sandanski hall the hottest arena in Europe. Summer brought seven new players, among them Matéo Faduil, the second highest scorer in the French league with 204 goals.

Alkaloid broke Lovćen with a 6:0 run, Eurofarm Pelister lead the group

In the Regional League both Macedonian representatives finished the weekend round with wins. RK Alkaloid got the job done the hard way: it was 18:18 at half-time, and Lovćen even went ahead 19:18 at the start of the second half. Then Kiril Lazarov's side put together a 6:0 run in seven minutes, reached 24:19 and eventually won comfortably by a double-digit margin. Ivan Džonov scored eight goals, Marko Mitev six, and Damjan Mitev and Nikola Kosteski five each. Mrvaljević had seven for the Montenegrins. Eurofarm Pelister, led by Petar Atanasijević with 11 goals, recorded a third win and top Group A with nine points, ahead of Alkaloid and Partizan on six each. Dubočica have three, Lovćen none. The Macedonian Super League opens with the derby Pelister - RK Ohrid, which says the competition at home is serious going into the European season.

Macedonia's handball women took their first win at the Mediterranean Games

Macedonia's combined cadet-junior side beat Kosovo 27:21 in Taranto and recorded their first victory at these Mediterranean Games. The match was controlled from the Macedonian side for most of it - a disciplined defence, efficiency in attack and a lead that was not surrendered in the closing minutes. Captain Leona Milenkoska scored seven goals and led the team, while Mila Ristovska added five. Ristić and Trifunoska scored three each. This is a team of cadets and juniors playing against older opponents - and precisely for that reason the result is worth more than the number in the table. Women's handball here has for years been treated as a second-priority item; these girls played as if nobody had told them.

The EHF fined the Croatian federation 10,000 euros over a flag at the medal ceremony

The EHF court of appeal ruled in the case of the Croatian handball federation and player Matej Mandić. At the medal ceremony of the men's EHF EURO 2026, Mandić unfurled a flag not provided for in the federation's flag protocol. The Croatian federation's appeal was rejected and the 10,000 euro fine upheld, of which 2,500 is suspended for a two-year period. The court partly upheld the EHF's own appeal and additionally fined 2,500 euros to the player personally. There are 21 days to file a request with the court of arbitration. The Balkans know this scene by heart - a symbol on the podium, then an invoice. The question the EHF does not raise is why the flag protocol is precise down to the last item, while sporting penalties for far more serious offences are often measured out far more leniently.

The EHF European League with a new format: five stages instead of the old system

The EHF European League enters the 2026/27 season with a completely revised system. Instead of the previous schedule, the competition now has five stages: group phase, play-offs, last 16, quarter-finals and a final tournament. In addition, 12 teams eliminated from the Champions League enter the play-offs, and two more enter the last 16. The group phase remains recognisable - eight groups of four, the top two advance, and for the other 16 the season ends there. It starts on 29 and 30 September, spread over two days because there are no Champions League matches that week. The group phase ends with round six on 1 December. For clubs from this region it is both an opportunity and a trap: more stages means more matches for teams with small squads and even smaller budgets.