Author Archives: Christer Ahl

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Coaching by Phone?

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yes, they know everything, but they may still need some occasional advice

The handball rules limit very clearly how many team officials (coaches, manager, medical staff) are allowed to be on the bench during the game.  In some way, this may imply that these four individuals are somehow supposed to manage on their own as a team, without the support from anyone located elsewhere.  Although I am more inclined to think that the main reason for the limitation is really a practical one, to avoid a crowd in the bench area and to enable the match supervisors to have an easier time in controlling the action, in terms of players substitutions, discipline etc.

On the other hand, we have sometimes given the impression that contact with other members of team management is inappropriate, as there tend to be some concerns if one of the teams manages to place an entire delegation in the first spectator row behind the team bench.  This is often considered as something to be avoided or prevented, especially if one does not have a similar situation for both teams.  It is the kind of unfair advantage for the home team that, at least optically, may cause some reactions.

But is it really realistic and meaningful in these modern times with sophisticated, wireless communication to suggest that the four persons on the bench must work in isolation from everyone else?  Should it be forbidden for a coach to have occasional or constant phone contact with an assistant sitting higher up and having a different perspective of what is happening on the court?  And would it somehow be necessary to prohibit the use of laptops or other devices with the scope for constant messaging or access to stored information throughout the game?

The rules in the 2010 rule book do not deal with these issues, because nobody has really focused on the implications of modern technology.  So any prohibitions, if they were to be found necessary or desirable, would have to be introduced as new legislation.  But personally I must say that this would be a highly questionable move.   It is difficult to imagine that inequity could become an issue, because surely the necessary equipment is cheap and easily available to both/all teams.  And it is not likely that such methods would ever create any disturbance.  So why fight against modern trends!

In fact, from my vantage point, with easy access to NFL, NBA and NHL games live and on TV, I observe that it is an established practice to take advantage of whatever technology that might be useful and available.  Coaches in the NFL are constantly working through headphones, and instant overview photos of the previous game situation are obtained and studied eagerly.  NHL coaches constantly rely on observations from someone up in a booth etc.

And just hypothetically, if one nevertheless wanted to establish some prohibitions, how could one possibly imagine an effective and evenhanded enforcement?  Do we need to add an extra official near the benches, who sneaks around and tries to detect illegal equipment…?   But I know that handball people are sometimes more conservative than one might imagine.  It seems that the IHF is right now thinking about the issue, and I will be interested in their conclusions.   But in the meantime I would be happy to get the reactions from our readers:  is the use of communications equipment on the team benches an issue?  Should it be restricted or should we just ignore it?

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Sleeveless or not: the ‘cool and dry’ compromise solution

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NO, not quite this look...

A few weeks ago, I commented on the ‘dispute’ between the EHF and AG Copenhagen, regarding the team’s strong desire to play its matches in the upcoming Champions League season in special, sleeveless shirts.   EHF requires all the participating teams to wear a standardized advertising, precisely in the spot that does not exist on a sleeveless shirt.  I commented that the global playing rules do not prescribe that player shirts must have sleeves, but that the EHF of course is entitled to have its specific requirements as a condition for participation.  So I noted that “unless some kind of compromise solution can be found, it seems that AG has no choice”.

 Lo and behold, a simple compromise has now been reached between the EHF and AG.  A statement along the following lines can today be found on the EHF web page:   The EHF Head of Competitions, Markus Glaser, informed that ‘following positive and constructive discussions, the new shirt design retains the unique look of the AG vest, with the addition of an attached white undershirt with the sleeves showing the competition’s official logo.’

Soren Colding, CEO of AG was reported as expressing great satisfaction with the solution, which will also be ‘keeping the players cool and dry when they play’.   I can only add that it is indeed nice when cooler heads prevail and that the EHF and its clubs can keep their powder dry for more important battles… Let us now just see what fantastic results these shirts will help AG achieve in the Champions League.  Perhaps it means they will have something special ‘up their sleeves’!

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The numbers look good, but what more is there to it?

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Some time after the IHF Congress a few months ago, an old handball friend congratulated me because he had noted “the tremendous growth in PanAmerican handball”.  I did not quite understand what he was talking about, so he clarified that he heard about the huge number of new IHF member countries from PanAmerica which had been approved by the IHF Congress.  I decided to investigate the good news!

Soon I found that there had indeed been no less than 14 new member countries approved, and that eight of them were from PanAmerica.  But I must admit the list made me puzzled.  Of course, after all my years of involvement in the PanAmerican Team Handball Federation I am aware of the longstanding sense of frustration that handball has not caught on in the majority of the large number of countries in Central America and the Caribbean.  The contrast with football has been obvious and irritating.  I recently saw the list of match-ups in the football World Cup qualifying and I found, for example:  Grenada-Belize, Antigua & Barbuda-Curacao, and Surinam-Cayman Islands, with referees from St. Lucia, Barbados and Dominica. Quite impressive, because it is evidence of serious activity.

And now I found that the eight new IHF member countries were:  Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, and British Virgin Islands.  In other words, a grouping rather similar to that in football.  This sudden development intrigued me, so I spent some time contacting friends from these and neighboring places in the Caribbean.  Essentially, I was met by confused and puzzled responses.   Some helped me find my way to media indications that a handball federation was indeed registered, but virtually nobody managed to point me to any indications of handball activity.

Of course, I am aware that the requirements for establishing a federation are rather modest.  You need to be able to fill out forms explaining the structure of the federation, naming the people running it, accounting for the number of clubs and players (often at the youth level, and sometimes more in beach handball) etc.  And naturally the establishment of a federation is a first step to really make our sport take root, so there is certainly nothing wrong about having a structure in place to spread the word, to recruit players and to try to obtain some financing for a limited level of competition and education.   This is the reality of how to go about spreading our often unknown sport, slowly but surely.

BUT, I am really intrigued about what the plans of the IHF and particularly the PATHF are, now that these eight countries have been added to the membership.  It would have been normal to find some kind of proud media announcement, together with an indication of the general plans to help these countries with some kind of jump start.  After all, they are in a region where travel costs do not match those of Greenland teams going to Chile, and they could even be collaborating with each other in a synergetic effort to create competition and interest.  And both IHF and the PATHF should be able to provide material and teachers at the grassroots level to train players, coaches, referees and administrators.

I am raising the question with some degree of apprehension or even suspicion, because I have experienced in the past that the efforts often have fizzled out, once some brand new federations, without any handball traditions, have been signed up.  The countries have been left to their own devices and one has almost had the impression that it was mainly a ‘numbers game’.  In other words, it looked good to be able to show that the continent’s handball was growing.  And here I am not picking particularly on Panamerica and PATHF;  the trend has been the same everywhere.  Where the suspicions enter the picture is when the time comes for an IHF Congress.  IHF dutifully(?) provides the poor new members with the help they need to attend.  And these new and uninformed members are then in the hands of continental bosses when it comes to understanding how to use voting power, how to be loyal members of the continent, and how to show their gratitude to the existing regime.

So my point is: I wish the eight new member federations every success.  I hope to see them matching the level of activity from football, both at the grassroots level and in regional competition, in a not too distant future.  Indeed, I just regret that this is happening now, after my PATHF involvement is finished, because just perhaps I could have been of some help if it had happened some years ago.  But the progress will clearly not come about with the external support that I mentioned about above.  These federations will need a lot of help, so I hope the IHF and the PATHF will be serious about that this time.  Again, I am looking forward to hearing about the plans for an efficient and sustained effort!

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Serious concerns after IHF dismisses its Head of Anti-Doping

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The International Handball Federation is required to abide by all aspects of the World Anti-Doping Code.  This involves, inter alia, educational programs, testing as prescribed by the Code, and taking appropriate measures on the basis of test results.  It clearly also entails strict adherence to the formal procedures under the Code, which includes issues such as complete confidentiality regarding planned testing efforts and strict privacy rules regarding all data pertaining to testing.

The standard procedure for a federation such as the IHF is to establish a specialized and separate Anti-Doping Unit (ADU), in a completely compartmentalized way and separate from the normal administration of the federation, so that all the necessary confidentiality can be ensured.  Financial resources and professional staffing has to be provided for the ADU.  The IHF has had such an ADU since 2006, all the time under the leadership of the Austrian Professor Hans Holdhaus, who has been supported by one specific assistant, seconded from the IHF staff.  The well-known competence and integrity of Holdhaus has served as a guarantee in WADA and IOC circles that the IHF would be in compliance.

The IHF President has indeed been heard to proudly talk about this status of compliance.  Behind the scenes, the reality has been different.   In 2009, as was reported by John Ryan for Teamhandballnews at the time, the IHF in fact refused to provide the necessary financing for the ADU, so that for instance out-of-competition testing became impossible.  Holdhaus and most of his colleagues on the IHF Medical Commission wanted to resign over this issue, but the IHF President came to his senses under the threat of IOC intervention.  Already back in 2005, the IHF President arranged for the dismissal of the person who was up for re-election as President of the Medical Commission at that time, essentially as a result of disagreements over anti-doping matters (see the final paragraph below).

What now happened in March 2011 was that the assistant of Holdhaus was summarily fired, as she correctly refused to pass on confidential ADU information to the IHF office manager Khalifa, the IHF President’s loyal crony, who acts as his whip and his eyes and ears on all matters and all people at the IHF Office.  (As a separate matter, numerous other IHF staff have resigned or been dismissed under the joint Moustafa/Khalifa regime).  The excuse subsequently presented was that it would be dangerous not to have anyone else aware of the information that the ADU assistant possessed…  That this notion completely flaunts the clear WADA rules apparently was unimportant.

The next episode was when Professor Holdhaus was scheduled to appear at the IHF Office to prepare and coordinate the arrangements for the anti-doping control at the recent Junior and Youth World Championships, together with some other pending ADU matters.  At the last moment he was informed that his presence in Basel was not wanted.  When requesting an explanation from the IHF President for this strange situation, he was simply told that the IHF President did not want to talk with him  – ever again!  When Holdhaus wrote to the IHF to note that he could not carry out his job in this fashion, in return he received a curt letter thanking him for his service!

Shortly thereafter, Holdhaus received a call from the IHF medical person who supervised the doping tests during the Junior Championship.  Apparently, the organizers did not accept to carry out the prescribed number of tests and referred to an agreement with someone in the IHF office.  Holdhaus dutifully tried to intervene but was unable to achieve anything.  Instead, a few days later, he was summarily dismissed from the IHF after 20 years of valuable service.

It now appears that the IHF President tries to pretend that nothing important has happened and that WADA compliance remains ensured.  It seems that the person now nominated is one of the only two on the medical side who has remained totally loyal to the IHF President, including the refusal to take a stand during the 2009 dispute.   He and the other remaining loyalist are also the ones designated to supervise doping tests at the IHF events.  Nobody who knows the situation will have any illusions about the notion that the compartmentalization and confidentiality of ADU matter will remain intact.   It could easily be expected that the IHF President will have the unlimited, but prohibited, access that he has shown in the past that he wants.

It remains to be seen whether the IOC and WADA will react.  Professor Holdhaus has simply informed them that he is no longer involved with the IHF.  It is also important for the rest of the international handball family to be alert and draw its conclusions.  The risk for serious repercussions for our sport is obvious.   The European Handball Federation (EHF) is rumored to have drawn the conclusion that it must now establish its own ADU, for its massive competition system, rather than relying on the IHF.  Indeed, it appears that the EHF has anticipated all along that it could come to a situation where the IHF could not be trusted; the recently established EHF regulations for punishments contain a remarkable phrase: ‘The IHF Anti-Doping Regulations apply to any EHF competitions, unless they are inconsistent with the WADA Anti-Doping Code’.  This is really telling, but it seems that the implicit suspicions were fully justified!

It would also not be surprising if suspicious people, also in the absence of any evidence, started to wonder about coincidences.   At a time when the IHF Anti-Doping Chief is removed from any influence over the Junior and Youth World Championship, the Egyptian teams were having remarkable successes at both events.  I surely hope that there is no connection at all, but the mere suspicions would be very bad for our sport.  And people would remember the situation at the 2004 pre-Olympic handball event, where testing was suddenly announced, unbeknownst to the IHF President and the participating teams.    After a verbal fight, where the IHF President tried to cancel the testing, half of the Egyptian team suddenly pulled out of the game before it started…  This was the key to the IHF President getting the then President of the Medical Commission ousted at the next opportunity.

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The younger referee generation: promising, but support and hard work needed

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The overall impression is that the referee performances were rarely the focal point during the recent Junior and Youth World Championships.  This is always a good sign.  And perhaps the broad acceptance from the teams was primarily an indication of honest refereeing without any biases.  So it is rewarding to see that an effort that started in a serious way only 6-7 years ago (the IHF’s Global Referee Training Program) has already produced so much.  The IHF clearly now has a good talent pool from which one can draw in coming years.

But as I have been commenting on earlier occasions, there are risks involved in relying heavily on young and relatively inexperienced referees, and it is easy to become too optimistic and move them up the ranks too fast.  The principle is correct:  there are all kinds of reason why a major rejuvenation was needed and the game needs younger and more athletic referees than we had at the elite level in the past.  The demands of the modern game make it necessary.  But, this does not mean that maturity and experience have become unimportant, and this is ‘the other side of the coin’.  With such a focus on younger referees, special efforts are needed to offset the inherent disadvantages, and this is not an easy or quick process.

In the world championships in Greece and Argentina, the referees generally showed a good understanding of the game, they positioned themselves well, and they seemed to know what to look for.  The interventions typically came at the right moment.  They were particularly good at being alert to technical faults etc.  However, the decisions in some key respects sometimes showed a lack of stability and consistency.  In other words, they observed fouls, but they did not always take the right decisions regarding punishments, and they did not manage to maintain a clear line regarding 7-meter decisions.  These are of course critical situations in the game.

Regarding the 7-meter decisions, there was sometimes a strange mixture of giving unwarranted 7-meter throws, when the defender was clearly not inside the 6-meter line or when the attacker did not even have full control of ball and body, and situations where a 7-meter throw was clearly necessary but not given.  This inconsistency would seem to be primarily related to inexperience, in the sense that the right instincts and the right focus have not yet been fully developed.   This is an area where observers and instructors can provide a lot of help, and where referees who aspire to higher levels must work hard to acquire the necessary stability.

When it comes to the application of punishments for excessive fouls, it was more of a one-sided problem.   The referees reacted in the right situation, but then they seemed to become hesitant or to lack the necessary confidence, as the punishments often were missing or not strong enough.  They seemed to ‘forget’ the clear instructions under the 2010 rule book to be much more ready to give direct 2-minute suspensions or disqualifications, instead of ‘using up the yellow cards first’.  Even the young players in the junior and youth events have developed the habit of using careless methods or excessive force.  In fact, their eagerness and lack of experience may make them more prone to overdoing it. 

There were numerous games where the playing style from both teams was quite physical throughout, yet both the TV broadcasts and the match reports showed that the punishments in some cases were amazingly few.  One would get the feeling that it was not so much a matter of having the ‘wrong calibration’ or understanding of IHF’s instructions.   It sometimes looked more as the result of a lack of mental strength, and reluctance to face up to the consequences of unpopular decisions.  One needs to have a good deal of understanding for this.  It does take time to build up the maturity as a person and as a referee, so that the necessary tough action comes instinctively, without hesitation.  But it is far from impossible, and I can myself observe and enjoy the strong progress made by young referee couples whom I have followed from their early days under the auspices of the IHF’s programs.

Here again, the ‘maturing process’ needs to be speeded up with the help of strong and consistent support from competent observers and instructors.  There are no difficulties in finding the necessary educational material and, above all, the relevant video support to make absolutely clear to the referees what is expected from and to give them the feeling of complete backing when they take the correct action.  Positive feedback, and of course a strong correlation between actual performance and future assignment are critical components.  The pressure to improve must be strong and constant.

Unfortunately I have the sense that the constant and determined follow-up of the young IHF referees is rather lacking.  It is clear that adequate support is in most cases not available at the national level, so the IHF must stay involved on a continuous a basis.  But the impression is that once the good efforts have been made to recruit new talents and to bring them up the first step to an initial IHF event, then it seems that the young referees are left too much to their own devices.  To some extent it may be an issue of conflicting priorities, in the sense of insufficient personnel and financial resources, something that the IHF clearly would then need to change.  At least I do hope that the need for this ‘fostering’ and mentoring effort is fully understood!  These referees need to keep maturing and improving, because in a few years they will be needed at the more senior levels where the demands are even higher…

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World Youth Championship: The Danes again!

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Denmark-Spain: a strange but exciting final

If someone thought that Denmark’s strength in handball is primarily on the women’s side, then the results in the three men’s world championships in 2011 surely must make people realize how strong also the Danish men’s handball is.  After a second place in what I described as a ‘dream final’ in the senior championship back in January, Denmark got the silver medals also in the recent junior championship.  And today, the Danes crowned a wonderful year for men’s handball by winning the gold medals in the youth final against Spain.

In fact, the results from the three championships really paint an interesting and convincing picture regarding the current concentration of strength in the world of handball.  The three medal winners today, Denmark, Spain and Sweden, each took a step up in comparison with the senior event, where they ended up in that order behind the winners France.  In other words, exactly the same semifinalists.  But there is more to it: all of these four countries were also in the quarterfinals in the junior championship; moreover, Egypt and Germany were at least in the quarterfinals in both events. 

The four matches today were played in an unusually fair and peaceful atmosphere.  Perhaps the early starting time for the 7th place game Germany-Croatia may have contributed to a ‘sleepy’ affair despite the 29-28 score.  Egypt won the 5th place by also winning by one goal, 25-24 against Switzerland.  In the bronze medal game, Sweden came out of the starting blocks with energy and determination.  France managed to come close in the end, but the Swedes held off and pulled away again for a 28-24 victory.

The final had a really strange chronology.  Spain played convincingly in the first half and had a 17-13 lead.  But the second half saw a remarkable combination of a strong Danish defense and a sudden helplessness on offense by the Spanish team.  They did not score a goal for the first 18 minutes of that half.  Of course, the Danes scored just four goals during that same phase, so they only managed to reach a tie at 17-17.  Then Spain regained a lead by two goals, but Denmark got the last three goals of the game, which was enough for a 24-22 win.  A remarkable fact:  Spain had no 2-minute suspension whatsoever; Denmark had only two and one of them was for an incorrect substitution.  When did that last happen in a final!?

IHF experts and media reporters have commented on the high level of play throughout the Championship.  They have emphasized the speed and the technical skills.  But I think it is also fair to say that the speed and eagerness of these young and not so experienced players may have had something to do with strange ‘swings’ in the score line in a large number of games.  Several consecutive goals by one team were often followed by a similar success by the opponents.  Wild shots and failed passes accounted for some of this, as did the common tendency in this age group for individual players to try to do too much on their own.  Nevertheless, they created a lot of excitement, and it is only regrettable there was not more of an international TV coverage available.

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USA Men’s Team getting ready for PanAm Games

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Adam El-Zoghby fit for fight again

The squad for Guadalajara was announced today, in connection with a presentation and interview opportunity via a conference call.  There were no surprises.  Head coach Darrick Heath noted that all the players he had wanted for the squad were available, except that back-up goalkeeper Ivan Ignjatovic cannot make himself available at the training stage and is now an alternate.  In any case, the limit of 15 players (as compared with 16 for other IHF events) meant that Heath had opted to go with two goalkeepers instead of three.

It is certainly good news that Adam El-Zoghby has been declared fit for fight after his unfortunate injury in the qualifiers against Canada last December.  He will even be able to fit in some games with his Egyptian club team Al Ahly, before it is time to join the squad in the training camp that will precede the travel to Mexico.   This camp will, as in the case of the women, take place in Lake Placid.  It might have been more ideal to have it in Colorado Springs, as preparation for the high altitude in Guadalajara, but apparently handball did not rank high enough to get this wish accommodated by the USOC.

The training camp and the time after arrival in Mexico will not include the opportunity for any practice games.  The focus will be on intra-squad scrimmages.  Coach Heath indicated that he has a pretty clear idea of who will be his starting seven in the PanAm Games.  But he also felt that he now has a lot of players at his disposal with both talent and valuable, continuous match experience from clubs in Europe, so he feels that they will be able to hit the ground running.  He also commented on special efforts to achieve the all-important cohesiveness on the court.  Moreover, film studies of the key opponents from Mexico and the Dominican Republic will constitute a high priority in the preparations.

While it will be tough to match up favorably with perennial powerhouses Argentina and Brazil, both Darrick Heath and USATH General Manager Steve Pastorino viewed it as a realistic goal to fight for the third place.   There is really a whole bunch of teams who see themselves being in contention for that spot, not just because it might be as high as they realistically can hope to climb, but because that third place brings with it the eligibility for the IHF’s qualification tournaments next spring for the final slots in the 2012 Olympics.

Apropos the hypothesis of reaching the third place, Steve Pastorini indicated that while there is no special funding for these qualification tournaments, the money to ensure such participation simply had to be found.  The team members were already substantially out of pocket in connection with the qualification games against Canada and the ‘last chance’ tournament in Guatemala.   While they now have to set aside more than a month for training and for the event in Guadalajara, at least they will have their travel costs and related expenses paid.  (Ed.: The players on the Canadian men’s team are being asked by the Canadian Olympic Committee to pay several thousand dollars each as a contribution to the expenses for their participation in Guadalajara).

When asked to describe the overall financial situation of the USATH at this point, Steve Pastorino used the telling word ‘precarious’.  He noted, without getting into details that, following the recent severe cut-backs in staffing, ‘some of the remaining staff’ were now operating on a volunteer basis.   Contrary to the hope which was expressed previously, that part of the amounts cut in the funding from USOC during 2011 might be restored, Steve suggested that it might instead be more realistic to expect a further cut of 20% in 2012.  The budget submission from the USATH for 2012 is currently being prepared.

Steve Pastorino implied that USOC seemed to want to ‘have it both ways’, by stating that they would insist that funding be used for development and grassroots activities, while at the same time using the lack of results on the part of the national teams as the main rationale for the reductions in funding.  He appeared to suggest that the emphasis on medals as the only thing that matters is just getting stronger.  This dilemma is, of course, not a new one to handball in the U.S.  It remains to be seen how the USATH leadership intends to deal with this situation, presumably in collaboration with its membership.

The link to the USATH press release, including the roster: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2011/08/17/men-s-national-team-roster-for-pan-american-games/44121?ngb_id=42

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Important question to debate: sleeveless or with sleeves?

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should tattoos also be uniform?

Several media reports suggest that a ‘dispute’ has arisen between the European Handball Federation (EHF) the Danish top club AG Copenhagen.  It is all about the missing sleeves!  AG Copenhagen played in sleeveless shirts last season in Danish competition.  They would very much want to do so also in the 2011-12 Champions League, but the EHF does not agree.  The EHF has a contract with key sponsor Velux regarding the advertising rights for the sleeves of the player shirts.  Similar contracts are normal also in IHF competition and undoubtedly in many national leagues.

Of course, the EHF is entitled to have such contracts and to have special regulations for the Champions League which all the teams that want to participate are required to respect.  So unless there is some ‘loophole’ under those regulations, or unless some compromise solution can be found, it seems that AG has no choice.

But it raises the interesting question: how far could or should a federation go in requiring a specific uniform design.  If you ask players or spectators in today’s handball, they will all say that the norm is to play in shirts with short sleeves.   This is different from when I started in handball some 50 years ago, when the standard was long sleeves for the players (and also for the referees) in indoor games.  BUT, the fact is that the official worldwide playing rules do NOT provide any guidance or any restrictions whatsoever.

The playing rules simply talk about a ‘uniform’, as if it is universally understood what this means, or as if teams have the right to decide what they mean by a uniform.  There is not even a mention of shirt and shorts; the only specification involves sports shoes, and of course the colors and the numbers of the uniforms.  In fact, the only dispute or issue I can remember is the desire raised by Muslim women’s team regarding permission for uniform designs that match their religious concerns.

So clearly the playing rules do not require that player shirts have sleeves, or that the sleeves should be short.  Teams cannot be prevented from wearing sleeveless shirts (in ‘basketball style’), unless the organizing federation has introduced a regulation that specifically or implicitly (through agreed space for advertising) requires it.  But my interest is not in interfering in the ‘dispute’ between EHF and AG.

Instead I want to raise the issue, what do we think should be the norm in handball?  Has the time come to change universally to the habit of playing in sleeveless shirts?  Does it look more ‘athletic’ to use shirts without sleeves?   Are there any esthetic considerations?  Do we want to continue to market handball as something different from basketball by virtue of insisting on sleeves?  Etc. Etc.

I am interested in opinions from all of you; although I must say that on this issue I would really give more weight to what the players themselves think.  What makes them more comfortable?  I suspect that, as is often the case, there will be an inclination to resist change, but perhaps the players would soon find a sleeveless shirt more comfortable.  The only opinion that I myself would venture is that it would not look so attractive to see a mix, meaning one team with sleeves and the opponents with sleeveless, or some players on a team with sleeves and others sleeveless.  But perhaps that is an old-fashioned way of looking at it…  Opinions, please!

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Argentina successful as organizer but not on the court

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It tends to guarantee more excitement until the very end of the preliminary round, when one uses the format of the Youth World Championship, with only two teams from each group qualifying for quarterfinals.  This compares with the format of four teams from each group qualifying for 1/8-finals as in the recent Junior Championship.  However, today’s final matches in the groups became mostly anticlimactic, as the pairs of qualifiers where already known in three of the four groups.

Group A had a much more dramatic finish, where the Swedish team started the day with a slight edge over the three rivals from the Balkans.  In the first game, Croatia and Serbia tied 22-22, which eliminated Serbia but left Croatia hoping for the ‘right’ result in the subsequent Sweden-Slovenia game.  Sweden could here afford to lose by three goals and still win the group.  They were behind by four goals late in the game but managed come back and tie the game at 30-30.

This means that Slovenia missed out on the quarterfinals in a dramatic fashion and just barely avoided sliding down to fourth place in the group.  This almost happened, as Sweden missed a clear scoring chance in the final seconds.  On the other hand, if Sweden had ‘refrained’ from scoring their last goal, they would have helped keep Slovenia in the semi-finals.  Talk about intrigue!  Sweden will now play against Egypt in one quarterfinal, while Croatia will face France, with these match-ups becoming clear after France defeated Egypt and won their group. 

Germany and Denmark had already advanced from their group, just like Spain and Switzerland in the neighboring group.  The Swiss coach indicated he desperately wanted to win against Spain, to avoid playing the supposedly superior German team next.  The Swiss did their part by winning by one, after scoring five straight goals at the end!   Denmark-Germany played their game immediately after the Spain-Switzerland game, so there was some speculation in the media that it would create an opportunity for some ‘gamesmanship’, in terms of being able to ‘choose’ the next opponent.  Germany beat Denmark more easily than expected, after having pulled away early.  This means that the remaining quarterfinals will now have Switzerland-Denmark and Spain-Germany.  I can only hope that people will refrain from thinking that Denmark took it easy or that Spain somehow gave up towards the end…. 

The quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday, as will the first round of the placement matches for 9th-12th, 13th-16th and 17th-20th.  Hosts Argentina, who had undoubtedly hoped to find themselves in the quarterfinals, will now have to fight for 9th place, initially by trying to beat Korea.  The Koreans, who had earlier played Russia to a tie, in their final group game managed to edge the Russians in the ranking with one goal’s margin.  The remaining combatants for the 9th place are Slovenia, and Brazil who managed to beat Qatar in the final group game despite a poor start.  This sets up the possibility of an Argentina-Brazil battle for 9th (or 11th…) place; not great for PanAmerica, but at least a little bit better than in the Junior World Championship.

This means that Russia finds themselves, just like recently at the Junior event, in the bottom region, something that cannot be very reassuring during a period when their senior national team is well below their usual level.  Tunisia came in last in their group, a sharp contrast to the superb performance of their team in the Junior category.   Should we expect a strong fight between Gabon and New Zealand in an effort to avoid the very last place of the Championship?

Finally, there seems to a widespread view that Argentina has done very well as an organizer of this event.  In fact, there are reports that they feel so encouraged by the experience that they may want to apply for the right to host another World Championship soon again.  Similarly, there are some unconfirmed rumors that Canada might be bidding for the opportunity to host the Men’s Youth Championship in 2013.

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Big boys feeling lots of pain

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it really hurts;I cannot possibly get up; at least not until my opponent has received a yellow card...

Judging from both the internet broadcasts and reports from those who were present, the recent Men’s Junior World Championship in Greece was a predominantly positive experience.  The performance of many teams and the skills of individual players showed a lot of promise for the future.  Moreover, the attitude of most players and team officials reflected an unusual sense of sportsmanship in most respects.  Teams generally seemed to put an emphasis on technical and tactical weapons rather than on physical or rough play.

But as a contrast, it was impossible to ignore a certain prevalence of ‘acting’ on the part of players who were (or wanted to give the impression of being) fouled, and then spent a considerable amount of time on the floor, writhing in pain and grimacing frantically.  On many occasions, the ‘acting’ seemed to be totally out of proportion in relation to the very modest body contact that had taken place.  And, of course, it caused many seemingly unnecessary and protracted stoppages in the action.  The referees tried their best to get the game going again, but often without much success.  All in all, a frustrating component of an otherwise attractive game.

Clearly, this is not a feature that we find only, or mainly, in handball.  It is not surprising that the best photo illustration I found was from football.  Here the players, especially at the professional level, have turned it into ‘gamesmanship’, using it systematically to cause unwarranted refereeing decisions, including punishments against opponents.  It was interesting to note, however, that the problem was less common in the recent Women’s World Championship in football.  Are the women sturdier, or are they simply more inclined to adhere to a spirit of fair play?

Similarly, in handball the problem tends to be less severe at the youth/junior level than among the adult players.  This may have something to do with a ‘macho’ attitude among the younger players, or it may simply mean that they have not yet been ‘brainwashed’ by coaches into adopting the unsportsmanlike methods instinctively.  But it has also been quite clear to me over the years, as a participant in numerous senior and junior events, that the issue is also ‘cultural’ in nature.  The tendency to this unattractive acting is much stronger among players and teams from certain regions, particularly North Africa and West Asia.

Here again one may wonder what is the cause.  Is it an indication of particularly bad sportsmanship in those regions, and if so why?   Or, if it happens so often at the youth level, is it really ‘cultural’ and something that comes with upbringing and engrained habits?  I have no expertise in such matters; I simply find it puzzling.  In recent months there has been worldwide admiration for the courage, maturity and physical/mental resilience on the part of the youth in precisely these regions, with a totally absence of self-pity and ‘drama’.  How can it be that the tendencies on a football field or handball court are so completely different?

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Embarrassing outcome for PanAmerica in Junior Championship

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Iran and Algeria - levels above Canada and Venezuela

For the first time in a World Championship of any category, PanAmerica was entitled to have five participants in the recently concluded Men’s Junior event.  Perhaps some in the PanAmerican Federation felt some pride in this.  But as has typically happened in the past, whenever PanAmerica had more than the automatic allocation of two or three teams, the additional number only served to highlight to the handball world the weaknesses of the PanAmerican continent.

During many years now, we have been used to seeing Argentina and Brazil put in strong, or at least respectable, performances.  But rarely has another team managed to avoid getting a final ranking at the bottom.  This is also what happened to the other three PanAmerican participants.  Only the weakness of the team from Benin saved PanAmerica from occupying the last three places.  Now we saw Chile as 21st, Canada as 22nd and Venezuela as 24th.

 I am not saying that it is a surprise, because I had not expected much better.  The story of Canada’s truly amateur team has been reported here earlier.  And Venezuela had to fill in at the last moment, as a replacement for Uruguay, and their completely inexperienced team had no chance.  But it is really revealing that a continent with more than 30 member federations continues to be in a situation where it does not have more than two teams that are competitive internationally.

And to make it worse this time, Brazil and Argentina had their worst showing in many years.  After Argentina’s strong performance in the senior World Championship earlier this year, it is a bit surprising, and worrisome for the future, if the ‘under-21’ team cannot do better than a 20th place, ranking behind teams such as Iran, Algeria and Qatar.  Brazil managed to qualify for the 1/8-finals but finished in a modest 11th place.  By contrast, Tunisia and Egypt qualified for the bronze medal game, where the Tunisians turned out to be the strongest.

Clearly it is a disadvantage for most countries in PanAmerica that the caliber of play at the national level is too weak to provide strong development opportunities for the younger talents.  And the opportunities for continental events are very infrequent, moreover with the typical scenario of Argentina and Brazil being superior and the remaining teams finding it difficult to gain much useful experience.   Regrettably, it is going to be a very slow process before any change can be seen in this situation.  

The young European players have a much more favorable situation, both nationally and at the continental level.  The European Championships and qualifying events in the junior and youth categories are grueling and constitute a tough and beneficial preparation for those who qualify for a World Championship.  A wild idea would be to try to put together some kind of ‘non-European’ championship for the top 4-5 countries from each continent to gain some similar experience.  

However, when one sees the success of Tunisia and Egypt this time, these other continents may see little merit in such an idea, which in any event would be difficult to finance (although of course it would deserve the support of the IHF).  The North African countries and the Gulf States have an advantage financially, and they also have a closer proximity to Europe with better opportunities to develop players and team through more frequent interaction with the Europeans.  The risk is that PanAmerica will gradually fall further behind.

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Junior World Championship lives up to expectations

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Over the years, the IHF has tried two different approaches for the format of play following the preliminary groups.  It has been more common to create main round groups for the top three from each group, but the method that it being used this time, with a ‘knock-out’ competition, starting with1/8-finals after the groups, has also been tried before.  It is difficult to claim that one format is clearly the best one.  Knock-out matches create excitement for the spectators, but may be a bit capricious and unfair to the teams.   Main round groups are often very intriguing, but on some occasions they can be boring because the top positions are clear prior to the final matches.

One could say that it depends on how evenly matched the teams are on each occasion.  If one can identify four-five superior teams, the knock-out approach may have an edge.  But this time, it seems that the event is unusually full of strong and interesting teams, and it might be a shame that some of them will be out of contention after only one more game.   I will come back to the match-ups for the 1/8-finals and beyond, but first I want to offer some comments on the group play.

In Group A, not many may have realized that the very first match between Slovenia and Tunisia would be the group final.  But after the played it each other, they have gone on to dominate a strong group, leaving Norway and France to fight for the third place, and with Serbia somewhat surprisingly missing out on the knock-out stage.  Tunisia has been an interesting team to watch.  Yes, they often play a rough and undisciplined defense, but they display speed, technique and shooting power to make up for it.  Perhaps one expected more from France, given their well-known emphasis on finding and educating young talents to step in at the senior level.  But their win today against Slovenia may be the start of something, even if of course Slovenia had nothing to play for.

Denmark was not unexpectedly the clear winner in Group B, where the main fight was for places 2-5.  Greece started out in a nervous fashion, showing inexperience, but they recovered and came in second.  Algeria and Qatar were more consistent and played an interesting style of handball.  It will be nice to see how they fare against European opponents in the 1/8-finals.  Argentina must be seen as a disappointment, considering the strong showing of their senior team half a year ago.  Here they seemed a bit thin and ‘lost’ at times. On the final day, they had to sit and hope for a miracle in the other games, but this did not happen.

Germany moved calmly through their first four matches, but still had to handle a ‘group final’ against Egypt on the final day.  In the end, Germany overcame also this obstacle, and this meant that Egypt’s ‘unnecessary’ loss against Russia in the very first game moved them down to third place.  Brazil dutifully beat Benin and a technical but ‘thin’ Korean team to make it to the 1/8-finals, but they were not able to match up fully with the top three teams over 60 minutes. 

In Group D, it became clear that Portugal, Spain and Sweden were very evenly matched and in a class by themselves.  Spain won the group, and on the final day we saw Portugal narrowly beat Sweden and grab the second place.  But watch out for a Swedish team wanting revenge in their next match.  My earlier prediction regarding the fourth and final place in the knock-out competition turned out to be justified, when Iran surprisingly clearly beat a very pale Hungarian team.  It seems that Hungary was the most negative surprise of the event, notwithstanding the frustrations of Argentina and Serbia.

The tournament now continues with the 1/8-finals on Sunday.  The pairings are as follows and the sequence of the matches also indicates which winners will play each other in the quarter-finals and semi-finals:

Denmark-Norway,    Sweden-Russia;        Greece -Tunisia,  Spain-Brazil;;

Egypt-Portugal,   Slovenia- Qatar;         France-Algeria,  Germany -Iran

It seems that the group winners appropriately were rewarded by generally getting less scary opponents.             The ‘2 against 3’ games are harder to predict.   I believe a lot in Tunisia but they get to face the home team;  Portugal may be in for a particularly tough time.  Sweden-Russia is probably the game that is the hardest one to predict, and France-Algeria is a traditional rivalry.  Looking beyond that round, it is intriguing to see that a final between Spain and Germany is theoretically possible.  But several other teams will try to ruin that, and my Scandinavian friends will surely complain if I do not mention them.  I have not been able to watch Slovenia but they seem to be tough, and how would it be if a tournament that started with Slovenia-Tunisia would finish with the same pairing!

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Legal issues – EHF and HBL

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In the interest of Fair Play

The European Handball Federation recently announced the introduction of a new internal legal system effective July 1.  Having seen reasons to criticize both procedural aspects and the results of the decision-making in some cases in recent years, I now congratulate the EHF to this necessary and important action.   When questions are raised about the adherence to correct procedures and about apparent mismatches between the nature of an illegal action and the severity of the punishment, then the entire system may lose its credibility.

The EHF legal system will now have a lower level with the name ‘EHF Court of Handball’ (replacing the misleading concept of Arbitration Tribunal).  This Court will deal primarily with competition-related cases (while the EHF Office will serve as first instance for administrative and transfer matters).  The exception regarding competition matters involves those events which are played in a tournament form, and where therefore decisions typically need to be taken from one day to the next, by the Disciplinary Commissions or Delegates responsible at the site.

An ‘EHF Court of Appeal’ constitutes the second level, for all matters (except during a European Championship tournament where a Jury plays that role).  In addition, there is an arbitration mechanism, ‘on top of’ or outside the two bodies just mentioned.  It is external to the EHF and completely independent, even though it has been established by the EHF Congress.   Very specific rules apply for the dispute resolution of this body, and in a sense it is, for EHF issues, an entity somewhat similar in nature to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).  Perhaps it will serve the purpose of avoiding that matters escalate to the formidable level of CAS…

An important component of the new legal system is the introduction of new Legal Regulations, a List of Penalties and a Catalog of Administrative Sanctions.   My review of these documents suggests that the EHF now has in place a very solid basis for handling especially the often very sensitive and highly publicized issues involved in the EHF competitions.  There are reasons to believe that a more effective and speedy resolution can be reached, without worries about major inconsistencies.  The structure for penalties seems generally appropriate, with scope for quite substantial action in terms of both suspensions and financial repercussions in serious cases.

Of course, as the prescribed penalties for each type of situation are normally expressed either as a very broad range or in the form of a minimum, the key will be the early precedents when the new system is beginning to be applied.  A tendency to be very soft and regularly choose the lowest punishments possible would send a very undesirable signal.  The provisions will not in themselves serve as a deterrent; they require that the decision-makers have some courage.

The German Handball Bundesliga (HBL) has just come out with a somewhat surprising new regulation at the start of the new season.  In recent years, there has been an unfortunate tendency in the direction of increasingly frequent and ‘uninhibited’ criticism against referees, on the part of coaches and players in a very public manner.  This has contributed to a negative atmosphere, not just in the individual case but more generally in the co-existence between teams and referees.  It has also tended to have an effect on how spectators and the general public understand what is permissible in terms of similar actions.

Accordingly, the HBL is now, quite appropriately, finding it necessary to focus on new regulations for this kind of situations.  Clearly, the intention is to avoid the spontaneous and public negative reactions, for instance in a press conference, right after the game.  Team representatives should have a chance to calm down and perhaps review video recordings and be more certain of the facts before speaking up.  So it is now forbidden for players, team officials and club representatives to express themselves in public regarding referees or other match officials in any way whatsoever within 48 hours of a game.

As has been noted in the media, perhaps one needs to introduce some further clarifications or at least make sure that new regulation is applied with some common sense.   An excessively literal or bureaucratic application might backfire.  It would hardly seem to be punishable if a coach or player spontaneously praises a referee when meeting right after the game.   And the definition of what is meant by public expressions is not really very clear.   Similarly, if someone comments on a game of another team that they witnessed, should this be covered etc?   So the intention is laudable, and personally I am certainly in favor of offering more protection for the referees, but the success may depend on the details of the interpretation of this new idea.