For any person it may come to the unfortunate point where self-inflicted wounds in one’s professional life and grief due to tragedies in one’s personal life coincide in a macabre way.

Hassan Moustafa, IHF President, has for many years been in a state of denial regarding the numerous manifestations of his cynical and despotic regime at the IHF. Whether he is now able also to ignore and shake off the impact of having had the IHF Offices and his own private penthouse apartment raided by police two days ago, that remains to be seen. I will follow up on this topic later today or tomorrow.

But for some time now, Hassan Moustafa has had to focus on a personal tragedy in the form of a serious illness of his wife, Dr. Magda Fahmy Ezz, who has been in coma in a hospital in Cairo. I had the pleasure of meeting her, and she was very clearly a charming and highly accomplished woman, with major successes both in sports and in the arts, especially ballet. I will not forget the superb opening ceremony that she choreographed and produced for the Handball World Championship in Cairo in 1999. However, the message has now gone out that she passed away last night.

Yes, personal and professional tragedies can be intertwined in this way. But while the strong concerns about the impact of President Moustafa’s decisions and actions in the IHF will continue to be severely pursued by me and others, it is appropriate at this time to step back and convey condolences to Hassan Moustafa and his daughter (whom I have also met) in their moment of personal grief.