World Championship Handball Web Streaming: Slow, but Steady Progress

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This past weekend the Computer Electronics Show (CES) took place in Las Vegas and one of the big themes of the convention was web TV and how in the near future everyone will seamlessly watch internet video on their TV in the their living room.

We’re certainly not there yet in terms of Team Handball, but slow and steady progress is being made. Did, I say slow? Yes, and by slow, I mean less than optimum transmission speeds for a fast paced sport like Handball. The IHF website announcement concerning their WebTV platform for the upcoming World Championship states: “All videos will be delivered in highest streaming quality” but this is not an accurate statement. In fact, the speed will only be .7 Megabits per second (Mbs), the same speed that was provided in 2007.

What is somewhat frustrating is that the provider of the web streaming broadcasts for the upcoming World Championships, Sportfive, has a proven capability to provide a more high quality product. This product is the HBL.TV platform www.hbl.tv which shows hundreds of German Bundesliga games at 1.5 Mbs. The quality is outstanding and once you have watched an hbl.tv game on your computer it’s difficult to accept the lower quality that .700 Mbs provides. I contacted Sportfive for an explanation for the “half speed” and they indicated that the worldwide simultaneous demand can’t support that many bits going out at the same time and doing so would risk some viewers getting shut out There’s some logic to that argument, but my engineering sense is that it could be overcome with the right equipment and the right network setup. Looks like we’ll have to wait till 2011 for a better picture.

I’m also a little miffed that the price has jumped to 29.99 Euros for this year’s complete package. This is a 10 Euro increase from what was charged for the 2007 WC package, with apparently no accompanying increase in quality. Hey, but we’re handball fans, many of living in dead zones where there are no other options. We’re simply going to open our wallets and pay.

IHF Announcement on Web Streaming: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1608
Handballworldcup.tv: www.handballworldcup.tv
My 2007 web streaming review: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.242 (note, how happy I was with .700 Mbs just two years ago)
Handball on TV in the U.S.?: Yes: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.392

[b]A Note on ESPN 360:[/b] USA Team Handball and ESPN 360 will likely be providing more information in the coming days of which matches will be available with this platform. I’m not on expert on ESPN360, but I think it will only be an option for a limited number of households in the U.S. (College students and overseas military take heart, ESPN360 is free for .edu and .mil addresses.) I’m guessing that the quality of the web stream is similar handballworldcup.tv, but would definitely like any feedback from a regular ESPN360 watcher. Email me at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com or simply post your experience in the forum section.

ESPN360 to Broadcast World Championships in the U.S.

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A short notice on the IHF website has indicated that ESPN360 will be broadcasting matches from the 2009 Men’s World Championships in Croatia. ESPN 360 is an ESPN affiliated broadband service that has a limited market reach within the U.S., but this still would be a first ever for Handball in the U.S.

As of this posting, there is no confirmation on the ESPN 360 website or USA Team Handball website.

IHF Announcement: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=282&idart=1729
Wikipedia Entry on ESPN360: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN360
ESPN360 Website: www.espn360.com

Miami Tourney Sanctioning: A Pointless Confrontation (Part 1)

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[b]Introduction[/b]

As I’ve pointed out before, it’s probably pretty safe to say that I’m the number one American fan of French professional club handball. Hey, there aren’t too many American handball fans to begin with and who else has spent 5 years recently living in France watching around 100 matches on TV. So, of course, I think it’s awesome that Cristian Zaharia somehow convinced the Ligue National de Handball (LNH) to move the Final Four of their Coupe de la Ligue tournament across the ocean to Miami. This is an unprecedented development and hopefully other professional clubs and leagues in Europe will follow the lead and make legitimate attempts to market the sport in the U.S.

So with that being said ,everyone should take note that this commentary isn’t about the tournament itself, it’s about national sports federations and and the basic concept of sanctioning. It’s also about underlying relationships, possible agendas and the basic concept of “playing nice.” And finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s about knowing which battles are worth fighting and which aren’t.

[b]National Sport Federations and the Concept of Sanctioning (Part 1)[/b]

As reported earlier, USA Team Handball has major issues with the announcement establishing a new Handball federation, the American Team Handball Federation and the Miami Tournament organizers failure to request sanction for the tournament with USA Team Handball

USA Team Handball notice on Miami Tournament: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=94

So let’s start with some official definitions:

[i]Federation[/i], according to the Merriam Webster online dictionary is defined as:
1: an encompassing political or societal entity formed by uniting smaller or more localized entities: as
a: a federal government
b: a union of organizations

[i]Sanction[/i], according to Merriam-Webster is defined as:
1 : to make valid or binding usually by a formal procedure (as ratification)
2 : to give effective or authoritative approval or consent to

I would argue, however, when it comes to sports these dictionary definitions don’t tell the full story. For instance, in a sporting context, the term Federation has almost a universal applicability to organizations that organize sports at the National and International level. Even organizations that don’t have the word Federation in their title, often refer to themselves as Federations. USA Team Handball is one example and so is the International Rugby Board (IRB). In almost all instances these organization are non-profit and focused on sports development and the organization of national and international competition. The only examples I could find of professional sports entities using the word Federation were the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). And, rest assured most professional sporting organizations would not want the word Federation in their title. As Frank Deford, astutely points out in #3 of his 4 guiding principles of sports organizations: “Any sports organization that has the word "federation" in its title is probably a mess.”

List of International Sports Federations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_sport_federations
Frank Deford commentary on Federations: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93995199

The point of this diatribe is that names and what an organization decides to call itself are important. By establishing a new sister organization, and calling it the American Team Handball Federation (ATHF), the Miami tournament organizers were being a little provocative. Despite protestations from the ATHF about their “for profit” focus it’s very difficult to not see the apparent conflict of interest with another Federation with the words “America” and “Team Handball” in it.

To then further indicate that this new organization was “sanctioning” the Miami tournament was really provocative. So let’s take a look at the word sanction. Merriam-Webster’s 2nd definition, “to give effective or authoritative approval or consent to” is a fairly good definition in my opinion. The key question, though, is what exactly makes an organization authoritative? For instance, what prevents Team Handball News from issuing a press release sanctioning the Miami Tournament? Does it really mean anything to sanction something?

I think the answer to this question depends on the organization doing the sanctioning. In the case of Team Handball News sanctioning, it would mean nothing. And as the ATHF is simply a fledgling organization with one press release and a couple of interviews on our website, it means essentially nothing for them to sanction an event either. Even a USA Team Handball sanctioning has very little meaning. For domestic team only events, the USA Team Handball Competition Rulebook http://usateamhandball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/News/USATH%20Rule%20Book%202008-2009.pdf states “for all intents and purposes, a sanction is a confirmation that insurance applies.” (Article VII, Section 4) And while one of the main expectations of sanctioning is that the Federation will provide assistance (e.g. officials) there is no commitment to provide this.

For competitions with an International club, slightly different rules are laid out in the competition rulebook in Article VIII. Most notably, Section 1 which states:

“Section 1- Eligibility
Any organization (LOC) or person wishing to promote a match involving one or more foreign teams [u][b]must[/b][/u] first apply to USA Team Handball to receive sanctioning for such a match. Once the application process has been completed, USATH shall promptly review such requests. USATH shall grant such sanction unless it determines that holding or sponsoring the international competition would be detrimental to the best interest of the sport.”

In other words according to the rulebook, no organization can stage Handball event in the U.S. without sanctioning from USA Team Handball. And if you read the rest of Article VII, it’s all about fees to be paid to USA Team Handball for gate receipts and applications. Setting aside the possible rationale for this new section (I’ll comment on that later), I find it highly unlikely that a USA Team Handball competition rulebook has any authority over anyone outside of USA Team Handball members.

That being said I would guess that there are international protocols that apply. For instance, when the NBA staged matches in Paris I would be surprised if there wasn’t some type of coordination and approval process that took place with the French Basketball Federation. And it wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t some types of fees that applied. Most likely there are some official agreements or regulations that cover national jurisdictions in FIBA’s regulations. Perhaps the same applies for the IHF as well, but beyond regulations covering player transfers I couldn’t find anything relating to cross country relations on the IHF website.

In terms of applicable Handball situations, British Handball arranged an exhibition match between two foreign clubs. As this was arranged by the Federation itself obviously there were no real sanctioning issues. In the forum section of our website one reader highlighted how the Danish Federation was able to stop a German Bundesliga match from taking place on Danish soil. I’m not sure how this was resolved, but one can speculate that the Danish Federation had some leverage due to the number of Danish athletes playing in the Bundesliga.

Whether USA Team Handball has sound legal footing and/or some leverage to force sanctioning is to be determined. Notably, USA Team Handball has been quiet as to what further consequences they might take should the tournament not be sanctioned. As an untapped market the U.S. might have some leverage in terms of its potential to help tap that market in the future. More likely, the best leverage that USA Team Handball might have is simply the threat to make things difficult through legal action. Of course, the Miami organizers and the LNH could decide to call their bluff. How this plays out in the planned meeting in Croatia remains to be seen.

But, how did we get here in the first place? And are them some hidden agendas that are actually behind this confrontation? Stay tuned for part 2.

Coming up:
Part 2: Underlying Relationships, Possible Agendas and Playing Nice
Part 3: Some Battles aren’t Worth Fighting

HBL President Witte: Handball Olympic Status in Jeopardy

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In articles recently published in several German publications, German Bundesliga President is quoted as saying “If nothing changes, handball’s Olympic status will be in jeopardy in Copenhagen.” Witte is referring to an IOC meeting later this year where the IOC members will not only vote on the host city for the Olympics they will also vote on whether to add new sports to the Olympic Program.

The cause of this heightened concern are more detailed allegations concerning the IHF’s misconduct in regards to doping controls. Two former IHF Medicine Commission member, Austrian Hans Holdaus and Danish Professor Inge-Lis Kastrup who resigned their post are now speaking out. In the articles, the former commission members detail how funding for the commission has not been provided and how the IHF leadership wanted to be informed prior to any pre-event testing in obvious violation of World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) regulations. The article further highlight a 2004 pre-Olympic tournament when half the Egyptian team were move to the stands when it was announced that drug testing would occur for players

ZDF Sports: http://sport.zdf.de/ZDFsport/inhalt/1/0,5676,7504577,00.html?dr=1
German Financial Times: http://www.ftd.de/sport/:Skandal%F6se-Zust%E4nde-Dopingstreit-%FCberschattet-Handball-WM/460076.html
Frankfurter Rundschau: http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/sport/aktuell/1658514_Handball-Weltverband-schweigt-sich-zum-Thema-Doping-aus.html?sid=94a02b9e2ceac60a8901b76107241d63

An English language text similar to the articles in these German publications has been provided to Team Handball News by the “Campaign Committee for Clean Handball”. The complete text is available in the extended message.

Hamburg. Is handball in danger of being thrown out of the Olympic Programme? Reiner Witte certainly thinks it is possible. “If nothing changes, handball’s Olympic status will be in jeopardy in Copenhagen,” says the concerned president of the German National Handball League (HBL). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be meeting in the Danish capital at the start of October 2009 to consider among other things the future of the Olympic Programme. There is plenty to suggest that handball, an Olympic sport since 1972, will be excluded, causing it to sink into obscurity. The reason lies with the International Handball Federation (IHF), which will be organising the 21st men’s world championships in Croatia from January 16, and which is still not fulfilling fundamental Anti-Doping requirements. An urgent letter sent by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and seen by this publication, has so far been ignored by the IHF.

The Olympic status is “absolutely at risk” confirms Hans Holdhaus. The Austrian Anti-Doping expert has for now suspended his role within the IHF medical commission so as not to endanger his excellent scientific reputation. What he has to say on the matter sounds truly incredible. The medical commission’s budget for 2008 was simply scrapped by Egyptian IHF president Hassan Moustafa and Spanish treasurer Miguel Roca, Holdhaus explains. On top of that the IHF leadership decided at short notice to disband the IHF Anti-Doping unit. “Nobody knows the reason. It’s incomprehensible,” says Holdhaus.

Even more alarming however is the fact that to date the IHF has not allowed a single pre-competition doping control, as is confirmed by the WADA letter. “The president wanted to be informed about every single test which was planned before competitions,” reports Holdhaus. His attempt “to explain to the president that this would contravene the international standards in the fight against doping” failed. The Danish professor Inge-Lis Kastrup, a further member of the medical commission, confirms all the criticisms levelled by Holdhaus. “Independent doping controls” cannot currently be guaranteed. “It makes no sense to continue working in these conditions,” says Holdhaus, describing the IHF leadership’s current Anti-Doping policies as “crazy” and “a fiasco.”

The IHF administration in Basel denies the charges. IHF director Ekke Hoffmann says he is “unaware” of the aforementioned events. “In Croatia we will have Francois Gnamian and Ridha Mokni from the medical commission on board, everything is already organised, there will be doping controls,” says Hoffmann. He testifies to the excellent reputation of Holdhaus. “It would be a great shame if such a specialist was to no longer work for the IHF.”

The IHF is clearly not a pioneer in the fight against doping. While barely 100 athletes were tested during the 2003 world championships in Portugal, the number had sunk to just 72 at the 2007 edition in Germany. The scandal at the pre-Olympic tournament in Athens in 2004 was just as remarkable. When it was announced that routine testing would take place there, the Egyptian team leaders removed half of the team to the public seating area. Furthermore the circumstances surrounding this affair contradicted all public statements (“Medical matters are very important to the IHF”) made by IHF president Moustafa concerning his seriousness about dealing with the doping problem. “You idiot, all doctors are fools,” Moustafa insulted the former head of the IHF medical commission Gijs Langevoort at the top of his voice. The Dutchman, who was considered an committed specialist in the fight against doping, was dismissed at the following IHF electoral congress. In his place the unknown Ivorian Gnamian suddenly found himself at the head of the medical commission. An apparent protégé of Moustafa, Gnamian was elected in absentia, at a time when is reported to have been serving out a prison sentence in Ivory Coast.

WADA and the IOC, whose president Jacques Rogge has always underlined the massive importance of the fight against doping, have not however overlooked the previous Anti-Doping policies of the Egyptian president. WADA president John Fahey promised to cast a “strict eye” over the association in November 2008 while imposing a final deadline. All WADA Code requirements will have to be met by May 2009. Otherwise the suspension of an individual sport can be enforced before the 2012 London Games. Moustafa and his colleagues at the IHF are playing a dangerous game, and one which threatens the existence of an entire sport.

2009 World Championship Odds

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Courtesy of Best Betting www.eu.bestbetting.com here are some odd for the 2009 World Championships. Best Betting is an aggregate betting site that compares odds at multiple sites. A link for these odds will be placed in our links section on the right hand of the page. So if a surprise team does well, you can check back and see just how big a long shot they were. Additionally, we’ll place some proposition bets such as overall top scorer as more are posted on betting sites during the week.

[b]To win the 2009 Championship[/b]
France 2.25 to 1
Croatia 2.75 to 1
Denmark 6
Spain 8
Germany 11
Poland 20
Sweden 33
Russia 50
Serbia 80
Norway 100
Hungary 124
Tunisia 200
South Korea 349
Egypt 499
Slovakia 749
Algeria 1000
Argentina 1000
Brazil 1000
Macedonia 1000
Romania 1000
Cuba 1500
Saudi Arabia 1500
Kuwait 2500
Australia 10000

[b]GROUP A Osijek [/b]
France 3/10
Hungary 4
Slovakia 19
Romania 24
Argentina 1000
Australia 1000

[b]GROUP B Split[/b]
Croatia 11/10
Spain 5/4
Sweden 4
Republic of Korea 150
Cuba 300
Kuwait 1000

[b]GROUP C Varazdin [/b]
Germany 1/1
Poland 9/4
Russia 6
Tunisia 17
Macedonia 20
Algeria 1000

[b]GROUP D Porec [/b]
Denmark 8/11
Norway 4
Serbia 6
Egypt 14
Brazil 499
Saudi Arabia 500

ATHF's full disclosure.

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Prior to John Ryan’s summary of the Salt Lake – Miami debacle, John emailed questions to both parties. The USATH and the ATHF.

I recently received copies of emails containing answers and comments from both Cristian Zaharia and Nick VandenBrekel. I was not copied on the answers or the questions from the USATH.

For the sake of transparency and full disclosure I am posting Mr. Cristian Zaharia’s answers to John Ryan’s questions first, followed by comments from Mr. VandenBrekel.

THN: Did USA Team Handball contact you and the LNH about the need to request sanctioning from USA Team Handball? If so, what were your responses?
CZ: John, first let me explain to everybody that this is a private endeavor and we do not need their sanctioning. We do have a professional cooperation with a Professional League doing a business. New World Sports Enterprises LLC is the promoter of this event, not the ATHF, as the probationary federation is trying to misinform everybody.

THN: Why not simply request sanctioning from USA Team Handball for the tournament?
CZ: Why should I request something that we do not need? The USATH is in probation to lead the amateur side of this sport. We are doing a professional and private business.

THN: USA Team Handball is also seeking dissolution of the ATHF. The ATHF, aside from the Miami tournament, is pretty much conceptual at this point in time. Why not simply dissolve the organization?
CZ: This is the biggest enormity I have ever heard. Since when and where can we find in the laws of this great country called United States of America, a non-profit organization is demanding the dissolution of a for profit entity? As I mentioned earlier ATHF is NOT organizing this event. It is the NWSE, but that’s beside the point. ATHF can sell balloons if it so decides tomorrow. This is telling me that this probationary non-profit entity is working in ways that remind me of the old iron curtain. What will you say if AT&T is deciding tomorrow to call Verizon and, because AT&T "decided", they will ask Verizon to dissolve?
This is the level of incompetence where these people think they are having the monopoly. And how does attempting to destroy an organization, who is promoting team handball in US and organizing the arguably the single greatest event in the history of this sport here, will further the development and the credibility of this probationary federation?

THN: Do you think, in retrospect, that the announcement of the ATHF was ill-timed? (i.e., the new USA federation perhaps saw it as a direct threat to their organization.)

CZ: Who is the "We" in the phrase, "We will not acknowledge any entity connected to the ATHF until that organization is disbanded"? Under what right do you get to make that determination? In a country of approx 300M people, do you not think there is enough room for competing federations? Or is their business model designed so that it cannot withstand any competition?

THN: The USA Team Handball notice indicates “further consequences” if there is no request for sanctioning and dissolution of the ATHF. What do you anticipate those potential further consequences might be?
CZ: What consequences? This is border line with blackmail! It seems that any club affiliated with this probationary federation will have to live in fear of being 'destroyed" if they have any dissent or constructive criticism.

THN: Do you think the IHF can effectively mediate this dispute?
CZ: IHF has no jurisdiction over this matters. IHF is mandate to take care of the federations, their National Teams and the World Championships, Pan Am Championships/Games, Asian Championships/Games (see what good job the IHF did there!?!!) and Olympic Games. I want to remind everybody that are not educated in this situation: this is a private endeavor done by a private company with a professional League. This is the USA. Are the models that are in place in the rest of the World not valid here? This is business!

THN: Are you optimistic that this dispute can be resolved?
CZ: This probationary federation should reexamine their position and take care of their daily obligation that they have assumed when they have applied for the NGB status. This country is built on cooperation between people, not exclusion and attitude. They have showed their real intentions; we have a job to finish. This is not really a dispute, the dispute is with themselves.

THN: Anything that you’d like to add?
CZ: For all those who are reading this interview let me tell you about what are we doing, PROMOTING THIS SPORT IN USA!!

We have the biggest event that ever happened in this country, and I dare to say, more focused on the sport of Team Handball than the Olympic Games.
The tickets are on sale for both the Arena and for the Internet pay-per-view. The Travel Agency is ready to take care of all of you and all your travel needs. On this very page you can see the ad. Click on it. It takes you directly to the pages where all the info is present.

We are working with big VIP celebrities to be present here and celebrate the sport for the first time at the level it should be, we have some of the best players of this World present on the floor, the Olympic Champions from Beijing.

We are also working with local charities to expose the high risk kids to this sport, to give them a chance to get out of their bad environment. We are also working with the politicians to implement this sport here, in schools. And the USATH wants to kill all this?

In their email salutation, they state: “Have a voice in handball's future. Become a member today!” Is that what you all want? The fear of being 'dismantled" as soon as you have an opinion, or doing what we are doing with private funds, lots of sweat and hard work?
Come to Miami in April, it will be the place to be or see it on internet at www.coupdelaligue.pro.

Following John Ryan’s post, the CEO and Chairman of the ATHF, Nick VandenBrekel, contacted me via email with the following statement. Here it is, unaltered.

NB: In the article on the Team Handball News site, Steve Pastorino is quoted as saying:

“The General Manager of USA Team Handball, Steve Pastorino, further elaborated on the notice via email correspondence and indicated that the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was the ATHF press release indicating that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility. Pastorino further noted that USA Team Handball was…”

The comment is particularly interesting as he is stating: "that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility."

Below is an excerpt from the actual ATHF press release he is referring to:

“The first initiative of the newly created organization is to fully sanction and support the Final Four of the French Professional League Championships, LNH, Coupe de la Ligue, in Miami, April 10-11, 2009.
This initiative is to establish from the outset the National and International credibility of the ATHF in the Team Handball world, based on the past and present achievements of the founding members. For more information about the Coupe de la Ligue visit the official website at: www.coupedelaligue.pro”

As you can see, NOWHERE, in this press release does the ATHF claim to be an organization with national and international credibility. The press release says: “This initiative is TO ESTABLISH, the national and international credibility.”

Clearly before Mr. Pastorino comments on press releases it would behoove him to actually READ them first, especially as he refers to the quote as “the straw that broke the camel's back.”

It is a shame that this entire argument is based on the mistake Mr. Pastorino made in actually attempting to carefully read a press release.

Furthermore, Mr. Pastorino states that ATHF cannot represent itself as a national or international federation. I beg to differ. The dictionary clearly describes the word "FEDERATION" as a union of organizations. That is exactly what ATHF will endeavor to become. A union of Team Handball Clubs and Teams. Once again, Mr. Pastorino needs to acquaint himself with basic English and its well represented and defined meanings.

Thank you.

USA Team Handball and Miami Tournament Organizers in Dispute over Sanctioning

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A dispute between USA Team Handball and the organizers of the French Coupe de la Ligue Tournament may preclude the hosting of the tournament in Miami. The Coupe de la Ligue Tournament, featuring 4 of France’s top professional clubs is scheduled for April 10th and 11th at Miami’s American Airlines Arena and is easily the most significant Handball event ever to be staged in the U.S. outside of the 1984 and 1996 Olympics.

In a notice posted on it’s official website, USA Team Handball has called upon the French Professional League (Ligue National de Handball (LNH)), and it’s American partners, the American Team Handball Federation (ATHF), to formally request sanctioning of their tournament with USA Team Handball and to dissolve the ATHF. USA Team Handball has requested that the International Handball Federation (IHF) address this issue and the IHF is arranging a meeting at the upcoming World Championships in Croatia later this month with the LNH, the French National Federation and USA Handball.

The General Manager of USA Team Handball, Steve Pastorino, further elaborated on the notice via email correspondence and indicated that the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was the ATHF press release indicating that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility. Pastorino further noted that USA Team Handball was:

“about to announce several significant partnerships with international organizations… There are enough challenges to attract interest in handball in the USA without another organization “muddying” the sponsorship, broadcast and event landscape. We have no issues with them as a for-profit entity operating in this country; and we welcome their efforts to further the grass roots development of handball in the USA. But they cannot represent themselves as a “national” or “international” federation.”

Pastorino also indicated that USA Team Handball had contacted the ATHF concerning the sanctioning issue prior to contacting the IHF. Pastorino, however, categorized the ATHF reaction as one of contempt, prompting the decision to seek intervention from the IHF.

In regards to what further actions would be taken, should their requests (sanctioning and ATHF dissolution) not be met, Pastorino had no comment. He did, however, indicate that sanctioning was a simple process and implied that any remuneration (i.e., fees) was likely negotiable.

Cristian Zaharia, of New World Sports Enterprises (NWSE) and the ATHF was also contacted via email and emphasized that the Miami Tournament was a private endeavor and flatly rejected the notion that a probationary federation responsible for the amateur side of the sport could force a for profit professional venture to seek sanctioning.

In regards, to dissolving the ATHF, Zaharia, noted that NWSE, not the ATHF, was the actual organizer and responsible party for the tournament. Zaharia also questioned the heavy handed approach and the underlying motives for the dissolution request:

“Under what right do you get to make that determination? In a country of approx 300M people, do you not think there is enough room for competing federations? Or is their business model designed so that it can not withstand any competition? And how does attempting to destroy an organization who is promoting team handball in US and organizing the arguably the single greatest event in the history of this sport here, will further the development and the credibility of this probationary federation?”

As to the IHF‘s role in the matter, Zaharia maintains that the IHF should not have any jurisdiction in this matter as their mandate is National Teams and international competitions.

With neither side appearing to budge for the time being, further resolution/action will likely wait until the planned meeting at the World Championships later this month. Team Handball News will keep you abreast on any new developments as they may happen.

USA Team Handball Notice: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=94
ATHF Press Release (Nov 2008): http://teamhandballnews.com/docs/ATHF.pdf

“Campaign Committee for Clean Handball” Sends Missive on IHF Corruption

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Earlier today, Team Handball News received an email from a group calling itself the “Campaign Committee for Clean Handball” containing a summary of numerous allegations of IHF mismanagement and corruption. The compilation of allegations is attributed to an article in NZZ online and other news sources. The committee is represented by the Swiss public relations firm Geri Staudenmann and Team Handball News has contacted the firm for more information concerning the committee and its members.

NZZ Online: The Revenge of the Pharaoh (German):
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/aktuell/die_rache_des_pharaos_1.1673055.html

The complete text of the allegation summary is in the extended post

[b]IHF in deep trouble – Further serious accusations against President Hassan Moustafa and Treasurer Miguel Roca Mas[/b]

Public criticism has focussed on the International Handball Federation (IHF), and especially its President Hassan Moustafa (Egypt) and Treasurer Miguel Roca Mas (Spain), since the scandal surrounding the Asian Olympic qualifications in the summer of 2007 and expense accounts for more than half a million Swiss francs submitted by the President’s office without the necessary supporting documents. The IHF representatives will be under close observation when they hold the 21st Men’s Handball World Championships in Croatia together with the Organizing Committee of the Croatian Federation (Hrvatski Rukometni Savez) from 16 January to 1 February next. The IHF Council will be meeting in Zagreb on 31 January. In recent weeks, many irregularities involving the present IHF management have become public knowledge.

In a report, the Medical Commission (MC) notes an unsatisfactory and unacceptable situation caused by the refusal of Moustafa and Roca to release resources approved by the Council. The Commission therefore had to cancel at short notice medical seminars which had already been organized in several developing regions of Africa, Panamerica, Europe and Asia. The MC which – based on the WADA Code – is also responsible for all aspects of the prevention of doping is no longer able to meet its obligations founded on the IHF doping regulations. To enable routine business to be handled, the MC set up an independent “Anti-Doping-Unit” (ADU) in 2006. Without consulting the MC or its President Dr. François Gnamian (Ivory Coast), the IHF President halted the successful activities of the ADU headed by Prof. Hans Holdhaus (Austria). The work of the MC is currently suspended.

At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Moustafa and Roca interfered to such an extent with the powers of the Competition President Aleksander Koschukow, who has since died, that he was already threatening to leave after a few days. In Beijing, the President and Treasurer constantly changed the referees’ match schedules. Against this background, some 60 per cent of all the nominations in Beijing did not reflect the concept of the Referees’ Commission and the Competition President. That being so, the IHF obviously came under fresh suspicion of manipulation. The fact that treasurer Roca is to take over the competition management in Croatia is regarded by everyone as a provocation because this makes him Head of the Spanish Group at the same time.

Following the death of Staffan Holmqvist (Sweden) and Aleksander Koschukow (Russia), the Executive Committee of the World Federation has now shrunk to just three members: Moustafa, Roca and Peter Mühlematter (Switzerland). The latter is the honorary Secretary General. Moustafa has now sidelined the Swiss representative completely and barred him from entering the headquarters of the IHF on Peter-Merian-Strasse in Basel. Mühlematter was asked by an employee of the office to return the key. Mühlematter is no longer kept informed of events or only obtains fragmentary information about incoming and outgoing post and is not allowed to attend meetings and negotiations which fall within the terms of reference of the Executive. This raises an urgent question: is Moustafa abusing his powers in the case of the Secretary General? After all, Mühlematter was elected to his office by the IHF Congress, the supreme body of the World Federation.

The situation is damaging the working climate at the office in Basel and causing divided loyalties and conflicts of interest among the staff. Uncertainty in the administration and fears over jobs are growing.

Swiss labour law is being flouted, for instance in the matter of overtime. Even the auditors are constantly criticising the conduct of the Treasurer and President. According to statements made by staff members, money is currently being spent liberally for electoral purposes. The IOC does not like to see an Olympic sports federation reduced to serving the personal interests of top officials and acting in such a shameful manner. Greed sometimes rapidly develops its own dynamic. The question arises as to how the dozens of member federations, which are not exactly living on a bed of roses, view these activities. Ironically, the testimony of the late Executive member Alexander Kozkukhov also shows that in the autumn of 2007 Roca had called upon President Moustafa to resign. The many irregularities have not gone unnoticed either by the key long-standing partners of the IHF. The global recession will surely make it easier for some thwarted partners to use the opportunity to terminate their cooperation with the IHF.

Council members are also aware of the dictatorial management style adopted by the President. The Council representative of the Pacific continental Federation, Vernon Winitana (New Zealand) was excluded from attendance at the Council meeting in late October in Herzogenaurach. Because there is at present no official handball organization in New Zealand, the Pacific region currently consists of just four federations and therefore now has no voting right: that was the reason quoted by Moustafa for the exclusion from the meeting in Herzogenaurach. Instead, a new Council member who had not yet been elected was allowed to vote. Meanwhile, Winitana has chosen to appeal and contested the decisions taken by the Council at the end of October because they are not consistent with the constitution. As a result, for example, the decisions to hold the Men’s World Championships in 2011 in Sweden and the 2009 congress in Egypt have still not been ratified and their legal basis is for the time being called into question.

Moustafa and Roca are cementing their claims to domination although they are now able to count to only a limited extent on the “house powers”, i.e. their own federations. In Spain, Jesus Lopez Ricondo a close affiliate of Roca, was voted out of office as Federation President after serving for 14 years. The year before last, Roca was called upon to resign from the presidency of the Spanish professional league on grounds of financial manipulation! In Spanish handball circles there is still a vociferous controversy over an outstanding account for 50,000 euros charged for VIP services at the World Beach Championships last summer in Cadiz. In Egypt, Moustafa is no longer also President of the Egyptian Federation. The national Olympic Committee defied all of Moustafa’s efforts – despite his intervention with the IOC – and declared that his term of office had ended. At the end of 2008, however, the Congress did not elect a new man from Moustafa’s sphere of influence but appointed the opposition candidate by 40 votes to 15. The

From NZZ World Edition and other sources Jan.10, 2008

Spain vs. Germany Match on EHFTV.com

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EHFtv.com is offering a free webcast of a World Championship warm-up match between Spain and Germany on Sunday, 11 January. The match start at 1900 hours in Spain or 1300 (U.S. Eastern Time Zone)

EHF Announcement: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12020
EHFtv: www.ehftv.com

Dispute Threatens Miami Tournament

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USA Team Handball has posted a notice on their website concerning the French Coupe de la Ligue tournament. USA Team Handball’s position is that the French Professional League and the Miami organizers need to request sanctioning from USA Team Handball and dissolve the recently formed American Team Handball Federation (ATHF).

I am seeking more information from both parties and will post new information as I get it. More informal discourse is available, as always, for everyone in the forum section of the website.

USA Team Handball Notice: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=94
ATHF Press Release (29 Nov 2008): http://teamhandballnews.com/docs/ATHF.pdf

Home Depot drops Olympic sponsorhip. Opts for NASCAR

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Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games looks bleaker.
The global economic woes continue to rear its ugly faces in all the wrong places.
With funding for the London Olympics already in trouble, the US can ill afford losing a sponsor of Home Depot's ilk, while still in the running for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Spain and Brasil have to like their chances even more [link=http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/01/07/home_depot_olympics.html]now.[/link]

On a related note today, President Elect Barack Obama, warned that a "[link=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/08/transition.wrap/index.html
]bad situation could become dramatically worse[/link]".

Not exactly what the IOC and the world would like to hear.
And should President Elect Barack Obama make a plea in person for the 2016 US Olympic bid(as Tony Blair did for the Brits), he would certainly have to do an about face this coming October.

Ivy League Handball Rules

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As the new USA Federation scours the country in search of new players they might want to avoid a try-out at Princeton University. Or at least they might want to send the school a copy of the official rulebook first. According to the rules recently posted on the Princeton Intramural website the following unique “Ivy League” Handball rules apply:

II. a. Teams consist of 5 field players and a goalie for a total of 6 players.
III. e. Players may take 2 steps with the ball after gaining possession.
III. m. Each team can have at most one defender (stopper) who will be allowed inside the shooting arc, but not inside the goalie box. If there are 2 defenders in the zone at one time, the offensive team will receive a penalty shot. (I’m guessing they didn’t bother to draw a 6 meter line and are using a basketball 3 point line.)

And my personal favorite….

III. n. This is a non-contact sport.

Princeton University Team Handball Rules: http://www.princeton.edu/campusrec/intramural/rules/Team-Handball-Rules.pdf

Addendum: Christer Ahl, the Chair of the IHF Referee’s Committee informs me that real Handball has been played at Princeton University. In fact, in 1976 he officiated a friendly match between the USA and Romania in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium prior to the Montreal Olympics. He assures me that it was indeed a full contact match.

Ally to IHF President Moustafa Loses Egyptian Handball Federation Election

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The Egyptian Handball Federation held its Congress meeting on Monday, December 29, 2008 and for the first time in almost 30 years they have elected a new President without strong ties to current Egyptian and International Handball Federation President, Hassan Moustafa. The new President, Hady Fahmy, defeated Moustafa’s ally, Sayed Abd Alal, by a decisive 40-15 margin.

Moustafa, who had been the Egyptian Handball Federation President in addition to his position as IHF President was prohibited from running for re-election due a new law recently enacted by the Egyptian Olympic Committee to limit Sport Federation Presidents to two terms. This law was implemented reportedly after Moustafa got into a heated argument with Egyptian Olympic Committee President, Hassan Saker, following Egypt’s disappointing performance in Beijing. In addition to implementing the new law it is also worth noting that the new Egyptian Federation President was fully supported by Hassan Saker.

This national federation defeat could significantly impact next year’s IHF Presidential Election in June. Despite controversies surrounding President Moustafa’s involvement in the Asian Olympic Qualification scandal and questions surrounding his failure to provide receipts for IHF travel, Moustafa was seen by many as headed towards re-election. Notably, the selection of Egypt as the host site for the IHF Congress was seen as favorable to Moustafa because as host, Egypt could provide financial support (lodging and travel) to IHF members from poorer countries. Given the circumstances of the recent election, however, it seems less likely that the new Egyptian Federation leadership will wholeheartedly back a Moustafa candidacy.

Egyptian News Source (Arabic): http://www.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=59709
Egyptian Daily News (English): "Local sports in 2008: achievements, failures and disputes": http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18806

Editor’s Note: This article was written based on a translation of an Egyptian article (see above) and other sources. Special thanks to Mohamed Elmira for his assistance