Čupić before the return to the elite: "Not everyone can play for Vardar and not everyone can be Vardar's coach"

The man who scored one of the most famous goals in Final Four history now sits on the bench of RK Vardar 1961 and is leading the club back into the Champions League after four seasons away. In his first season as a coach, Ivan Čupić brought the title back in the Macedonian Super League, the first since 2022. "I consider Vardar, Skopje and Macedonia my second home," he says. And then he delivers the sentence that explains the full weight of the shirt: "Not everyone can play for Vardar and not everyone can be Vardar's coach. We feel that and we know it." Group B is brutal - MT Melsungen, HBC Nantes and Orlen Wisła Płock, and Vardar open the season in Germany against a side led by Roberto García Parrondo, a former Vardar coach and Čupić's own former coach.

Alkaloid put 54 goals past Lovćen in their first regional home fixture

RK Alkaloid beat Montenegro's Lovćen 54:37 for their first win in the Regional League. This was not a tense fight to the final second - it was already 27:17 at half-time, and the second half was a formality. Uroš Borzaš was the most efficient with 8 goals, while Nejc Cehte, Emilijan Ǵorgovski and Aleksandar Petkovski scored 7 each. Fifty-four goals in a single match is a number that says two things at once: that Alkaloid's attack is working, and that the opponent's defence did not exist that day. The same round also saw GRK Ohrid win in Pančevo.

Jerković arrives from the Bundesliga to train Macedonia's goalkeepers

The handball federation has confirmed Dragan Jerković as the new goalkeeping coach of the men's senior national team. The Croatian specialist held the same role at Rhein-Neckar Löwen for two seasons, and from this season works at Bundesliga side Erlangen. The call came directly from head coach Kiril Lazarov. "A call from my former teammate and friend Kiril Lazarov was simply something I could not turn down," Jerković said, adding that handball in Macedonia is "more than a sport." That is a sentence every foreign specialist says when they arrive here. The difference will show in the European Championship qualifiers and at the World Championship in Germany - there you are judged on results, not emotions.

The handball women lost to Italy by 23 goals in Taranto

The women's squad at the Mediterranean Games suffered another heavy defeat - 39:16 to hosts Italy. The decisive gap was created in the first half alone, which ended 19:7. The most efficient player in the Macedonian side was Dona Todorovska with 5 goals, while Mila Ristovska and Leona Milenkoska scored 4 each. This is a cadet-and-junior squad sent out against opponents assembled at senior level, which is context worth mentioning before anyone passes judgement on the score. Four defeats so far, and the last chance for a positive result comes on 30 August against Kosovo, who also have four defeats.

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

The EHF Court of Appeal has upheld the 10,000 euro fine against the Croatian Handball Federation, of which 2,500 is suspended for a two-year period. The reason: at the medal ceremony of EHF EURO 2026, player Matej Mandić displayed a flag that is not part of EHF protocol. The court additionally imposed a personal fine of 2,500 euros on Mandić himself. The deadline for an appeal to the arbitration court is 21 days. The Balkans and flags at sporting ceremonies - a subject as old as the competitions themselves, now with an official price tag denominated in euros.