desperately trying to find something uplifting…
Perhaps we judge our readers incorrectly; perhaps you prefer scandals and bad news, just like most other media seem to assume if one judges from their typical coverage… But somehow we believe that you occasionally like some good, positive news in our reporting and analysis. So after having written a couple of articles about Karabatic and Montpellier, I was perusing other handball media, hunting for some interesting news item that I could develop and pass on to you. But if I wanted good news, then I was not really finding much, so I moved on to the pages of federations, leagues and clubs. Unfortunately, somewhat to my surprise, that moved me from bad to worse news….
First just a small update on Karabatic and Montpellier: while the team is doing rather poorly without their currently ineligible players, Karabatic has just been out on a ‘crying tour’ in the media, swearing to his innocence and complaining that he is prevented from doing his job of playing handball. In the meantime, the authorities have suddenly realized that, just as I mentioned earlier, it is awfully difficult to prove that a team lost on purpose; and now they have also discovered that the wording of the regulations in the French federation and league is such that it (stupidly) only refers to on-line betting and not to placing money with a bookmaker! But French sports fans have also expressed their views. In a recent survey, almost 50% indicated that the players should be banned for life(!) if they were to be found guilty. Last time I used the image above my article to show the Karabatic brothers in their uniforms with ‘brother’ on the chest. The latest is now that the ‘brother’ company has announced that they no longer wish to have their ‘brother’ printers and sewing machines associated with a team and a pair of brothers who may not be so good for their image. So the sponsoring has been cancelled!
Turning to the financial worries in Spanish handball, there are almost daily reports about how fragile the situation is for the clubs in the top league. Some of the clubs that were given a chance to step in for others who had been forced out are participating on a ‘semi-amateur’ basis, and almost all the other clubs (except Barcelona and Atletico Madrid) are in a tough situation. Players are concerned about their situation and look for opportunities elsewhere, and there are frequent complaints from the fans that the quality of the league has dropped off substantially. What a moment to be gearing up to be the host of the men’s World Championship in just a few months!
Germany is supposedly the stronghold both for handball and in terms of the overall financial situation. But below the surface there are issues. Anecdotes from the grassroots level, confirmed by academic studies, suggest that handball is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit children into our sport, as the tradition for handball is no longer as strong as it used to be, in part due to influence of immigration. Just like in the USA, immigrants do not typically bring a handball background, and they do not find it normal to look for activities through clubs. At the federation level, an important study is underway regarding the need for changes in structure, strategies and management. And in the meantime, the national team coach, Martin Heuberger is heard pleading for an easing of the burden on the top players. He talks about reducing the teams in the Bundesliga, fewer German teams in the EHF Champions league, and fewer games for the national team. But more games and more participation is what yields income, so what gives? Moreover, for the EURO 2014, the EHF is using a qualifying system that seems very appropriate in terms of ensuring fairness, but this also means more games for the top teams…
Apropos the Champions League, many of the expected top teams are struggling with the consequences of key injuries, one critical aspect in the debate about the intensity of the competition schedule. And there have been comments, in line with those I presented a year ago, that the format of the group play is not really ideal. Last year it became too predictable and boring, essentially with the excitement limited to the fight for fourth place in each group, while the top teams had to play a lot of mostly meaningless games. Perhaps there is a bit more turbulence this year, with some surprising results. Savehof’s win against Madrid yesterday was one example. And some teams have had the luck of benefitting from the absence of AG Copenhagen and the miseries of Montpellier. For instance, please do not try to tell me that the group topped by Kielce and Metallurg is really competitive. I have seen enough on-line broadcasts to know better. The consolation is that there are several individual games that are exciting to watch even if the final result is not so critical. But I agree with those who argue that a format with four groups of six teams does not make much sense (except for the ‘political’ reason of permitting 24 participants). But a long, long group play followed by a sudden knock-out stage does not seem logical…