As many of our readers know, Greenland, the land of Inuits, is a place with a [u]fanatic interest in handball[/u]. In fact, measured per capita, there is no other nation with more handball players. Greenland has been a Danish territory since 1721, but more recently with a ‘home rule’ provision. Last year, Greenland obtained ‘self rule’ status, following a referendum, a vital step towards formal independence. In sports, Greenland does not have an Olympic Committee, but eight major sports are coordinated by a national sports federation. Handball is indeed a vital activity for the youth in Greenland.

Greenland is a full member of the IHF since 1998 and has participated in numerous World Championships in different categories. In fact, Greenland took part in the Women’s Junior World Championship in Korea last month. The allocation of Greenland to the Panamerican continent has at times been controversial, both on grounds of principle and for the practical reason that it creates a continent with huge distances for travel. But in reality, the only ones who have been forced to cope with such travel are the Greenland teams themselves, frequently traveling to South America, as no Panamerican events have been allocated for hosting by Greenland.

One other concern that has been heard from various Panamerican sources over the years is: ‘how can we know that we are really playing against a true Greenland team, as it is normal for the players to travel under Danish passports’. In the end, I think the other countries have been convinced by what I know to be an absolute reality: the pride of the people in Greenland in their athletes and teams who represent them abroad would never permit a situation where a non-native would be allowed on a team.

While the Inuits of Greenland thus have had their special status and issues in their international sports participation, there is another group that is facing similar but even more awkward problems. Many here in the U.S. are familiar with the sport of lacrosse, although not everyone knows a lot about its origins. Just like I was relatively unaware until recently, I think there would also be a widespread lack of awareness that lacrosse exists in some many countries around the world. The Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) has about 25 ‘full members’, 15 ‘associate members’ and 35 ‘emerging nations’.

BUT the biggest secret, at least to me, was that the Haudenosaunee nation (six Iroquois Indian tribes) is a full member of the FIL!!! If you are intrigued and want to learn some further details about this nation, then I suggest that you ‘google’ and check out some web sites, but suffice it to say here that these North American Indians are the ones who [u]invented lacrosse[/u] in its original form. (It was described in 1636 by a French missionary as the ‘Jeu de la Crosse’). Even more astonishingly, they are highly competitive internationally today. For instance, the Iroquois men are ranked [u]fourth[/u] in the world, behind Canada, USA and Australia, but ahead of England!

The crux, however, is their long-standing and proud independence. The Haudenosaunee nation has treaties with the U.S. that go back two centuries, and they have been traveling around the world on their own passports for over 30 years, for instance participating in previous lacrosse world championships. Suddenly this year, just before the start of the Men’s World Championship in England, the U.S. government announced that these passports would no longer be valid. (Security concerns involving the old-fashioned, partly hand-written passports appeared to be the reason). This decision was totally traumatic for the Iroquois, not just because of the planned travel but for much more fundamental reasons related to history and culture. In the end, the U.S. State Department backed down, but unfortunately the U.K. government did not, so the team had to stay home.

To complete the circle back to [u]handball[/u], it should be noted that American Indians participated for two years in the mid-1990s with their own a team at the U.S. nationals in handball. It was an all-star team, put together after nationwide try-outs, that participated with some modest success on the men’s side. (A women’s team had also been put together but was not seen to be competitive enough.) The whole endeavor was made possible through the support of the Native American Sports Council (NASC).

My understanding is that their interest in handball remains. Both the NASC and many tribal leaders recognize the potential value of sports, also at the competitive level, as a way of providing inspiration and an outlet for young Native Americans. Many of them are growing up under miserable social and economic conditions, and they are facing a difficult situation with huge unemployment and limited prospects. My contacts with a former national team player (at the Olympic level) and referee, Dan Foster, who is back at his family’s Sioux reservation (Rosebud in southernmost South Dakota), suggest that a resurgence might be viable with some support from USA Handball.

Heiner Brand is known to be very much ‘engaged’ in the games where he is working as a coach. This means that he reacts spontaneously and visibly to what happens on the court, whether it involves a ‘dirty’ action by a player on the opposing team or a referee decision with which he clearly does not agree. And sometimes it may even go beyond ‘spontaneous’; if the coach of the other team starts acting theatrically or ‘pleading’ with the referees, then Heiner is alert and knows that he may need to ‘balance’ this action to ensure that his own team is not put at a disadvantage.

This could be misinterpreted, as if Heiner Brand was disrespectful of referees and their role, but that would be absolutely wrong. In all my years as a supervisor or spectator in games where Heiner has coached, I have never found him to go too far or to show a lack of respect for others; emotional, yes, but only in the heat of the battle, and never vulgar or nasty like some of his colleagues. On the contrary, away from the game, he always shows a great understanding for the task of the referees and is ready to discuss and propose ways of improving things.

Therefore, as on other occasions over the years, it was a pleasure in Chicago, in connection with the recent Germany-Poland game, to have a chance to chat with him along these lines. We talked about recent trends and general problems, for instance going back to the overall observations from EURO2010. Heiner seemed to have seen ‘the same games’ as I did. He had general concerns about the lack of consistency from one referee couple to another, and from one game to another. Clearly this makes the job of a coach more difficult. In particular, he (like I myself) had in mind the balance between defensive and offensive fouls, and the not always so clear ‘line’ in applying progressive punishments.

Heiner Brand also expressed worries about the continuing difficulties that referees have at the top level in observing correctly what happens in the ongoing battle at the 6-meter line: what goes on when the ball is not there, and who initiates the illegal methods? Another area of continuing inconsistency, as far as Heiner was/is concerned, is the judgment of passive play. Perhaps as a ‘good student’ of Vlado Stenzel, he is of the opinion that there may be some merit in the arguments for introducing a time limit for each attack. He noted that this would then have to be supplemented by a new way of viewing and punishing fouls, perhaps along the lines of the accumulation of personal fouls in basketball.

But beyond these specific comments, Heiner Brand emphasized his general concern: the game has become more difficult for the referees to handle at the absolute top level, and the increased emphasis on education and training may not be enough. From his vantage point, the main objective of any rules changes in the near future must be to facilitate the task of the referees, for instance by looking for different ways of reducing the need for subjective judgment. It would be natural for Heiner to suggest rules changes that would facilitate for him and his players, but it says something about his mentality when instead he focuses on ways of helping the referees!

In his posting yesterday, John Ryan applauded IHF VP Miguel Roca for an 'unusually candid interview' on the IHF web site, regarding the many horrors of the recently finished Women's Youth World Championship in the Dominican Republic. I agree, but what for me is more significant is that the IHF allows a World Championship to be organized in a location where there are known reasons to expect serious shortcomings.

It is easy to criticize the organizing country, but this is not the whole story. An organizer may have completely overestimated its capacity and/or underestimated what is involved in hosting successfully an event of this magnitude; and sometimes one might feel that a federation should know better than to ask to be the host.

But the reality, also in this case, is that there are always enough people in the IHF and the Continental Federation who should know what the situation is, and should use their best judgment to make a clear recommendation for or against. The decisions are these days formally taken by the Congress, but this is not so important; a Congress will not really allocate an event if the IHF Council clearly is against it. In fact, such a proposal would not even be put to a vote.

It is also a reality, unfortunately, that sometimes a lower level event is not seen as 'such a big deal' and so there could be a tendency to allocate events on a political basis or in a carefree manner. In my IHF years, I sometimes heard comments like 'it is only a youth (or junior) event'… But, to mention just some examples, should these teams have to put up with a situation where buses get lost or never arrive; should they have to face a communications and logistics chaos? should they have to deal with power outages during entire matches or during the critical stages of the final? And should they have to be concerned about their personal safety!!!

Clearly, political considerations and carelessness are not explaining everything. To some extent, the participating teams themselves share in the blame. The teams have to pay a daily fee per player to cover hotel, food , transportation and everything else. And often a proposal from a potential host is met with the outcry that the daily fee is too high to be affordable. Indeed, in Europe most countries who have reliable conditions and experience from organizing events have given up the idea of being hosts, because they are seen as too expensive!

So to find organizers that are low-cost countries but still have the capacity to handle a World Championship in a solid manner becomes a difficult balancing act. It seems to me that those federations who know that their teams tend to qualify for many of the youth/junior events must also appreciate that they 'cannot have it both ways'. You cannot expect it to be both inexpensive and wonderfully organized. Because there are not many countries who have the resources to be such generous and competent hosts, and your teams deserve fair and solid conditions.

Most participants in our sport tend to have their personal opinions of the rules of the game. But generally one just has to accept what has been decided and adapt accordingly. So it is easy to forget how things used to be and, conversely, one might not remember that some specific aspects have not always been the way they are today. Without any attempt to be scientific or systematic, here is, for your possible amusement, a collection of changes from the last 30-40 years:

Considering that it has almost become a sport in itself to come up with new colors and designs for the ball, often matching the colors of the country organizing an event, it is hard to believe that until 1985 there was an absolute requirement that the ball must be of one solid color.

Most of you will still remember the old ‘referee-throw’, used after an interruption without a foul or any other violation. But while we during 1981-2001 used a ‘jump ball’, like in basketball, only the old-timers will remember that before 1981 the method was to bounce the ball hard against the floor with all players waiting 3 meters away.

Some rules have an origin in the outdoor 11-a-side handball, with some features similar to football/soccer. So it is not so strange that we had a ‘corner-throw’ until 1981, when it was realized that one could just as well use a throw-in from the corner.

A key element in the judging of passive play is now the ‘forewarning signal,’ which was first used informally in 1981. But do you remember that before that time it was possible to give a free-throw directly without forewarning; and repeated passive play was earlier supposed to lead to 2-minute and 5-minute suspensions!

At the lower levels, it is still common to use only [u]one[/u] referee in a match. But did you realize that the 2-referee system has only existed since 1970. Before that time we used 1 referee plus 2 goal judges; and in international games we had line judges like in soccer!

It seems perfectly natural that you are allowed to dive for a ball that is rolling or stationary on the floor. But this was prohibited until 1997. Previously it was only allowed to dive if the ball was in the air.

The ‘team time-out’ was included in the rule book for the first time in 1997. But it is then more remarkable that it was already used in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, as a special exception at the request of the TV broadcasters. When this was suddenly decided, the IHF had to scramble to work out the exact procedures. You get no prize for guessing correctly who invented the ‘green card’.

Did you realize that until 1974 you had to execute the throw-in with two hands, and with both feet in contact with the floor, in football/soccer fashion? If you did it incorrectly, your team lost possession.

The 7-meter throw has for the longest time been tied to the notion of ‘destroying a clear scoring chance’. So can you imagine that before 1981 the referees could award a 7-meter throw also for a particularly ‘dirty’ foul anywhere on the defender’s half of the court and completely unrelated to a scoring chance?

In my early years as a referee I hated the rule under which directing the ball in to your goalkeeper led to a 7-meter throw. Because it meant that a very young player who got confused and clearly directed the ball (but without really being conscious of it) caused a 7-meter; by contrast, a very skilled and experienced defender could do it ‘sneakily’ so that the referee could not say for sure that it was intentional; and a 7-meter was in any case a totally excessive punishment. Finally it was changed to a free-throw in 2001.

The ‘yellow card’ was introduced in 1977, and the ‘red card’ followed in 1985, when the distinction between the (almost never used) ‘exclusion’ and the ‘direct disqualification’ was introduced. (I hope you noticed that the ‘exclusion’ was eliminated in the new rule book effective July 1 this year!)

After it had become an ‘epidemic’ practice for players who had been called for ‘steps’ or ‘offensive foul’ to bring the ball and prevent a quick restart for the opponents, it was decided in 1981 to make this punishable with a direct 2-minute suspension. The effect was immediate and every player now knows instinctively to drop the ball and move away. This is a matter of envy for our counterparts in football/soccer.

In 2005 it was concluded that it really does not make sense to give a free-throw when an attacker enters the goal-area of the opponents; if one instead simply regards it as a goalkeeper-throw, then the restart is more flexible and potentially much quicker.

Until 1981, it was important for both the referees and the players to notice and remember if a ball had been gone out over the goal-line outside the goal or if it had been caught by the goalie in the goal-area; in the first case, it was then required for the opponents to step back and wait outside the 9-meter line. Fortunately, this distinction is no longer relevant.

Finally, one of the most important changes in terms of impact on the game was introduced in two stages in 1997 and 2001. The objective was to speed up the restart after a goal had been scored, including the elimination of delays caused by the opponents. So, from 1997, the throw-off could be taken without waiting for the opponents to get back to their half; but the impact was not quite as great as had been expected.

To make the restart even more dynamic and to put more pressure on the defenders, it was then decided in 2001 to allow the teammates of the thrower to start moving on the whistle signal, instead of waiting until the ball has been played. And this (difference of up to 3 seconds) did have the desired effect, so that the now common tactics of a ‘quick throw-off’ can be very spectacular and successful.

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.

When Chicago now goes back to normal, after 'the battle has been fought', what remains as a lasting impact? This question has to be answered from several different vantage points, and most of the results will only be seen over the longer term.

Taking first the Polish perspective, I could not help getting the impression that for the Polish team it was mostly a matter of doing its duty in participating in a PR spectacle with a strong Polish connection locally. There have been comments in the media from both the coach and the team captain that 'the timing was all wrong' and that 'the game did not seem to have much impact'. I think that reflects more how the team itself regarded the whole enterprise. I did not attend any training sessions, but I watched the game where the Polish team seemed to run out of energy and enthusiasm after about 20 minutes. It seemed to be more of a necessary response to the enthusiastic crowd support when the Polish team began to reduce the deficit to a more respectable final result, after the German team got a bit sloppy towards the end. And the only show of real enthusiasm came AFTER the game, when the Polish players took the time to reward their supporters by chatting, writing autographs and joining the festive spirit around the court. The Polish team would be a welcome participant on future occasions, but one hopes they will then see it as a more positive opportunity.

The Germans seemed more able to combine 'business and pleasure'. For being a group of mostly experienced international players, they clearly enjoyed Chicago as the setting for a 'training camp', but the impression was also that they, and most definitely their coach Heiner Brand, knew that this was an important first opportunity for team building and serious preparations for the World Championships six months from now. With all the club duties during a hectic season, there are not many solid opportunities for the national team to get together, probably not until early January just before the World Championship gets underway. And, as Heiner Brand confirmed, apart from the handful of players who were missing in Chicago but are already well-established in the squad, it will not be realistic to integrate any newcomers into the team between now and January. Perhaps, as discussed in recent weeks, the 'unlucky' draw for the World Championship also serves as motivation… In any case, the German team seemed determined to make the best use of the overall experience and they certainly did their part in the PR efforts.

But clearly the event was primarily intended as a very special opportunity for USA Team Handball, in its efforts to create awareness and interest among potential players, spectators, media representatives and sponsors. Although the Chicago news media did not exactly interrupt their focus on baseball, basketball, football, and the continuing celebrations of the Stanley Cup, the ability to get almost nationwide TV coverage through Comcast was extremely significant. (I have already heard favorable comments in my local Washington D.C, area). But now the momentum has to be maintained, which means that the occasional big events in the U.S. will not provide a sufficient basis. Agreements under which top games from, for instance, Germany and Spain, are broadcast on a regular basis would be the key, and the federation is fully aware of that.

Another important aspect was that the Federation demonstrated its capacity to put on a big event successfully. This is of course something totally different from putting on a much more 'obscure and internal' event such as the National Championships. Now both the participants and experienced observers were able to conclude that this was a very promising start if one wants to look ahead to repeat events in the future, both in other locations and possibly in an expanded format. Such endeavors are much more demanding in terms of planning, management and execution than most casual observers will appreciate, and my long experience with both IHF events and with USA Handball enables me to say that a lot of credit should go to both Dieter Esch and his colleagues at the top level and to Steve Pastorino as the General Manager in charge of his team. If one wants to attract strong partners (teams, local organizers and sponsors) for future occasions, it is critical to be able to demonstrate this competence.

Finally, while the Federation is rightly emphasizing much more strongly than has been the case in the past, the need for solid grassroots efforts and a youth movement with targeted locations and programs, it is also necessary to demonstrate to both the existing top players and potential future Olympians that the national team level is not ignored. The level of competitiveness may not make a U.S national team a PR weapon at this time, but the time to begin nurturing a squad with focus on 2016 is now, not in 2014-15, and the candidates need to sense that. So this is why top events such as the 'Battle of Chicago' have a demonstration effect, but it is just as important, as the case was now through the USA-L.A. matchup, to offer an opportunity for the top U.S. players to share the limelight and begin to have a sense for what the 'big leagues' are all about. Congratulations, USA Team Handball!

Having access to German and Polish federation representatives and coaching staff provided an opportunity to gauge the reactions to the draw. Prior to the draw, both teams had preferred to be very diplomatic. Now there are no attempts to hide a delight on the Polish side. Nobody really wanted to comment on Sweden as an opponent, whereas there was great optimism in relation to Slovakia. Korea is known to be a 'dark horse' on the men's side, but it seemed that nobody was too scared. And above all, there seemed to be particular safisfaction about having TWO relatively weak teams in their group. What will Argentina think about that?

On the German side, the reaction was more stoic. Being drawn into the group that others describe as the 'group of death' was not seen as a cause for panic. There were even comments to the effect that it might be positive during the preparations to know that they are in for a really tough test and furthermore against well-known opponents. I got the sense that Egypt was not seen so much as a worry, and that Tunisia by tradition might be more inclined to cause trouble for Spain and especially France. But of course there is a concern that qualifying for the next round is not really good enough; there is a need for taking a few points from France or Spain in order to have good chance for the medal round.

While we here in the U.S. are caught up in the euphoria surrounding the ‘Battle of Chicago’ and the live TV broadcasts from the Germany-Poland game, there are of course things going on in handball in Europe also in the middle of summer.

One of my recurring topics last year was [b]Gunnar Prokop and HYPO[/b], regrettably mostly for negative reasons. Now it seemed that the only commotion surrounding Prokop was going to be his recent 70th birthday… And any notion that there would be a separation between Prokop and HYPO seemed like a ridiculous one. But that’s where we now suddenly are. Prokop is gone, and true to his character he did not go quietly and happily, something that one might have wished him after all his years of enormous efforts for women’s handball and HYPO.

I do not claim to know the inside story, but Prokop always seemed obsessed with success, personally and for his team. And he knew that success in the Champions League does not come without an all-star team these days. So when he found that he had formally signed up four top players but that at least a majority of the club board vetoed this acquisition, presumably for financial reasons, then this was too much for Prokop. He felt that both he and the players had been treated in a disgraceful way. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/generelle/prokop-hypo-er-doed-og-jeg-har-tabt-ansigt

The players (Gitte Aaen, Carmen Amariei, Kristine Lunde-Borgersen and Mette Meldgaard) are fortunately sought after due to their star caliber, despite the fact that most top teams had finalized their building for the coming season. Nevertheless, the players are obviously upset and want to take legal action. However, here they were surprised to find that the EHF had to refer them to civil court, as the signed contracts had never been taken to the point of being ratified by the EHF. The Danish Federation raises strong concerns about the fact that such procedural details could leave the players without protection. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/internationalt/kritik-af-ehf-regler

The [b]transfer market for the top women’s clubs in Denmark [/b]has been more turbulent than ever in recent months. The main cause seems to be that, while some clubs seem to be doing quite well, economic realities have forced some others to make tough choices and cut back, something that has forced an exodus of a number of strong players. For instance, a good number of Swedish players are now returning to clubs in their home country, something that should at least contribute to an immediate strengthening of the Swedish league,

In the third Scandinavian country, Norway, there is also [b]some controversy. Larvik[/b], a club with high ambitions and strong resources, yet again failed its goal to win the Champions League. So the club that is already loaded with international stars is now further upgrading. The latest acquisition seems to be the famous goalkeeper, Cecilie Leganger, who will be competing with Danish national team goalie Lena Rantala. Understandably, other Norwegian clubs are concerned about this ‘hoarding’ of stars, arguing that it will ruin the Norwegian league and make it uninteresting. Of course, the response from Larvik is simply that ‘business is business’ and they will do what it takes to reach their goal. It is then up to the other clubs to obtain the necessary resources and players to become competitive, instead of complaining. http://www.haandbold.com/nyhed/norge-posten-ligaen-kvinder/byaasen-vi-maa-goere-som-larvik

Who knows, perhaps a continuing polarization among the super-rich and the not so wealthy clubs will eventually pave the way for what is openly being advocated at this time by Ciudad Real’s wealthy president and sponsor, namely [b]‘the introduction of an NBA style handball league in Europe’[/b]. The timing of this unilateral statement may be a bit surprising, coming so soon after the highly touted forming of a Forum for European top handball clubs and for the collaboration between clubs and the EHF. One might have thought that a pronouncement about a European league would come only after careful considerations through these formal channels. Could we even envisage a situation where both men’s and women’s clubs are moving in this direction? http://www.groupclubhandball.com/?p=904

Finally, there was a somewhat anticlimactic verdict from the EHF’s Court of Arbitration, on[b] the appeal from the German top referees Lemme/Ullrich [/b]regarding their suspension by the EHF. Both parties may have hoped for a final resolution in a more substantive way, either clearing the referees or bringing out the names of other guilty parties into daylight. However, the case was brought to an end on pure formalities. The ECA concluded that the EHF had started its proceedings against the referees too late in relation to the time of the debated game, under the EHF rules in effect at the time. This is somewhat ironic, as the EHF in the meantime has changed its regulations precisely to avoid that such important cases will be become time-barred, especially as it is not unusual that suspicions or evidence may only come up long after the event. So the only ‘winner’ at this point is the German federation that will now get its money back for the protest fee they had paid on behalf of the referees. http://www.eurohandball.com/article/13244 http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=26459

And now on to CHICAGO!!

Of course, we will have many months to speculate about the possible outcome of the men's World Championship in January. But it has been interesting to following the reactions to the draw in some of the top countries. Some strong reactions were inevitable. Some of the top coaches had been interviewed in advance and, for tactical reasons, they preferred to downplay the importance of the draw. But now when the results are known, it is impossible to conceal some reactions. The Nordic countries and the top Balkan countries will perhaps disagree, but it is hard to deny that France (2009 World Champions), Germany (2007 Champions), and Spain (2005 Champions) must be counted among the absolute favorites in every Championship. It was known that these three teams were seeded in the first, third and second category respectively, but the chance that the three would be drawn into the same group was only 1 in 16; nevertheless, this is exactly what happened!

To make things worse, if one wanted to add a combination of 4th and 5th seeded teams to this group, it is hard to imagine a more difficult one than Tunisia and Egypt. These are always tough and demanding opponents also for the very best teams. One can imagine that the face of the IHF President gradually started to take on a more and more horrified look for every team that was added to Egypt's group. And I do not envy the task of my old colleagues in the Rules & Refereeing Commission who will have to figure out the best referee nominations for the matches in this group. I still remember, with some pain, the difficulties in 2007, when precisely France, Germany and Spain ended up on the same half in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Well, there will surely be time for further speculation as it gets closer, but one could already now state that it would no longer be a world sensation if one of the three most recent champions failed to go beyond the preliminary round!

On the same half as this 'group of death' is a group headed by Iceland. This group is likely to have many close and interesting battles, with teams such as Norway, Austria and Hungary. These teams must sense that it is not good enough to advance; surely they need to bring a few points with them before the encounter the top teams from the neighboring group. If not, the chances for medals are likely to be remote.. Brazil and Japan are good enough to cause a surprise in some match, but will they really be strong enough to advance? Perhaps this will be Brazil's best chance in a long while to move closer to the top.

Sweden will not be the only home team in the preliminary round. While Denmark might grumble about having to face not just Croatia but also the always dangerours Serbs and the now again emerging Romanians. surely they must be pleased with an arrangement that allows them to count of thousands and thousands of loud Danish supporters in every game. (In fact, this may carry over and become a real battle in the main round in a potential game against Sweden in Malmo). The Malmo Arena holds about 12.500 spectators. I just wonder how many of those tickets that the Danes will be able to get hold of… And they will have some competition, because there are many Croats and Serbs among the local immigrants in southern Sweden, and these countries also tend to have busloads of faithful supporters making the trip to every major championship. Let us hope it will not occur to them to bring vuvuzelas… The Algerians may be good enough to cause some occasional upset, but their chances of advancing do not look too good.

Chile will be able to count on some spectator support in their first appearance in a men's championship. They have many ex-compatriots living for decades in Sweden, but it is not probable that it will help a lot. Argentina will be somewhat more likely to create difficulties for some opponent. As always, it is hard to predict just how strong the Korean men's team will turn out to be; they are not quite as reliable as their female counterparts. Similarly, Slovakia is a relative newcomer at this level but should not be underestimated. Nevertheless, Sweden and Poland must be seen as the favorites in this group and, without offendng anyone, it was not surprising that the Swedes chose this group considering the alternatives.

John Ryan and I will be back in due course with our more specific predictions. And perhaps we will find a way to have our readers brought into a competition with us. Be prepared!

Here is a link to the page from the official World Championship web site that provides the detailed match schedule for the preliminary round: http://www.handball2011.com/news

On Friday it will be determined in a ceremony in Goteborg how the 4 groups of 6 teams each will be composed. This tends to be the moment where the speculation about the outcome of the Championship gets started in a serious way. We in THN also intend to ‘stick our necks out’ and offer our early predictions.

While media love this kind of speculation, in fact even now before the draw has taken place, the coaches of the participating teams tend to prefer to downplay the importance of the seeding and the draw. Media talk about potential ‘dream groups’ and ‘groups of death’, while the coaches note that ‘in the end we will need to be able to beat all the strong teams to become champions’.

Yet there is some debate: for instance, is it more important for a top team to avoid a strong ‘number 4’ team in the group, so that the risk for an early elimination is reduced? But who is then a strong ‘number 4’ (or ‘number 5’) team? This is sometimes very hard to predict, especially when it involves the better non-European teams. And is it perhaps more important to avoid certain other top teams in the neighboring group, the one that will be combined with your group in the main round etc. We will come back to this after the draw!

Sweden has organized the Men’s World Championship three times before, in 1954, 1967 and 1993. I should know, as I was there on all three occasions, but the reality is that the first time I was too young to have any memories. On the second occasion, I already had a few years experience as a local referee, and in 1993 I came to Sweden as a member of the IHF Rules & Referees Commission. So I certainly hope to be there next January…

But it may be more relevant to you to be reminded about the results in the past, and the evolution it shows. In 1954 there were only six teams, and Sweden used the home court advantage to get the gold medals ahead of Germany and Czechoslovakia. The 1967 event took place during a strong period for the Czechs, so they moved up to the top position. Denmark and Romania got the other medals. There were a total of 16 teams, with Canada, Japan and Tunisia representing their respective continents; but only Japan managed to win a game, against Norway.

In 1993, the Russians fielded a very strong team and won the final easily against France. Sweden got the bronze medals ahead of Switzerland. Spain had then joined the top group and won 5th place against Germany. Egypt got the 12th and final place in the main round, while Korea and USA (with a certain John Ryan on the team) found themselves at the bottom of the rankings. Well, let’s not blame that entirely on John… But at least I can say that I watched him and the USA team play against Sweden in my old home town.

Goteborg will again be supporting the Swedish team in the preliminary round, in the now aging but large Scandinavium arena. Another group will be split between the ‘twin cities’ of Norrkoping and Linkoping, boasting relatively large and modern arenas , which admittedly exist thanks to presence of icehockey teams and not because these cities are handball hotbeds. It is worth noting that Stockholm is not among the host cities this time. It remains the capital of Sweden, so that’s where royal weddings take place and so on, but it is hardly the handball capital.

Handball has stronger traditions in the very south, where moreover three classic old handball locations now have new and modern arenas. Those in Lund and Kristianstad are smaller, whereas Malmo’s arena can hold over 12.000 spectators. This is where the final and one of the semi-finals will be played. And, much to the delight of the Danish team and their supporters, this is where they will play their matches in the preliminary round, just across the bridge from Copenhagen.

So pay attention to the draw, and we will be back and join you in the speculation afterwards!

We reported earlier in the year that actions by the current IHF regime had brought the very experienced and highly regarded Ekke Hoffmann to resign from the important position as Head of Sports. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.920 This caused bewilderment around the handball world, as Ekke Hoffmann is widely known as a strong manager and instructor, apart from his top-level career in coaching. He combines the coaching side with a great affinity also for the refereeing, something that is a great combination for any federation that needs to bring up its top referees to a level where they also appreciate the finer points of the tactics and techniques on the part of teams and players.

Therefore, it does not exactly come as a surprise, when it is now reported that the EHF has begun to use Ekke Hoffmann for important functions as an instructor in the EHF’s program for the development of talented referees. It is great to see that someone is sensible enough to ensure that the qualities of such a highly competent person are not lost for the world of handball. Clearly this collaboration will be beneficial for the new generation of talented referees in Europe. They are to be congratulated and Ekke Hoffmann is wished the best of luck in his new endeavors.

Sometimes it is a bit frustrating to find the enthusiasm for writing about something, even if I feel strongly about it, simply because I am so sure that those who must to be convinced about the need for a change will not listen. Only two days ago, after the devastating mistakes by referees and linesmen in high-profile matches in the football World Cup, I insisted on the need for a renewed investigation of the feasibility of introducing some form of a video review system, that would enable referees to get some help in making a decision or in reviewing a preliminary decision that they had taken. If you read my article, you noticed that my focus was on getting [u]handbal[/u]l and IHF to learn from the mistakes of football and FIFA, by moving on with the investigation that has been discussed for some time (also during my years as IHF Chief Referee) and that I wrote about more in detail some months ago.

Of course, a major reason why I wrote about video review in the context of handball is that handball is the main focus of our web site, But the other reason was that it never really occurred to me that FIFA, being stubborn and arrogant and full of prestige, would suddenly change its attitude, after having publicly and firmly 'slammed the door' on any kind of use of technology. Instead, the suggestion a few months ago, when that statement of principles and policies was announced, was that the only new approach to be considered would be the experimenting with additional goal-line referees. The human factor must prevail, was the slogan repeatedly used.

So a lot of people around the world of football must have thought there was some kind of mistake, when earlier today a bulletin was issued by the FIFA president, where he essentially admitted that the FIFA's old insistence on accepting human errors as an unavoidable, or even positive(!), part of the game could no longer be defended in light of what happened in the Germany-England and Argentina-Mexico games. He even issued apologies to the disadvantaged teams. http://www.aipsmedia.com/index.php?page=news&cod=4805&tp=n

It would be nice to be able to take credit for this sudden and unexpected development; but I was obviously not alone in the last couple of days in pointing out the absurdity and demanding action. FIFA's top management may not have much appreciation for the finer points of refereeing or concern for protecting their top referees, but they do have a very strong sense for the protection of their own political and financial well-being. Getting on the wrong side of some of the top countries of the football world, and letting the entire global audience see the effect of their poor decision-making, that could become just a bit too costly also for the self-suffiicient FIFA. At the same time, FIFA also decided to show off their newly found decisiveness by also publicly making scapegoats out of a group of their World Cup referees. As only eight games remain, they clearly do not need to keep all the 29 referees around, so they sent home ten of them.

This included those five who had only served as reserves and '4th referee'. Then the search for politically suitable scapegoats was on. Of course the two referees from the fatal Sunday matches had to be sacrificed conspicuously. The others included the referee from Mali who seemingly 'stole a goal' from the U.S team. Also sent packing was the French referee who had the nerve to give a red card to an unsportsmanlike 'star' on the Brazilian team. You just do not do that. And then the Swiss referee, who was one of the favorites for the final or at least a semifinal, because it was seen as his 'fault' that the home team was eliminated early. This involved a correct interpretation of a rule that FIFA knows is untenable but decided to leave in place until after the World Cup! By contrast, several referees with performances that were clearly weaker from a technical standpoint are now allowed to stay on, because their weaknesses were not so conspicuous from a PR or political standpoint…

So when I now, one hopes, close the chapter on football/handball refereeing and video review for this time, then of course I do it with my main point: now that even FIFA has 'seen the light', surely handball and the IHF must be prepared to move ahead without delay. I am not asking for the sudden and poorly founded implementation of technological aspects, such as video review and goal-line technology, but I am urging that a serious investigation get started immediately! This should be so much easier now that it is clear that, after all, FIFA is indeed taking the lead. But please do not follow FIFA's example of making some top referees into scapegoats in the meantime, just because you are not doing everything possible to support them!

Not so long ago I wrote an article https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.977 urging that the feasibility and desirability of different forms of ‘video review’ in handball should begin to be investigated. I do not see it as a foregone conclusion that such reviews should be introduced, because there are certainly arguments both for and against, but at least an investigation should be initiated as soon as possible. In my article I commented on FIFA’s refusal to consider introducing technology in any form for the purpose of assisting the referees or allowing for a review, and I was suggesting that this must not be an argument for the IHF to be against changes.

Today, when football should have celebrated a great day at the World Cup with two exciting match-ups, Germany-England and Argentina-Mexico, we saw instead the pleasure and the fairness ruined by two terrible mistakes that it would have been possible to correct. The only positive thing was that in both matches the team that was given a one-goal advantage was in any case superior and won with a larger margin. I am also pleased to see that the teams/federations who lost were ready to admit that the opponents were better, but clearly they were also agonizing over the injustices they had suffered.

In Argentina-Mexico, the first goal for Argentina was scored from an off-side position that was very obvious also without waiting for any replay. The excuse could be made for the linesman that the goalkeeper position was somewhat unusual for a situation where off-side needs to be checked. But this is not the point; mistakes are human and will be made, and in this sense FIFA is right. Whether they are right in insisting that we should ignore mistakes that can be discovered and corrected, that is another story. Here we now had a situation where the Mexican players could point to the video screen in the stadium and immediately show the referee that the decision was wrong. But this evidence had to be ignored. (At least we can be content in handball that off-side is not an issue for us…).

In Germany-England, it is now unfortunate that some first-rate action by the German players will seem diminished by a terrible mistake in a critical moment. Germany had taken a 2-0 lead, whereupon England first narrowed the lead and then scored a goal that would have been the equalizer. But what was instantly clear to many and became 110% clear from the replay, this was not clear to the linesman. He had been caught out of position and somehow thought that the ball rebounded from the crossbar outside the goal-line, when in fact it was very clearly inside. If the goal had been correctly given, leading to a 2-2 score, the rest of the game could have developed very differently. What is intriguing is that the incorrect decision in some absurd sense amounted to a late revenge for the World Cup 1966, where England in the final defeated Germany largely thanks to a ‘goal’ that a linesman invented. (I know because I was there, in a better position than the linesman!)

One aspect that deserves highlighting is the awkward combination of making the referee aware of his mistake during the game but still preventing him from doing something about it. In the GER-ENG game, the referee saw his mistake on TV at half-time; in the ARG-MEX game, the referee could see it on the video screen even before the game had restarted after the incorrect decision. How might this, however subconsciously, affect the referee and linesmen during the rest of the game?

Also, FIFA argues that video review in a World Cup is inappropriate because ‘the rules must be the same at all levels’, and clearly it is only in the international and national top events where adequate equipment would be available. But we are not talking about different rules; a goal is a goal and the off-side rule is the same everywhere. It just does not seem reasonable that FIFA shows off the benefits of technology by showing replays of all the questionable decisions on the stadium screens and on TV, while the referees are prevented from being helped by similar technology. At least in handball the IHF regulations prevent such replays from being shown in the arenas…

There is a cynical expression that it is always better to learn from someone else’s mistakes. So the question is now: [u]is handball prepared to learn, at least to the point of seriously and thoroughly investigating the concept of video review[/u]?? I do not want to push for a particular outcome, but I eagerly await the result of an urgent study! After all, as some of our readers might be aware, I was the match supervisor in the 2008 Olympic semifinal Korea-Norway; and I would have loved to have had access to a goal camera replay at that time. As it now is, I assume I will never know the right answer: I have one still photo showing ‘goal’ and another showing ‘no goal’…

Some interesting links regarding the incidents in GER-ENG and ARG-MEX:

From the web site of Jens Weinreich, where he offers commentary but also includes a video clip from the 1966 ENG-GER game and a humorous take on why the linesmen did not give a goal:

„1966 in reverse“: von Wembley nach Bloemfontein

Then a more truthful rendering of the disallowed English goal, together with the player's call for goal-line technology to be introduced: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8766423.stm

And finally a photo from the sports paper Ole' in Argentina that clearly shows the off-side 'goal': http://www.ole.com.ar/mundial/vio-mundo_0_287971338.html