At handA new era is taking shape at Les Bleus. Ludovic Fabregas was elected the new captain of the French national team on Monday.France teamto replace Luka Karabatic, who decided to step down as he was unable to “project himself” to the 2028 Olympic Games.
“I discussed it with “Gino” (coach Guillaume Gille) some time ago. I wanted to do it: the French team is entering a new four-year cycle, and four years is a long time, so I can’t project myself that far ahead. I think it’s a good thing to look ahead,” he explained. Luka Karabatic.
Coping with the failure of the Olympic Games
The youngest of the Karabatic brothers, aged 36 (162 caps), hands over the armband to Fabregas (28, 149 caps) after the failure of the Olympic Games, where Les Bleus were eliminated in the quarter-finals and where he himself was below his usual level.
“It seemed rather unlikely or rather unrealistic to imagine that he could be part of the duration of this cycle that takes us all the way to Los Angeles (Olympics-2028) and the World Cup-2029 (which France will host with Germany). He wanted to hand over the armband, which opened the door to a moment of election: the players elected their captain,” declared Gille, coach of Les Bleus, who have been meeting at the Maison du Handball in Créteil, Val-de-Marne, since Monday, for the first time since the Olympic Games. They face Sweden in Orleans on Wednesday, then Norway in Stavanger on Saturday, as part of the EHF Euro Cup 2026.
Guillaume Gille also stressed that “it’s a joint decision”. “(It comes) both from Luka’s initiative and from the “process” which has been ours for some seasons: there is often at the beginning of the season a sort of vote of confidence to find out if the representatives are still the right ones”.
Fabregas sees it as “a very exciting challenge”.
Fabregas, a defensive pivot like Luka Karabatic but who also plays in attack, was “delighted to receive the armband”. “It’s a real opportunity and a source of pride, and I hope to fulfil this mission to the best of my ability. It’s not necessarily an easy task, and the responsibility is all the greater given the situation we’re in. It’s a very exciting challenge from a personal and collective point of view”, added the player from Veszprem (Hungary), Olympic (2021), World (2017) and European (2024) champion.
“I know that the French team and the captaincy are in good hands,” also asserted Luka Karabatic, who had been the captain since autumn 2022, succeeding Valentin Porte at the time, who had decided to focus solely on the role of player. “I got a bit older at the start of this new training camp, a lot of iconic players stopped playing. My role has evolved a little, and I’m more of an old-timer who can stand on his own two feet,” explained Luka Karabatic.