The pink heart is broken: 2023 celebrated the third LŠ in a row, now it is extinguished, Vipers played the last match in Podgorica

"The trigger for the decision is the lack of financial guarantees for the coming season," the club said.

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Bojana Popović and Katrin Lunde after Vajpers' last match, Photo: Dejan Starčević/ŽRK Budućnost
Bojana Popović and Katrin Lunde after Vajpers' last match, Photo: Dejan Starčević/ŽRK Budućnost
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

I have no words, my pink heart is broken - the words of the legendary goalkeeper Katrin Lunde best describe the sad news that went around the handball world today.

The Norwegian Vipers, a club that dominated women's handball from 2021 to 2023, won the Champions League three times in a row during that period, as of today no longer exists.

The story about the closure of the club from Kristiansand due to financial problems dragged on throughout the season, and then it happened only two days after the defeat against Budućnost in "Morača" (26:20), so it will be remembered that the last match of the handball giant was attended by only 200 fans in Podgorica.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that the Board of Directors of Vipers has decided to terminate the operation of the club and send it into bankruptcy. The Board made the decision after a thorough assessment of the financial situation and the lack of opportunities for further work. The trigger for the decision is the lack of operational financial guarantees for the next season, combined with a lack of liquidity," Vipers announced, as reported by "VG".

Kare Geir Lio, president of the Norwegian Handball Association, said it was a sad day for the sport in that country.

"I think the bad management of the club over time is the reason why the feather of club handball is disappearing," emphasized Lio.

There were also those who were not surprised by this news.

"Of course, I'm not surprised," says former Vipers coach Gunar Petersen.

"When things went wrong this fall, there were a lot of us who saw that it wasn't sustainable at the wages the club was operating with," says Petersen.

Katrin Lunde
Katrin Lundephoto: Dejan Starčević/ŽRK Budućnost

The future sent Vipers into history, as another giant who is far from an ideal situation, which Bojana Popović also spoke about in the press before the duel with the Norwegians. This case seems to be just another warning to all who decide the fate of the two-time European champion.

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