PM Ivo Sanader accused Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic of cowardice, adding that at a meeting last November he had proposed the adoption of a special law to speed up the construction of sports halls, only to back down on it now.
"We are withdrawing Bandic's bill from procedure, and now we will wait with fear to see if the cities will manage to organise the championships. The government will help, but since the cities did not back the bill, we will withdraw it," the PM said.
He added that the government would help organise the championships, but it would insist that the cities, which had given financial and other guarantees to build all the necessary infrastructure until the start of the championships in 2009, meet their obligations and see that the championships are held in January 2009.
Sanader went on to say that the sports halls would not be built by the government, but by six cities - Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Varazdin, Porec and Zadar.
Other government members also referred to the billas as Bandic's bill, claiming that the government had only wanted to help in the organisation of the world handball championships at the request of the cities hosting the event.
Construction Minister Marina Matulovic Dropulic repeated that the bill would not have posed an obstacle to bidding for construction contracts, while Deputy PM Jadranka Kosor dismissed as absurd claims that the ruling HDZ party had intended to use the bill to raise funds for its election campaign.