The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) has withdrawn the fines they imposed on the South Korean and Japanese Federations for their participation in the International Handball Federation’s (IHF) Olympic Qualification Replay Tournaments. The AHF had fined those Federations $1,000 each for participating in the non AHF sanctioned events. Speaking to the Mainichi Daily News, Japanese Handball League Organization President, Yoshihide Watanabe, implied that things had been patched up telling the Mainichi Daily News, "I think the matter was settled amicably."

The AHF also wrapped up a successful Beach Handball Tournament as part of the first ever Asian Beach Games. To the best of my knowledge this is the first Continental multi-sport Olympic style event held for beach games. Handball was one of 19 disciplines that were contested on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Some non-traditional handball powers carried home some medals. Pakistan beat Kuwait for the Men’s Gold medal, while Thailand edged Qatar for the Bronze. On the Women’s side, China beat Thailand for Gold, while Taiwan beat India for Bronze.

Mainichi Daily News: “Asian Handball Federation withdraws fines over 'whistle of the Middle East' outcry”: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081024p2a00m0na001000c.html

Asian Beach Games Handball Results: http://results.bali2008.com/showresults.asp?lang=en-gb&sport_id=16