The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) has agreed to let the IHF have the final say for officiating assignments at the upcoming Asian Handball Championships. In a letter to the Bahrain Handball Association obtained by the Gulf Daily News the IHF stated the following, “We are happy to inform you that IHF received a letter from AHF where they clearly and unconditionally accept the IHF stipulations.. We are currently preparing the travel and visa arrangements for the IHF representative, delegate and referees."

The Gulf Daily News further states that the earlier articles detailing past transgressions in Asia appearing in their newspaper helped influenced the IHF’s decision to threaten to stage an alternative Asian Qualifier for the 2009 World Championships in Croatia. As previously reported here the IHF actually released a statement indicating that the Championships scheduled for Iran next week would not be recognized by the IHF.

As far as the Olympics Qualifiers are concerned the Kyodo News service of Japan is now reporting that the IHF and AHF have mutually agreed to have the issue be resolved by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS). As the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments are scheduled for March 28-30, the ICAS will need to move quickly to resolve the issue in time to determine the Asian participants in these tournaments.

Gulf Daily News: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=208583&Sn=SPOR&IssueID=30330
Kyodo News: http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=362501
2008 Asian Handball Championships Website: http://www.asianhandball2008.com/