Well, the IHF election results are in and the IHF delegates have spoken with a resounding 115 – 25 vote in favor of keeping Dr. Moustafa around for another 4 years. It’s bewildering to me personally that such a mandate has been awarded to an individual with such a suspect record, but I can’t argue with the results. As Jim Rome says, “Scoreboard” [Definition: (interjection) ‘The final score negates your argument’ [used as a rebuttal to postgame complaints of bad luck, poor officiating, etc.]

I certainly have been asking myself, though, just who are these voters, anyway? Every delegate is surely unique, but I would assess that they can be grouped into 5 general categories:

• Group 1: Very uniformed as to what has taken place in the past 8 years and very amenable to direction from their continental peers who have provided their nation with assistance. (I would assess this group as fairly large and perhaps the largest bloc of nations. Seriously, does anyone think that the delegate from St Kitts and Nevis and other assorted small nations is well versed in handball affairs. It’s possible, but unlikely.)
• Group 2: Aware of Dr Moustafa’s corruption, but think that it’s minor and is outweighed by his good works (I would assess this group as fairly small because it’s a pretty big stretch for a sports federation president to actually rationale match fixing of an Olympic qualification as not a big deal. Most are also probably smart enough to realize that the heralded development of the sport is less than it should be and could have been accomplished by practically anyone.)
• Group 3: Aware of Dr Moustafa’s corruption, but willing to look the other way for personal, national and continental considerations (Perhaps the 2nd largest group in attendance. Around 40 delegates)
• Group 4: Aware of Dr Moustafa’s corruption because they are also corrupt and therefore totally on board (Hopefully, a very small grouping, but disturbingly probably larger than we would care for)
• Group 5: Aware of Dr Moustafa’s corruption and voted for change (Well, this total is pretty simple: It’s the 25 who voted for Kaiser)

So, if the election were to have been different, the votes could only have come from Group 1 or Group 3. For group 1 it’s the not so simple matter of changing the uniformed to the informed. Websites like Team Handball News can play a role in the education process and our website certainly has been getting a lot of visitors from all over the world lately. But while the USA was ready for a net roots revolution in 2008 for Barack Obama, the far flung handball outposts of the world were not ready in 2009. Additionally, one can not underestimate the impact of face to face contact in influencing voters. Such a campaign, however, takes money and incumbency, particularly with a subsidized travel budget, is tough to overcome.

Group 3 is a little more troubling. Ignorance is one thing, but knowing that something is wrong, and still choosing to do nothing about it? Let’s just say that history is full of examples of where that policy has ended up causing a lot more harm than good. Still this group is ripe for changing their minds four years from now if the right candidate steps forward. This year’s election results for the Chairmanship of the Playing Rules and Referees Commision (PRC) provides a clue as to how many voters were in this swing group. German Manfred Prause narrowly defeated Iranian Dawud Tawakoli. I’ve seen conflicting vote totals, but it was close, something like 70-65. It’s a pretty safe bet that Prause got every single one of the 25 Kaiser votes and then took swing votes from Group 3 to get a majority. Apparently Tawakoli’s involvement with the Asian Olympic Qualification controversy was clearly just a little too much for some voters to stomach as the new man responsible for referee assignments. This fact combined with Prause’s reputation resulted in a swing of about 40 votes when compared to the Presidential election.

So arguably a candidate with a strong reputation and one that is not seen as a total outsider could muster the “look the other way” crowd to his side next time around. But a lot of things could happen in four years and while Dr Moustafa might be emboldened by his election mandate he is also probably aware that he is also under more scrutiny. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine a move as shockingly corrupt as match fixing will ever be attempted again. And hey, I’m a reasonable guy, maybe I’ll be so impressed with new innovative world-wide development efforts and unprecedented openness and transparency that I’ll lead the cry for “four more years.”

Finally, in light of these results, do I still believe in the “Yes, we can” mantra? Well, keep in mind I never said that we could win the election, only that we could influence. I’d like to think that some portion of the 25 Kaiser voters were at least influenced by this site and/or some of the readers of this site who decided to take action on a national level. I’m also guessing that some portion of the 115 feel a little bit dirty and are annoyed that they could not make a compromised choice without criticism. But, I’ll have to acknowledge that this may just be wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, I’ll be glad to moving on to other topics for a change. Coming up will be a commentary on the new final four Champions League format and a new national team strategy for the U.S. As always, stay tuned.

• Yes We Can!; Oui, Nous Pouvons!; Si, Se Puede! (Influence the outcome of the IHF Election) (Part 1): Link
• Yes We Can: Part 2: Link

As Jean Kaiser points out in his recent memo, the Handball disparity between Europe and the rest of the world is striking. Outside of the Korean women’s team and occasional flashes from the Korean, Tunisian and Egyptian men, this sport is undeniably European. Kaiser is certainly correct in his assessment that whatever is being done now in terms of development outside of Europe it’s clearly not working as well as it should.

But there’s not much that the rest of the world can do about it, Right? Well there actually is because once every four years the Handball minnows of the world, become regular size fish as the IHF Congress as each country gets one vote in the IHF election. It’s the one time in the Handball world that Ghana, El Salvador, and the Cook Islands stand on equal footing with Germany, France and Spain. The question of the day is whether these nations will seize that opportunity in Cairo, before they revert back to their minnow status after the vote.

Press accounts seem to indicate that these nations are oblivious to this opportunity and have assessed that Dr Moustafa has the three A’s (Asia, Africa, the America’s) solidly on his side. If this is indeed a solid block of nations then he will win the election. But perhaps there are cracks in this alliance?

The Asian Olympic Qualification scandal clearly exposed the split between Eastern and Western Asia and notably Bahrain even voiced displeasure with their Kuwaiti neighbors https://teamhandballnews.com/comment-n448.html which are closely aligned with Moustafa. In Africa, rifts between Arab and sub-Saharan nations have always been below the surface as Arab nations have dominated the Men’s competitions. In the America’s, the northern nations, USA, Canada and Greenland have frequently been slighted by the Latin south and those nation’s voters have plenty of reasons to cast their vote for a new administration. Less clear is what the nations in Central America and the Caribbean will decide as their programs are sometimes caught in the middle between North and South.

Another bloc of nations to consider is the Commonwealth Handball Association (CHA). This group of former UK colonies has been underserved for many years by the IHF and if the English speaking nations ever decided to vote as a bloc they could probably sway the election in either direction. http://teamhandball.blogspot.com/2005/07/time-for-anglophone-alliance.html

Finally, the dynamics of an election with only 159 total votes means that it only takes a relatively small number of voters switching sides to change the outcome. As an example, a current Moustafa lead of 90 to 69 would only require 11 voters jumping ship to give Kaiser an 80-79 victory. As hard as it may seem to believe in this wired age of the 21st century, a good portion of the voters in Cairo are likely oblivious to many of the current administration’s transgressions. And what they may have heard could be one sided and not tell the full story. Jean Kaiser will be on the ground and campaigning for votes. If he has an opportunity to speak with delegates prior to the election he has a chance to swing votes or at the very least get some delegates asking questions. And perhaps other like minded delegates will join in the campaigning as well especially when a colleague asks, “What exactly happened with Asian Olympic Qualification?” Rest assured the more debate and discussion that takes place in the margins of the hotel in Cairo before the vote, the more likely it is that votes will be swayed. Will it be enough? Stay tuned.

Well, I ran a contest https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.754 in hopes of getting someone (anyone) to speak out for Dr Moustafa. As you might expect there were no takers. I’m guessing that $20 was not enough enticement for anyone to step forward for Dr Moustafa, either out of conviction or for the quick $20. Well, if I can’t get somebody to concoct some reasons I guess I’ll have to do it myself. Of course, I’ll need to point – counterpoint this debate appropriately.

[b]POINT: Dr Moustafa should be re-elected as IHF President[/b]

First off, a non-European is clearly needed to counterbalance the strong European influence handball has in International circles. Putting a European in charge of the IHF could lead to an EHF/IHF alliance that overly promotes European interests. It’s no secret that a majority of the top handball nations in the world are European and that the EHF and IHF have been frequently at odds due to competing interests. This could abruptly change very quickly with a European in charge of the IHF now doing the bidding of the Europeans. Here’s a few things that could very well happen.

The World Championships could change from a once every two year event to a once every four year event. The EHF has indeed proposed this under the guise that there are too many games being played by the top athletes each season, especially in Olympic years. Of course, at the same time the EHF has no plans to cut the European Championship to a once every four year event and on top of that they’ve added a lengthy European Championship Qualification schedule. Less frequent World Championships would not be a blow for the Europeans, but it would be a major blow for nations outside of Europe as the World Championships and the Olympics are their only significant Handball events. A European IHF President might very well strike a deal for his European colleagues.

The President’s Cup could be discontinued from WC events. This consolation tournament for nations that do not advance to the main round at World Championship events has given the non-European teams a chance to play additional games against like competition. This event, however, loses money and does not attract crowds. A European IHF President might decide to cut this event as a way to save money.

In general, just about every decision could be made with European interests at stake. It’s hard to assess everywhere this will have an impact, but rest assured the rest of the world will get the short end of the stick.

Perhaps even more import to consider, though is the unprecedented growth of Handball under Dr Moustafa’s leadership. Handball was the most watched team sport at the Beijing Olympics. The Men’s World Championships in Croatia and Germany had sold out crowds and brought in significant income for the IHF. Visits to the IHF website are increasing by leaps and bounds. This strong momentum must be continued.

[b]COUNTER POINT[/b]

Well, let’s address the European issue first. There’s some legitimacy to the basic premise: namely, that an IHF President is going to have a tendency to favor their continent and their country. This is a probably true no matter where the President comes from. It certainly would be hard not to argue that Dr Moustafa has had a tendency to favor African and Arab countries during his administration. With a European President, however, this home continent concern is also exacerbated by the dominance of Europe in all things Handball. An IHF President in total lockstep with the EHF would undoubtedly have negative repercussions for the rest of the world.

There are a couple of arguments, however, that should mitigate those concerns.

1) Jean Kaiser is from Luxembourg. A little geography lesson may be in order. Luxembourg is a small country with a bit of an independent streak. Because of its small size they are not a Handball power and it’s unlikely that they will ever be one. Handball is popular there, but the concern one might have with a German or Spanish President doesn’t apply. In fact, a Luxembourg Handballer might be more likely to empathize with other small Handball nations in other parts of the world. As far as the independent streak goes, Luxembourg may be a small country, but they don’t like to be pushed around. In the past, their larger neighbors have from time to time tried to push them around, but generally they’ve been unsuccessful.

2) In my opinion, Europeans for many years have been way too short-sighted in understanding the need to develop the sport of Handball world-wide. Recent efforts by the EHF, German Bundesliga and French LNH, however, are proof that they’ve recognized the need to further market their sport beyond Europe. Of course, this isn’t being done for altruistic purposes, but instead for financial gain. Regardless of why it’s being done, though, non-Europeans don’t have to worry about a European trying to keep their European hegemony intact. In fact, the Europeans with financial interests won’t stand for it!

3) Perhaps most surprisingly, some European nations even want to keep Dr Moustafa around as they think they can cut deals with him in order to serve their best interests. Yes, some of the European nations actually fear a truly independent IHF president.

The second argument which touts Handball’s growth under Dr Moustafa’s leadership is farcical. In one sense, it’s like taking credit for the sun coming up every day in the East. Handball is a great sport with tremendous growth potential. It’s going to increase in popularity regardless of whose President. It also doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out that putting the Men’s World Championships in Germany and to a lesser extent, Croatia is going to result in a huge dividend. What’s troubling, though, is the question as to whether those dividends are now being used to develop the sport or to buy support for an IHF election. Furthermore, I would argue that with better leadership and vision the sports growth would have been much greater. And we should keep in mind that other sports, in particular basketball, have experienced far greater growth in recent years. My goodness, more people now play basketball than handball in Iceland of all places. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.499 If that shouldn’t worry people about where the sport is headed I don’t know what will. And don’t even get me started about the IHF’s pathetic website. You’ve got the number one world-wide address for the sport and this is all the IHF can muster?

Finally, though, I would like to finish with some sincere words on one accomplishment directly attributable to Dr Moustafa. The President’s Cup tournament at the World Championship is a great event for the non-European nations and my understanding is that Dr Moustafa deserves the bulk of the credit for its creation and has had to fight off European interests that think it is a waste of resources that should be discontinued. So credit, where credit is due: Job well done on establishing this tournament. Of course, this one good initiative can’t make up for everything else, but at least it can now be said that even I can find something positive to say about the current President.