The Canadian Press

Austrian handball coach who ran onto court to stop opponent gets ban, fine

Wed Nov 4, 1:24 PM

By The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - The European Handball Federation has given a three-year ban to the coach of an Austrian women's handball team who ran onto the court and stopped an opposing player from scoring last week.

The EHF also gave 69-year-old Gunnar Prokop a US$61,500 fine and excluded him from any position within the federation.

His Hypo Niederoesterreich club was fined $41,000.

Prokop resigned on Tuesday. He collided with a player on the French team Metz HB four seconds before the end of Thursday's Champions League game.

The game ended in a 27-27 draw.

Prokop said after the match he "will go through this with a psychiatrist. ... I still can't understand why I've done this."