I have known Andrzej Krasnicki, the President of the Polish Handball Federation, for a number of years now. It was always a pleasure to encounter him at different IHF events, and he is one of those persons whom you can trust to remain steady and pleasant regardless of the fortunes of the Polish team and the events of a particular match. It was therefore especially nice to have the opportunity for a brief conversation with him after the Germany-Poland game.

Some of you may be aware that for a while Krasnicki was a candidate for the 1st Vice President position in the IHF prior to the 2009 Congress. However, as he diplomatically noted, in the end he preferred to stay out of the politics at that level. Quite suddenly, and in the most devastating of circumstances, however, he found himself elevated to the position of Interim President of the Polish Olympic Committee earlier this year.

On April 10, an airplane with the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and a large number of Polish civilian and military dignitaries crashed in the approach for landing at the airport of Smolensk. The President of the Polish Olympic Committee, Piotr Nurowski, was among those on board. As the Vice President, Krasnicki automatically assumed the position of President for the remainder of the mandate period until 2013. However, as he has indicated, he will withdraw voluntarily from that position later this year. “He prefers to concentrate on his dear handball”, was his explanation.

Krasnicki, like most of his colleagues in the Federation look ahead to the World Championship in Sweden with a good deal of confidence. He felt it should be possible to repeat the good performances of recent years. When asked about the women’s national team, Krasnicki admitted that there has been a period of unusual decline for some years now. He feels, however, that the recent hiring of a new, energetic coach will bring about an upwards trend.