He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise of the sport from across the world, having coached in the Middle East and across both Western and Eastern Europe.

Djukic replaces Carsten Albrektsen, who quit in February, to concentrate on his role as trainer of the Danish League BSV Silkeborg.

He was joined by ssistant coach Claus Hansen, who had been the coach of British Handball's Aarhus Academy.

Hansen stepped down after accepting a job as coach of the Danish under-19s side

Their resignations coincided with the decision by Government agency UK Sport coincides with the decision by Government agency UK Sport last month to cut British Handball's funding by more than half from £2.9 million to £1.4 million.

Djukic, who speaks five languages, has previously been head coach of Jordan and Macedonia, and was part of the coaching team which helped Switzerland top their group in the qualifying stages of the European and World Championships.

His achievements in domestic handball are also varied and impressive, with several national titles in his native Serbia and other successful spells with clubs in Portugal and Hungary.

Lorraine Brown, the performance director of British Handball's world class performance programme, said: “I’m delighted with the appointment.

"Dragan will bring a huge amount of international coaching experience to the men’s programme.

“He has a clear vision of how to develop the team to Olympic level, and he will bring a new vigour and energy as we create the right environment to achieve our goals.”

Djukic said: “I’m really excited about being the head coach for Great Britain men, because it’s such a great challenge. It’s a long road to London, but I believe we will be competitive by 2012.

“I believe everything is possible with ambition and determination.

"All the players have both those attributes, but more than that we have to develop our own style of play which can’t be copied by Balkan teams, or Far East teams, or European teams.

“Every man dreams of helping to create a new team from scratch.

"Britain has no real handball tradition, so it was a challenge I couldn’t resist.”