In a recent article, I expressed the concern that there is not enough exposure of the wrongdoing in our sports federations. I noted that most people seem to think it is better for the image to ‘sweep things under the rug’ instead of dealing with the problems openly. But in the case of the IHF, it now seems that the Chief Prosecutor in Hamburg is ensuring that the there is more than enough publicity. The only question is what, if anything, the action and the publicity will lead to.

 

In January 2010, I published a comprehensive article following the revelations in the German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ that IHF President Hassan Moustafa had obtained personal service contracts to the amount of 602.000 Euro from Sportfive, the marketing firm that obtained the TV rights from the IHF for the period 2006-09. While Sportfive and Moustafa argued that the contracts were genuine, in the sense that they required actual work to be performed by Moustafa, there were suspicions expressed to the effect that the money instead was simply a ‘kick-back’ to Moustafa, in return for the IHF decision (‘heavily influenced’ by him personally) to award the TV rights to Sportfive.

Of course, most observers noted that even a genuine contract for services would be highly improper, at a minimum creating a serious conflict of interest, moreover behind the backs of all the Executive and Council members of the IHF. Indeed it would understandably create suspicions among competitors of Sportfive regarding the possibility of manipulations in the IHF decision-making. Media representatives brought the matter to the attention of the IOC President Jacques Rogge, who offered a stinging rebuke by saying that he would never have tolerated such a behavior from an IOC member. Such a public condemnation is, of course, highly unusual and remarkable. Unfortunately, the reactions internally in the IHF did not deviate from the usual pattern of tolerance and subservience regarding the President’s autocratic and questionable actions.

But in the meantime, there had been a new twist in the situation regarding the TV rights for IHF events. Robert Mueller von Vultejus, the person responsible at Sportfive, had left and joined RTL’s UFA Sports Division, and suddenly UFA beat out Sportfive and obtained the contract for the 2010-13 period. While initially the main reaction was simply one of surprise, persistent rumors now started emerging that perhaps not everything in the bidding process had been above board. Of course, any such wrongdoing rarely causes some physical evidence to be left behind, and any revelations would typically have to be based on the testimony of eyewitnesses. And this in turn would be a rare development, especially if one is dealing with an organization characterized by despotism and a downtrodden staff.

The possibility that ‘issues’ may have existed with respect to both TV contracts, that with Sportfive for 2006-09 in the order of 30 Million Swiss Francs, and that with UFA for 2010-13 for about twice that amount, is now causing confusion and speculation on the part of media and other observers. Is the focus of the German authorities and this week’s police action in Basel and Hamburg mainly on the personal services contract coinciding with the 2006-09 TV contract, or is it perhaps rather on the 2010-13 contract and the suspicions of wrongdoing in that regard? The media reports and their sources seem to differ on that point.

As just noted, the money involved is substantial, and some reports suggest that the Prosecutor is mainly dealing with charges of ‘bribery and corruption in commercial transactions’, i.e., the way in which the personal services contract for Moustafa could be viewed. But other reports suggest that, apart from Moustafa’s role, the real focus is on UFA and Mueller von Vultejus. This would suggest a focus on the 2010-13 contract and that could be supported by indications that the police raid in Hamburg apparently also involved the offices of UFA and the residence of Mueller von Vultejus. One would hope that the German authorities would be prepared to shed light on these questions. While either focus is a matter of serious concern for IHF and for Moustafa personally, in all fairness the possible culpability on the part of Sportfive and/or UFA and specific individuals needs to be clarified.

There are media reports to the effect that ‘revealing documents’ have been found during the police raid. This is almost difficult to believe. It is hard to imagine that Moustafa would be leaving any incriminating documents where the police could legitimately be searching for them. Similarly, is it realistic that managers at Sportfive or UFA would be so naïve about any hypothetical wrongdoing? And, again, if the IHF bidding procedures were to have been ‘flawed’, it seems that witnesses, not paper trails, would be the only way of finding out. But as I think the world of handball deserves to know the truth, I certainly hope that the police raid will turn out to have helped bring about clarity.

Finally, while important questions remain to be answered and precise culpability still needs to be determined, it seems that the shift from earlier rumors and innuendos to a decision by the German prosecutor that there is a sufficient basis to undertake this week’s raids, raises the basic question: how can a continuation of the Moustafa regime be tolerated, no matter what is the precise outcome? Has not enough damage been caused to the image of handball? After all, remembering many other issues, such as the Olympic qualifying for 2008, have we not had enough?? In a few days the European Handball Federation (EHF) will have a major celebration of its 20th anniversary, an existence generally characterized by integrity and fair play. But is such an introverted or insular celebration enough? Does not the EHF also need to lead the fight for urgent change towards democracy, decency and transparency at the global level!?

Dradio.de (9 Nov 2011): World Handball President in the crosshairs of German prosecutor (German): http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/sport/1600894/

Tages Woche (11 Nov 2011): Raid in Basel – IHF President Moustafa is said to have plugged 602,000 Euros (German): http://www.tageswoche.ch/de/2011_44/sport/110548/Razzia-in-Basel-%E2%80%93-IHF-Pr%C3%A4sident-Moustafa-soll-602’000-Euro-eingesteckt-haben.htm

Sportcal (10 Nov 2011) IHF and Sportfive Offices Searched in Investigation into Moustafa’s ‘Commercial Transactions’: https://teamhandballnews.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/IHFMoustafanov11.pdf

Associated Press (11 Nov 2011): Handball Federation President faces bribery probe: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45257835

 

When IHF teaches its top referees to focus strongly on their fitness, there is someone who can set a good example for all the referees of the younger generation. Ramon Gallego was always extremely fit in the days when he was still an active referee, with Olympic and World Championship finals among his top achievements. But he has remained in shape, and the current group of referees have a tough time following him when he takes them out on training runs. And this instills respect when he preaches fitness and agility.

And despite the large amount of time he spends for the benefit of the IHF referees, in addition to his professional career as a university professor back home in Spain, he also finds enough time to stay in sufficient shape to compete in some of the top marathon races of the world. I have lost track of exactly have many marathons that Ramon has completed, but a few days ago he made his debut in the difficult and prestigious New York City marathon which had over 40000 participants. Of course I am little bit frustrated that I could not convince him to make his U.S. debut in last weekend’s marathon in the Washington D.C. area, where the course takes the runners through my street.

Anyway, Ramon posted a very respectable time of 3.28.47. He was carrying on like a machine for the first 25km, at a steady pace of 47 minutes per 10km. But then he must have spent too much energy waving back to the cheering crowds during the next 10km, where his pace slowed down just a bit. In any case, I would be interested to see if anyone among our top referees would be prepared to challenge Ramon in one of his upcoming races. And now I just look forward to cheering him on when he comes to the Washington marathon next year!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the nasty implications of the IHF decision to fire its respected Head of the Anti-Doping Unit, Professor Hans Holdhaus.  Of course, there had never been any suggestions that Holdhaus did not have the necessary competence.  On the contrary, he was in a sense doing his job too well, something that scared the IHF President.  By that I mean that Professor Holdhaus had carefully and consistently followed the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that all the affairs of an Anti-Doping Unit must be kept entirely separate and confidential in relation to its sports federation, in this case the IHF.

This is the type of requirement that is natural in all other federations but is too dangerous and unacceptable to a ‘control freak’ such as the IHF President.   His despotic way of running the IHF requires full control over everything, as ‘he knows best’ and has the right to decide everything.   It is one thing that the IHF Executive, the IHF Council and the global handball family amazingly tolerate this state of affairs in other matters, but in the area of anti-doping it simply must not happen.  And this is not just a matter of principle. 

As I mentioned in my previous article, it also has serious practical implications.  A surprise test was announced at the start of the Pre-Olympic handball event prior to the Olympics in Athens, fully in accordance with WADA procedure but unbeknownst to the IHF President.  The effect was that half of the Egyptian team was suddenly skipping the game, hiding in the stands, to avoid the risk of being tested!

In a ‘normal’ federation, the President goes out of his way to show that he is not influencing the Anti-Doping efforts and is unaware of its operations.  In the IHF, the President has now gone out of his way to show that he does not care about WADA rules, he does not care about the image of the IHF, he does not care about the image of the IHF Anti-Doping Unit, and he does not care about how his own behavior appears to the rest of the world.   Why do I say this? 

Well, the IHF has just announced that as its new Head of Anti-Doping it has hired a compatriot of the President, a fellow-Egyptian.  This is not to cast any shadow over this gentleman’s competence or honesty.  But after the IHF President converted himself to a full-time employee with a constant presence at the IHF Office, and after he fired the previous IHF Managers to make room for his long-time Egyptian side-kick as the new Managing Director and controller of all the daily activities, he is now hiring an Egyptian as the person in charge of the most sensitive and supposedly most confidential position of the IHF.

 How could anyone ever trust his motives for this decision?   How could anyone have any doubts about the terrible image that this creates?  How could anyone believe that the President is not simply doing this to show that ‘he does not really care what anyone else thinks’!

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 7^th place game Germany-Croatia may have contributed to a ‘sleepy’ affair despite the 29-28 score.  Egypt won the 5^th 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.

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 9^th-12^th, 13^th-16^th and 17^th-20^th.  Hosts Argentina, who had undoubtedly hoped to find themselves in the quarterfinals, will now have to fight for 9^th 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 9^th 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 9^th (or 11^th…) 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.

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!

Almost exactly 20 years ago, Greece hosted the Men’s Junior World Handball Championship in Athens.  Now the turn has come to the second city of Greece, Thessaloniki, a city of prominence both historically and in modern Greece.  Over the centuries, many important battles have been fought in the area.  Let us hope that the battles on the handball courts over the next two weeks will be less bloody, although I am sure that they will be dramatic enough.

 Handball has a rather modest existence in Greece, at least in comparison with football and basketball.  PAOK and Aris are great rivals from the host city in both those sports, and they have also had some success at the continental level.  However, the conspicuous lack of spectators (except when the home team was playing) during the opening days, suggests that handball in July is not a favorite activity of the locals.  And of course, they currently have more fundamental issues to worry about and more important things to spend their money on.

The Junior World Championship tends to be a very interesting event for many reasons.  You can see the players who will be the stars on their national teams some years from now.  And it is exciting to see how the traditional styles of the adult players from different countries can be recognized also among their young talents.  Moreover, for many of the players it is their first time in an intercontinental event, and you will see some interesting ‘cross-cultural’ clashes in terms of tactics, style, and mentality.  The 2011 event promises to be as thrilling as many of its forerunners.

It seems a bit premature to start picking favorites after just two games per team.  Moreover, the main conclusion is rather that there will be many heated battles in each preliminary group, as teams are fighting for positions for the ‘1/8-finals’, where teams from ‘neighboring’ groups will be playing 1-4, 2-3, 3-2 and 4-1.  So it is critical to try to gain one of the top positions in the group, and this will guarantee interesting match-ups until the end of the group play, even if in some groups the two teams that will be going to the ‘consolation round’ are already becoming known. 

In group A, there was the traditional battle between France and Tunisia today, and despite playing a careless style that caused many 2-minutes penalties, Tunisia was able to use a better scoring power to win rather easily in the end.  But Tunisia already lost against Slovenia, whereas France gained a point against a solid Norwegian team that today went on to defeat Serbia.  France may be living dangerously here if they do not improve.

Denmark is the likely favorite in group B, despite having to fight until the finish line in order to defeat Algeria.  The Algerians played with speed and tenacity today, after having had a rather modest game yesterday against the less experienced home team.  Argentina lost today against Qatar, but both teams have a good chance to advance to the 1/8-finals. I could see either Qatar or Algeria causing some surprises at later stage.  Newcomer Venezuela will find it hard to win a game here.

In group C it would be easy for Benin to feel a bit overwhelmed.  Here we have had battles today between perennial top teams Russia vs. Germany and Korea vs. Egypt, while Benin themselves tried to put up a brave fight against Brazil.  Germany played a smart and systematic handball against opponents looking like an old Soviet style team.  There is some special interest here in the sense that the Germans are coached by Martin Heuberger in his final effort with the juniors, before he takes over the senior German team.   Korea has a quick but small team, and after an 8-4 lead they got ‘outmuscled’ by the strong and physical Egyptians.  At half-time it was 13-13, but soon it went from 16-16 to 17-24.  It would be not be surprising if the Koreans join Benin in the consolation round.

Iran just might be able to fight successfully against Hungary on the final day of group play, if one judges from the results so far.  Sweden has been a bit slow in pulling away from Iran and Canada in their games, but in the end they won comfortably.  Spain seemed to be more convincing after an unexpectedly easy win against Hungary, but after today’s Hungarian fiasco against Portugal, perhaps the Spanish strength still remains to be tested.  The next two games, against Sweden and Iberian rival Portugal will tell us more. 

As John mentioned in his posting earlier today, we have webcasts of very high quality from Greece, but the crux is that you have to be available to catch the games live.   The more intriguing games tomorrow, in the early afternoon my time here in the Washington area, are Qatar-Algeria, Argentina-Greece and Russia-Korea.   Then, after a rest day on Wednesday, you will need to check the standings in each group to find your best match-ups for Thursday and Friday, but during a couple of time slots you may need to have two computers going!