George Burisea will replace Javi Pascual as head coach of the Romanian men’s national team, the Romanian Handball Federation announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

Javi Pascual says he is stepping down as Romania coach because he is tired

The coach of “Dynamo” declared that he was tired and made the decision since last year.

“The most important thing is Romanian handball. I want to help and I think that my decision is not now, I told the president that I am tired. I think we talked about it last March. I’m here to help, but I think we need a change to start another cycle at the national level.” – Javi Pascual.

Constantin Dean, president of FR Handbal, said the coaching change was at the suggestion of Javi Pascual, who will remain as technical advisor.

“Personally, as the president, I am very satisfied with the way he fulfilled his duty in the men’s national team. I think his involvement in Romanian handball meant the foundation for the recovery of Romanian handball. He laid the foundations of a solid foundation in the reconstruction of men’s handball.

Thanks to him for what he managed to do for this team. There were discussions regarding the resignation of Mr. Xavier Pascual. Regardless of what happens in the next period, Mr. Xavier Pascual will be with us, he has something to advise us further. This decision was taken at the suggestion of Mr. Javi Pascual for the benefit of the national team. Mr. Pascual is one hundred percent with Romanian handball” – Konstantin Dean.

George Burica, the new coach of the Romanian men’s handball team

The President of FRH stated that the Romanian national team will be coached by George Burica, the coach of the CSM Constanța team, in the next period.

“At the moment, Javi Pascual is the selector. Mr. George Buricha will be there. There must be some contracts, some papers, some negotiations. Mr. Pascual will remain a technical advisor. He is leaving the post of head coach of the national team. He will no longer be the coach of the national team.

It’s a collegial relationship, and we try to get the most out of everyone for the benefit of this team. George Bourisea is likely to take over the reins. Currently there is no contract. Now we have a coach, Mr. Pascual has a contract.

It follows that after this press conference we will start the documentary process according to which Javi Pascual will terminate his contract and Mr. Burisea will lead the national team.” Konstantin Dean.

Constantin Dean said the decision regarding Pascual was made by mutual agreement with the coach.

“We have decided together to stop our activities now. Now it is better to leave this chance to another coach. I tried to convince him not to give up. We understood together that this is better for the national team. There were other names on the list, we consulted with Mr. Javi Pascual. Bourisea will remain a coach in Constanta because he has a contract there” – Konstantin Dean.

The Romanian men’s handball team will compete with the Czech Republic in the 2025 World Cup European playoffs. The matches will take place from May 8 to 12, 2024.

At the European Championship in Germany, the tricolors lost all three games in Group B – 21-34 against Austria, 24-36 against Spain and 25-31 against Croatia.