Asian Olympic Qualification Replay (South Korea Women Beat Japan)

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[html] The South Korean Women have defeated Japan 34-21 to directly qualify for the 2008 Olympics.  Japan will take part in one of the Olympic Qualification tournaments.  The exact composition for the 3 Olympic Qualification tournaments is TBD.  The IHF had swapped out the 2nd place African and Asian teams previously and there now is no 3rd place Asian team.  More background on the placement of teams is at https://teamhandballnews.com/page18.html

Korea Yonhap News Service Article:
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/culturesports/2008/01/29/27/0702000000AEN20080129007900315F.HTML

IHF Article: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1014

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Greenland Saga Continues

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[html] In November of 2006 the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) downgraded Greenland’s full membership to an associated membership. This change in membership status meant that Greenland could no longer participate in qualification events for any Handball World Championships (youth, junior or senior). Greenland appealed this decision to the IHF Arbitration Commission and in November of 2007 the Commission ruled that Greenland should be reinstated as a full member of the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF).

Team Handball News has now learned, however, that the PATHF has not accepted this decision and has requested that the IHF “set aside the decision of the arbitration Commission and to allow PATHF to explain in writing its arguments in support of the decision taken by its Continental Congress.” In a letter to the IHF dated, December 12, 2007, the PATHF claims that the IHF did not follow due process and failed to either hold oral hearings or request that the PATHF submit written arguments in support of their case. It should be noted, however, that this PATHF claim appears to be in direct contradiction to the Appeal finding which noted the following, “This Commission regrets to note that the Pan America Federation offered no response to this appeal nor did it offer a defence to the claims, making the work of the Commission much harder.”
The IHF Office has forwarded the PATHF letter to the Arbitration Commission on 18 December, but as of this date there has been no further action taken by the IHF. In the meantime, the first PATHF qualification tournament since Greenland’s reinstatement, the PATHF Women’s Under 20 Championship, is rapidly approaching. Scheduled for February in Argentina, Greenland has contacted the PATHF and Argentinia Federation for information, but there requests have gone unanswered. Frustrated with these apparent delaying tactics the Greenland Handball Federation (GHF formally requested on January 18, 2008 that the IHF step in and take action to ensure that Greenland can participate in this tournament. As of this date, Greenland has not received a response back from the IHF concerning this request. [/html]

European Championships (The Olympic Ramifications: Part 2)

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[html] With the Semifinals pairs( France vs. Croatia and Germany vs. Denmark) known there’s a little bit more certainty as to how the upcoming Olympic Qualification Tournaments shape up. Here’s an update:
Automatic Bid: France, Croatia or Denmark will get the automatic ticket to Beijing. As Germany has already qualified for the World Championships, should they win, the runner up will get the automatic European ticket.

European 2nd and 3rd place spots: Norway and Sweden have secured these two spots. The winner of the 5th place game between these two teams will take 2nd and the loser will take the 3rd place spot.

The Olympic Qualification tournaments will shuffle based on who wins the European championships. Below are the scenarios:

If Denmark wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd (Norway or Sweden), Argentina
Tourney 2: France, Spain, Tunisia, Europe 3rd (Norway or Sweden)
Tourney 3: Croatia, Russia, Asia 2nd (Japan or South Korea), Algeria

If France wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd (Norway or Sweden), Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Spain, Tunisia, Europe 3rd (Norway or Sweden)
Tourney 3: Croatia, Russia, Asia 2nd (Japan or South Korea), Algeria

If Croatia wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd (Norway or Sweden), Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Spain, Tunisia, Europe 3rd (Norway or Sweden)
Tourney 3: France, Russia, Asia 2nd (Japan or South Korea), Algeria

2009 World Championships

Europe will be awarding 3 direct tickets for the 2009 World Championsips.  Germany (Defending Champion) and Croatia (host) have already qualified.  France and Denmark therefore have qualified and the winner of the Norway-Sweden 5th place match will secure the 3rd ticket.  The 11 teams that didn't secure a direct ticket will join the 7 pool winners from the European World Championship Qualification pools that just recently finished.  Those 18 teams will be paired for 9 home and away winner take all playoffs.  As you never know who you could get paired up, Norway and Sweden have a lot to play for in their 5th place game. [/html]

Times of London Handball Article Misses the Goal

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Matt Dickinson of The Times of London has written a highly critical piece questioning public funding in support of the British Handball Program. The basic premise of the article is that the 3 million British Pounds ($5.9M) through 2009 that has been earmarked to develop competitive handball teams for the 2012 Olympics is a waste of funding that could be better spent on sports where British athletes have a feasible chance of medaling.

While I agree that the chances of the Brits medaling are nearly zero this is not the primary goal of the program. The primary goal in simple terms is to field teams that are competitive and can give a credible accounting of themselves on the court. Of course, it can be argued as to whether even this is a worthwhile goal. It all depends on your perspective.

The article points out how much is now being spent on British Handball, but it fails to point out how practically no funding was provided prior to the recent influx. Still despite this lack of support there is an established club system in Britain which is more organized than other countries (ex. USA) which have participated in the Olympics previously. Additionally, the funding Handball now receives is still significantly smaller than the funding that many other sports in Great Britain receive. Medaling in some of these other sports is also an unlikely prospect and yet they did not receive the “Handball” treatment from the Times. Even more extreme, is the largesse provided to soccer. With arguably the richest professional soccer league in the world, soccer development does not need that kind of Government support. If every penny of that money went away there would still be thousands of youth teams and millions of Pounds being spent to develop young soccer talent. So if your perspective is relative to the funding other sports receive, I think it’s accurate to say that Handball is now finally getting it’s fair share.

In the larger scheme of things, however, one can always make a case against any Government funding for sport. There are surely run down sections of London or Manchester that could use a million pounds for community development. In some parts of the world there are people getting by on a dollar a day. Where do you draw the line? Some would argue that no money should be spent on games when there are so many problems that need solving. Just think of how much could be accomplished if every pound being spent on a two week London party was redirected elsewhere Others would argue that an appropriate balance is needed. I fall in that camp as do many others in the World. One only has to look at the kids playing soccer on dusty streets around the world to know that even the poorest people find discretionary funds to purchase soccer balls.

Oh, and one more thing: How can anyone claim that Great Britain is a “country remarkable for its sporting diversity?” Give me a break! As far as sports goes in Britain there is soccer and everything else. And that everything else is pretty much limited to rugby and cricket. My goodness, the most popular indoor sport is darts; which believe it or not is televised regularly. In terms of all team indoor sports Britain is woefully undeveloped when compared to any other European country. Britain sorely needs a National Indoor Team Sport- Why not Handball?

Times of London (22 Jan 2008:  The lost cause sticking its hand out for 3M pounds of Olympic Riches: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/matt_dickinson/article3228314.ece

Asian Olympic Qualification Replay (Japan vs. South Korea)

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[html] The IHF has officially announced that the Asian Olympic Qualification Replay will be only a two nation event between Japan and South Korea. Japan will host the winner take all matches at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo. The women will play on Tuesday, 29 January and the men will play the next day. The other nations that participated in the original tournament have indicated that they will not participate.
Meanwhile, the Japan Times reports, that the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) has notified the IHF that they may decide to appeal the IHF’s decision to hold the two team replay to the International Sports Arbitration Council. Additionally, unverified news group postings have indicated that the AHF Executive Council will be meeting on 27 January and may even decide to remove Japan and South Korea from the AHF.

IHF Notice: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1009Japan Times Article:http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/sp20080120a4.html

Commentary: Note to AHF: Be very careful what you wish for. Loudly complaining in the halls of your respective nations is one thing, but appealing to the neutral International Sports Arbitration Council is another thing entirely. Perhaps the AHF will ask for the Arbitration Council to only narrowly address the IHF”s right to interfere with AHF matters. But, if the Arbitration Council investigates the tournaments fully they could very well come to the same conclusions that the IHF did. This would simply publicize the controversy even more and who knows, maybe the IOC will decide to take some action. [/html]

African Nations Cup Results

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[html] Africa’s premiere tournament was recently held in Angola. Conducted every two years this tournament serves as the qualification both for the Olympics and the upcoming World Championships for both the Men and Women.
Women’s Results
As expected, Angola dominated the tournament winning every match by double digits except a pool play match against Congo 35-30. Cote d’Ivoire was the surprise team of the tournament as they upset Congo in the semifinals 29-28 to take 2nd place in the tournament. Congo defeated Tunisia to secure 3rd place.

Angola secures the automatic qualification to Beijing and Cote d’Ivoire will have the opportunity to qualify in a to be determined Olympic Qualification Tournament. Assumin the IHF follows previous World Championship qualification rules the top 4 teams (Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo and Tunisia) have qualified for the 2009 Women’s World Championships in China.

Final Standings
1) Angola
2) Cote d’Ivoire
3) Congo
4) Tunisia
5) Democratic Republic of Congo
6) Algeria
7) Cameroon
8 ) Gabon

Men’s Results
As expected, Olympic qualification came down to a gold medal game between Tunisia and Egypt, with the Pharoahs coming out on top 27-25. The Angolan men had a disappointing tournament. Despite, playing at home they barely advanced out of pool play and lost the 3rd place match against Algeria.

Egypt has booked a ticket for Beijing while both Tunisia and Algeria will have another opportunity at an Olympic Qualification Tournament later this year. Algeria will be a long shot, but Tunisia should have a chance. Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria have also qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Croatia.

Final Standings
1) Egypt
2) Tunisia
3) Algeria
4) Angola
5) Democratic Republic of the Congo
6) Nigeria
7) Cameroon
8 ) Morocco

For more information on the tournament check out the official webpagehttp://www.can08-handball.ao/ And as a side note, it’s a pretty impressive webpage. Only the European and World Championship pages that have been done better. [/html]

Who is Erik Eggers?

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[html] If you read this cryptic notice http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1006 on the IHF Website you may have been asking this question.
“IHF obtains interim injunction against misleading media coverage

The district court of the city of Hamburg approved the IHF's appeal for an interim injunction against the journalist Erik Eggers (Landgericht Hamburg, 4.1.2008, Az: 324 O 1127/07). Eggers had published false allegations concerning IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa in various well known Swiss and German publications.

Should Eggers continue his misleading reporting, he faces a fine of up to 250.000 Euro or detention.”

The short answer: Erik Eggers is a German journalist who has been in the forefront in regards to media coverage on the controversy surrounding the Asian Olympic Qualification. At the IHF press conference held at the end of the Women’s World Championships in France he confronted IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa as to why the IHF had not intervened in the Asian continental qualification outcome. Additionally, he has appeared on Germany Television to discuss the issue.
He is, however, not the only reporter to address this controversy and it is not clear why he alone is being singled out and what specific allegations concerning Dr Moustafa caused the IHF to take formal legal action.

International Press Association Article on IHF News Conference: http://www.aipsmedia.com/index.php?page=news&cod=1730&tp=n

German News Report with Erik Eggers being interviewed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JuWDVUlS_4 [/html]

European Championships (The Olympic Ramifications)

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[html] The Men’s World Championships took place in January 2007 and European teams took all the places and the resulting spots in Olympic Qualification tournaments. The nation which wins the European Championships, however, will receive an automatic bid to the Olympics and won’t have to play in an Olympic Qualification Tournament. As a result the exact composition of the Olympic Qualification tournaments will hinge on who wins the European Championships.

Here’s a summary of what’s at stake for each nation:

Germany: As the World Champion, they have already qualified. Where they place in the tournament has no bearing on Olympic qualification and wherever they place the teams behind them will all move up 1 spot.

Poland, Denmark, France, Croatia, Russia and Spain: These teams have already earned an Olympic Qualification Tournament bid by placing 2nd to 7th at the World Championships. Who they play and whether they will host a tournament, however, is very dependent on who wins the European Championship. The different scenarios are listed in detail at the bottom

Iceland: If Poland, Denmark, France, Croatia, Russia or Spain win the European Championship then Iceland will take the 7th place world’s position in Tourney 1. Otherwise, they are fighting for a 2nd or 3rd place finish with the teams in the next group below.

Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Norway, Montenegro, Hungary, Belarus, Slovakia or Sweden: These teams can only qualify for an Olympic Qualification Tournament by taking the 2nd or 3rd place spots in the European Championships. The good news for these teams is that all the teams that placed 2nd to 7th at the World Championships (Poland, Denmark, France, Croatia, Russia and Spain) won’t count in the standings. Additionally, should one of those teams win the European Championship, Iceland would also not be counted in the standings. This means that 9th and 10th place could actually earn the 2nd or 3rd place Europe spot. This means that teams that advance to the Main Round will likely have some meaningful games even if they don’t have a good chance at reaching the semifinals. A third place finish in one of the main round groups should earn a spot, and even a 4th or 5th place finish may be sufficient.

Detailed scenarios:

If Poland wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Denmark, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: France, Spain, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: Croatia, Russia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If Denmark wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: France, Spain, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: Croatia, Russia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If France wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Spain, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: Croatia, Russia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If Croatia wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Spain, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: France, Russia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If Russia wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Spain, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: France, Croatia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If Spain wins the European Championships
Tourney 1: Poland, Iceland, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Russia, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: France, Croatia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd

If Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Norway, Montenegro, Hungary, Belarus, Iceland, Slovakia or Sweden win the European Championship
Tourney 1: Poland, Spain, Europe 2nd, Argentina
Tourney 2: Denmark, Russia, Africa 2nd, Europe 3rd
Tourney 3: France, Croatia, Asia 2nd, Africa 3rd [/html]

Euro 2008 video streaming: direct link

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[html] "euro2008.png"

Live streaming of Euro 2008 matches is available.  Click here to find out more.

Note: the Euro 2008 website misleadingly states that you can watch all matches whenever you want.  This is not the case!  Only 5 minute summaries are available for viewing after the match.  In order to watch an entire match, you have to watch the match live.  Additionally, we have received reports from several readers indicating either technical or billing problems.  We will be contacting the EHF and if you would like to add your complaint to our collective letter please send us an email at editors@teamhandballnews.com [/html]

Handball Talk: Episode 1

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John Ryan and Mathias Kornes discuss the recent Women’s World Championships, the controversy surrounding the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournaments and the upcoming Men’s European Handball Championship.

Left Click to listen to the podcast on your computer or right click to download and save to your computer or MP3 player. https://teamhandballnews.com/request40.html

As referenced in the podcast here is the Korean newscast on Google video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-908556008345758262

If you have any questions or comments concerning the podcast or suggestions for future shows send us an email at editors@teamhandballnews.com.

Just In Case You Missed It

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Finland and Lithuania played a pair of matches recently as part of Europe’s Qualification for the 2009 World Championships. They split both matches and are in a 3 way battle with Bosnia to secure a spot in a playoff match later this spring. Just another match in a long qualification tournament, but be sure to check out the video of how Lithuania beat Finland in the 2nd match.

Video: http://www.yle.fi/urheilu/muut/id94237.html

Handball-World Article: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=12604

Asian Olympic Qualification Replay (Romania Agrees to Host, but AHF Rejects Tournament)

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The Romanian Handball Federation has agree to host the replay of both the Men’s and Women’s Asian Olympic Qualification tournaments. The tournaments are to be held from 28 January to 3 February. The Women will play in Bucharest and the Men will play in Oradea. Meanwhile, the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) Executive Committee met on Saturday and reportedly rejected the IHF’s request to reschedule the tournament, apparently maintaining that there were no problems with the original tournaments. There has, as yet, been no official press release from the IHF regarding this apparent stand-off.

At the center of the controversy is AHF President, Kuwait Shiekh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. In addition to his AHF Presidency he is also the President of the Asian Olympic overarching body, the Olympic Council of Asia and is one of the 115 members of the IOC.

Wikipedia article on Shiekh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Al-Fahad_Al-Ahmed_Al-Sabah

Sport.ro article: http://www.sport.ro/stiri/23826/Sporturi/Handbal/Asia-se-muta-in-Romania-meciurile-de-handbal-din-Cupa-Asiei-se-joaca-la-Oradea-si-Bucuresti.html

Korea Times: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/136_16759.html

Yonhap News: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Features/2008/01/08/64/0801000000AEN20080108002800315F.HTML