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EHF Game of the Week: Montpellier at Kiel (Live webstreaming with English language commentary)

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Kiel's French stars Omeyer and Narcisse will welcome Montpellier in a key Champions League Showdown.

It’s a battle of undefeated Clubs as reining French Champions Montpellier visit current German Bundesliga leader Kiel.  Kiel has been on an absolute rampage so far this season beating their German competition by an average of 12 goals a match in their first 6 games this season.

Montpellier at Kiel (ehfTV: Sunday, 9 October: 7:00 PM CET, 1:00 pM (U.S. East Coast)
Live Broadcast link:  http://www.ehftv.com/ehfcl/ec/cl/men/2011-12/live/high/001785
On Demand Broadcast Link:  http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2011-12/video/001785

The match is a homecoming of sorts, for Nikola Karabatic, who played at Kiel for 4 seasons winning a Champions League title with the club in 2007.  For Kiel’s Frenchmen Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse it will be an chance to play against the top side from France and several friends on the National Team.  In addition, Omeyer has recently announced that he will return to Montpellier in 2013 when his current contract expires.

This will be the only match with English commentary, but handball fans might also want to check out the Berlin-Kielce match which starts an hour and half prior.  Kielce will surely want to avoid going into an 0-2 hole.

EHF:  Karabatic: THW are like a machine:  http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2011-12/article/14239/Karabatic%3A+%22THW+are+like+a+machine%22

EHF:  Omeyer: A very special game:  http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2011-12/article/14237/Omeyer%3A+%22A+very+special+game%22

ehfTV broadcast schedule: http://www.ehftv.com/schedule

 

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EHF Game of the Week: Veszprem at Kielce (Live webstreaming with English language commentary)

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Slawomir Szmal will be in the goal as Kielce hosts Veszprem

The EHF Champions League is back for the 2011-2012 season with the first weekend of Group play.  Out of the gate, Polish Wild Card qualifier, Kielce, hosts perennial Hungarian champions Veszprem in a Group B showdown.  Kielce is a two goal favorite.

Veszprem at Kielce (-2) (ehfTV: Sunday, 2 October: 3:00 PM CET, 9:00 AM (U.S. East Coast))
Live Broadcast link:  http://www.ehftv.com/ehfcl/ec/cl/men/2011-12/live/high/001779
On Demand Broadcast Link:  http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2011-12/video/001779

Group B could be interesting this year as it may be a legitimate Group of Death with each of the 6 clubs having realistic expectations of earning one of the top 4 slots.  Veszprem, Madrid (formerly Ciudad Real) and Chekov have pretty much always advanced out of Group Phase.  Berlin and Kielce are relative newcomers, but they clearly have the talent and expectations to do the same.  Only Danish side, Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, can be considered an outsider, but they surely have the pedigree to win a few matches.

The Kielce-Veszprem match will be the only one with English commentary, but there are several other matches worth checking out like Chekov(-1.5)-Berlin, Montpellier (-4.5)-Leon and Szeged-Kiel (-6.5).  The EHF has a handy page with the links to all the video streams and most of the matches are available “on demand” a few hours after they are completed.  To see what’s available for viewing click on the video link at the top of the page and then select the full match option for viewing.  On Monday, if you want to catch up you can watch the 25 minute weekly highlight show.  Great lunch time viewing at work if your office allows it.

EHF Preview of Week 1 matches:  http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2011-12/article/14214/Raise+the+curtain%21

ehfTV broadcast schedule: http://www.ehftv.com/schedule

Note to American viewers:  It appears that the MHz Network is not broadcasting Champions League matches this year.  We’ll update you if this changes or another network picks up the TV package

 

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German Federation and Bundesliga striving for stronger cooperation

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Last weekend, the German Handball Federation (DHB) celebrated its Congress.  It appears to have taken place in an atmosphere of both continuity and important efforts to achieve change.  The continuity was reflected in re-elections in all the key positions, including the continuation of Ulrich Strombach as President.  But a new spirit seems to be emerging, both in the relations between the DHB and the Bundesliga (HBL) and in the attitudes involving the cooperation between clubs and national teams.

A new contract between DHB and HBL regarding cooperation for the next several years was signed on the occasion of the Congress.   This contract specifies the number of days that players are to be released for national team duty in each year.  The DHB has also undertaken to support the wishes of the HBL to reduce the number of ‘big events’ in each four-year cycle from five to four; currently there are two World Championships and two European Championships in addition to the Olympic Games.

Heiner Brand, who has now been appointed Sports Manager of DHB after resigning as coach from the men’s national team, also presented his ideas for a more systematic approach in bringing young talents into a common German vision for the national teams at all levels.  The two national team coaches for men and women, Martin Heuberger and Heine Jensen, expressed appreciation for the support from clubs in connection with recent events.

As regards Germany’s role on the international scene, interviews with Ulrich Strombach reflected a wish for a stronger German position in the management and development of handball.  Strombach also commented on the need for the IHF and EHF to become more generous in sharing the revenues from the big events, after the principle of compensation was recently introduced but at a rather modest level.  Strombach also caused a stir with a notion that it should not be taken for granted that the top countries would be satisfied with a participation in European Championships unless conditions are improved.  He noted that separates events involving more frequent encounters between the top teams might be a very attractive alternative…

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IHF President mocks and jeopardizes the world of handball

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the motto of someone whose role models are Mubarak and Blatter...

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’!

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Coaching by Phone?

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yes, they know everything, but they may still need some occasional advice

The handball rules limit very clearly how many team officials (coaches, manager, medical staff) are allowed to be on the bench during the game.  In some way, this may imply that these four individuals are somehow supposed to manage on their own as a team, without the support from anyone located elsewhere.  Although I am more inclined to think that the main reason for the limitation is really a practical one, to avoid a crowd in the bench area and to enable the match supervisors to have an easier time in controlling the action, in terms of players substitutions, discipline etc.

On the other hand, we have sometimes given the impression that contact with other members of team management is inappropriate, as there tend to be some concerns if one of the teams manages to place an entire delegation in the first spectator row behind the team bench.  This is often considered as something to be avoided or prevented, especially if one does not have a similar situation for both teams.  It is the kind of unfair advantage for the home team that, at least optically, may cause some reactions.

But is it really realistic and meaningful in these modern times with sophisticated, wireless communication to suggest that the four persons on the bench must work in isolation from everyone else?  Should it be forbidden for a coach to have occasional or constant phone contact with an assistant sitting higher up and having a different perspective of what is happening on the court?  And would it somehow be necessary to prohibit the use of laptops or other devices with the scope for constant messaging or access to stored information throughout the game?

The rules in the 2010 rule book do not deal with these issues, because nobody has really focused on the implications of modern technology.  So any prohibitions, if they were to be found necessary or desirable, would have to be introduced as new legislation.  But personally I must say that this would be a highly questionable move.   It is difficult to imagine that inequity could become an issue, because surely the necessary equipment is cheap and easily available to both/all teams.  And it is not likely that such methods would ever create any disturbance.  So why fight against modern trends!

In fact, from my vantage point, with easy access to NFL, NBA and NHL games live and on TV, I observe that it is an established practice to take advantage of whatever technology that might be useful and available.  Coaches in the NFL are constantly working through headphones, and instant overview photos of the previous game situation are obtained and studied eagerly.  NHL coaches constantly rely on observations from someone up in a booth etc.

And just hypothetically, if one nevertheless wanted to establish some prohibitions, how could one possibly imagine an effective and evenhanded enforcement?  Do we need to add an extra official near the benches, who sneaks around and tries to detect illegal equipment…?   But I know that handball people are sometimes more conservative than one might imagine.  It seems that the IHF is right now thinking about the issue, and I will be interested in their conclusions.   But in the meantime I would be happy to get the reactions from our readers:  is the use of communications equipment on the team benches an issue?  Should it be restricted or should we just ignore it?

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Can USA Team Handball function with a volunteer GM?

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Unless there's a ground-breaking business plan, this may be the new salary for the head of USA Team Handball

The financial challenges that USA Team Handball (USATH) faces became even more telling this past week with a simple posting on the Federation website welcoming applications for new leadership.  The short post indicated that both the General Manager (GM) and Technical Director (TD) positions had been filled on a volunteer basis (implying non-paid) since the first of August and that the current incumbents had been invited to reapply.

And based on the details in the job advertisements it looks like severe austerity measures are likely to continue and intensify.  Here’s the key paragraph:

SALARY & BENEFITS:  GM shall receive no annual base salary, benefits or expense reimbursement. GM may propose his compensation to the BOD (Board of Directors) as part of an overall business organizational plan, wherein GM shall only be eligible for salary if specifically earmarked for such purpose via Sales, Donations or other Revenues generated directly by GM.

A similar paragraph is also included in the TD advertisement.

Upon reading this my first reaction was did they just reinstate the BOD we had a few years ago?  The same BOD that became so dysfunctional that the USOC eventually decided to decertify USA Team Handball as an NGB (National Governing Body).  What are they thinking?

Last year, I previously addressed the GM salary in a posting that reviewed USATH’s IRS Form 990.  The U.S. Government requires that all non-profits fill out a Form 990 as part of their justification for not being taxed.  GM Steve Pastorino earned $100K in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 and also received at least $100K in FY 2009.  (We certainly could debate whether the GM has done a job worthy of that salary and on more than one occasion we’ve highlighted shortcoming as well as successes.  But individual job performance is not the point of this commentary.)  As I noted there were a number of ways to compare that salary with similar positions in other sport organizations.  Depending on how you wanted to look at it, the compensation was either too much or too little.  I think it’s perhaps a little on the high side, but it’s in the ballpark.  Maybe a reduction was in order in light of the staff layoffs and decreased USOC support, but switching to unpaid volunteer?

Certainly, to my knowledge there is not another USOC NGB which has a volunteer heading its operations, but perhaps the BOD has decided what other USA NGB’s do doesn’t really matter.  After all, the Canadian Federation receives virtually no funding and their National Teams are comparable to ours and their grass roots development is probably a little head of us.  The Canadians are certainly “getting by”, so to speak.  I’m guessing, however, that if the Canadians had our level of funding one of the very first things they’d do would be to provide some compensation to their volunteers so they can devote more time to their efforts.

I guess on the surface, one can make a business case argument along the lines of “Why should you get paid if the work you perform does not correlate to increased revenue?  Your salary is just hurting the bottom line.”  After all, this is how many businesses function, especially for the individuals at the top of the pyramid.  You get paid for results to the bottom-line.

There are some fundamental problems with this “earn your way” philosophy:

1) A non-profit NGB is not a business, at least not in the traditional sense. Don’t get me wrong, a well run non-profit is still going to employ a lot of business principles and sound management practices, but by definition, a non-profit shouldn’t look at bottom profit as a primary consideration.  In fact, there will likely be quite a few decisions where management will correctly decide to hurt the bottom line finances of the organization because it’s mission is deemed more important than minimizing expenditures and maximizing revenue.

2) A GM has many responsibilities, and seeking additional revenue for the Federation through donation and sales is just one of them. The job advertisement, itself, highlights these many other functions that also have to be performed.  But tyng salary to bringing in the dough or you won’t get paid will surely mean that fundraising will take precedence over everything else.  And for the TD position, the salary is actually being tied to something that is even listed as an essential function in the job description!  Don’t get me wrong, I would like the GM and even the TD to work this area hard, but it shouldn’t be to the exclusion of everything else.

3) Bringing in revenue for a minor sport like Team Handball isn’t easy and certainly won’t be as simple as writing a business plan. With the current state of the economy fundraising and bringing additional revenue is now very challenging for pretty much every non-profit.  Even well established sports are finding it tough to find sponsors as individuals and organizations tighten their belt.  For a minor sport like Team Handball which will likely not qualify for the 2012 Olympics it’s going to continue to be even tougher.  I’m sure some prospective candidates will come forward with some business plans highlighting great revenue streams from a variety of sources.  After all, getting hired with a salary apparently depends on it!  Anyone who’s followed the sport in this country (even for just a couple of years, BOD members) should really know better.  I’m not saying it will never happen, but it’s going to take some time and some breakthrough events that finally result in the sport getting increased exposure and attention.

If the BOD fails to find someone with the “business plan” that knocks them out of the park they should really think twice, though, about selecting a volunteer GM.  Herewith are some of the reasons why they might want to reconsider:

1) A volunteer GM will not be able to devote the requisite amount of time required to do the job right.  In my opinion, it’s quite possible that USATH will be able to find a volunteer that can fulfill some of the duties inherent in the GM position.   But unless there’s somebody out there that’s independently wealthy and doesn’t need to work a day job, they’ll be hard pressed to find the time to fulfill all of the duties.

2) A volunteer GM will not have the same credibility with outside players (USOC, IHF, etc) that a full time paid GM will have.  Rightly or wrongly, the mere fact that the USATH has determined that it’s sufficient to have an “amateur” in charge will be viewed negatively by outside players.  They will assess that the U.S. is not really serious about developing Team Handball and will be less inclined to support development here.

3) A volunteer GM is less accountable to the BOD. If a volunteer GM isn’t performing or isn’t properly focusing on the right priorities, the BOD will be pretty hamstrung in terms of corrective action.  Anyone who’s worked with volunteers before knows the limits of how far they can be pushed.  They tend to prefer to do the activities/work they like to do and sometimes they have to be incentivized to work the activities they don’t like.  And attempts to coerce sometimes can be met with lackluster enthusiasm ore even abandonment as the volunteer find better things to do with their spare time.  However, when someone is paid and their livelihood depends on that paycheck, they tend to be less malleable.

In closing, I sincerely hope that I’ve missed the boat here.  For all we know there’s an up and comer GM out there writing the business plan that will lead our sport out of the wilderness.  Or perhaps a dedicated and skilled handball devotee is filling out his lottery card at the local 7-11 and will soon need some volunteer activities to keep him busy around the house.   Anything’s possible, of course, including the BOD backtracking on a misguided job posting.

THN (13 Feb 2010): USATH releases IRS documentation: First glimpse of budget numbers:  https://teamhandballnews.com/2010/02/usath-releases-irs-documentation-first-glimpse-of-budget-numbers/

USATH (7 Sep 2011): USATH welcomes applications for new leadership: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2011/09/07/usath-welcomes-applications-for-new-leadership/44515

USATH (General Manager Job Posting): http://usngbjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=38313

 

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Sleeveless or not: the ‘cool and dry’ compromise solution

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NO, not quite this look...

A few weeks ago, I commented on the ‘dispute’ between the EHF and AG Copenhagen, regarding the team’s strong desire to play its matches in the upcoming Champions League season in special, sleeveless shirts.   EHF requires all the participating teams to wear a standardized advertising, precisely in the spot that does not exist on a sleeveless shirt.  I commented that the global playing rules do not prescribe that player shirts must have sleeves, but that the EHF of course is entitled to have its specific requirements as a condition for participation.  So I noted that “unless some kind of compromise solution can be found, it seems that AG has no choice”.

 Lo and behold, a simple compromise has now been reached between the EHF and AG.  A statement along the following lines can today be found on the EHF web page:   The EHF Head of Competitions, Markus Glaser, informed that ‘following positive and constructive discussions, the new shirt design retains the unique look of the AG vest, with the addition of an attached white undershirt with the sleeves showing the competition’s official logo.’

Soren Colding, CEO of AG was reported as expressing great satisfaction with the solution, which will also be ‘keeping the players cool and dry when they play’.   I can only add that it is indeed nice when cooler heads prevail and that the EHF and its clubs can keep their powder dry for more important battles… Let us now just see what fantastic results these shirts will help AG achieve in the Champions League.  Perhaps it means they will have something special ‘up their sleeves’!

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Gazette Telegraph reports on USA Team Handball financial struggles

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The Gazette Telegraph highlights a funding fight between USA Team Handball and the USOC. Is USA Team Handball the guy in the water?

This past Tuesday, the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph posted an article highlighting USA Team Handball budget woes and the decline in funding grants the Federation has received from the USOC.  For those that follow the sport closely, the controversy regarding what funding the USA Federation receives or doesn’t receive from the USOC is a long standing issue.  What was striking to me (and others), however were some of the quotes in the article which called out the USOC.

Here’s a sampling of the article:

The USOC is primarily “going to fund sports that are going to win medals in London,” Pastorino said, maintaining that “there ought to be some credit given for building a long-term development program, a grassroots program, to get us to our ultimate goal. … The message we got this past winter completely counteracted that.” He claims the USOC told NGBs, “Forget about what we said in 2008. Medals talk. Make do with less.”

My reaction was, “Wow, looks like General Manager, Steve Pastorino was even more forthcoming then he was at the Press Conference a couple of weeks ago.  He must have had a follow up interview with Brian Gomez, the Gazette Telegraph reporter.”  Email follow-up with Steve Pastorino, however, indicated that this had not been the case, and the article quotes were based on the press conference from a couple of weeks ago.  And sure enough, a review of the press conference audio shows that those quotes are transcribed pretty accurately.  (You can hear for yourself (see below).  At around 44:20.  Christer Ahl asks the financial related questions.)  In the context of an hour long press conference covering a lot of topics the comments were significant; in the context of a short newspaper article that focused on financial issue, though, they were even more so.

As I highlighted before, these financial troubles weren’t new “news” for most American Team Handball followers.  Christer Ahl’s follow up article on the press conference had already touched on many of the key points from the press conference and Christer and I were both a little surprised with the candidness of some of Steve Pastorino’s comments regarding USOC support.

But, while Team Handball News might be a significant player in the Team Handball world we are, but a bit player in the sporting world (although, it should be noted there are a significant number of Colorado Springs visitors to our site).  What we report reaches a smaller audience.   The Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph isn’t the New York Times either, but Colorado Springs is still a decent sized city, and most importantly it’s the home of USOC HQ.  You can bet that every single USOC executive read the article with interest and a little frown as it doesn’t paint the USOC in the best light.  Additionally, the story has also been picked up by other outlets like MSNBC and Sports Business Journal Daily.

It remains to be seen if there’s any fallout from the article.  If there is, it can’t be because there’s anything incorrect in terms of content.  I’ve had my disagreements with how USA Team Handball has spent the money it’s received from the USOC and other sources, but you’ll find no disagreement from me regarding the inadequacy of the paltry sum Team Handball receives in comparison to other sports.   For some time I’ve been working on a series of articles which breaks down just how inconsistent, non-transparent and arbitrary the USOC process is.  Looks like it’s time to dust off the draft, clean it up and post it.

Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph (30 Aug 2011): USA Team Handball in financial fight with USOC: http://www.gazette.com/sports/fight-124178-financial-handball.html

THN (18 Aug 2011): USA Men’s Team getting ready for PANAM Games: https://teamhandballnews.com/2011/08/usa-mens-team-getting-ready-for-panam-games/

THN (19 Aug 2011): AUDIO: USATH Press Conference: https://teamhandballnews.com/2011/08/audio-usath-press-conference/

THN (3 Jan 2011):  The Budget Shell Game: https://teamhandballnews.com/2011/01/the-budget-shell-game/

 

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The numbers look good, but what more is there to it?

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Some time after the IHF Congress a few months ago, an old handball friend congratulated me because he had noted “the tremendous growth in PanAmerican handball”.  I did not quite understand what he was talking about, so he clarified that he heard about the huge number of new IHF member countries from PanAmerica which had been approved by the IHF Congress.  I decided to investigate the good news!

Soon I found that there had indeed been no less than 14 new member countries approved, and that eight of them were from PanAmerica.  But I must admit the list made me puzzled.  Of course, after all my years of involvement in the PanAmerican Team Handball Federation I am aware of the longstanding sense of frustration that handball has not caught on in the majority of the large number of countries in Central America and the Caribbean.  The contrast with football has been obvious and irritating.  I recently saw the list of match-ups in the football World Cup qualifying and I found, for example:  Grenada-Belize, Antigua & Barbuda-Curacao, and Surinam-Cayman Islands, with referees from St. Lucia, Barbados and Dominica. Quite impressive, because it is evidence of serious activity.

And now I found that the eight new IHF member countries were:  Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, and British Virgin Islands.  In other words, a grouping rather similar to that in football.  This sudden development intrigued me, so I spent some time contacting friends from these and neighboring places in the Caribbean.  Essentially, I was met by confused and puzzled responses.   Some helped me find my way to media indications that a handball federation was indeed registered, but virtually nobody managed to point me to any indications of handball activity.

Of course, I am aware that the requirements for establishing a federation are rather modest.  You need to be able to fill out forms explaining the structure of the federation, naming the people running it, accounting for the number of clubs and players (often at the youth level, and sometimes more in beach handball) etc.  And naturally the establishment of a federation is a first step to really make our sport take root, so there is certainly nothing wrong about having a structure in place to spread the word, to recruit players and to try to obtain some financing for a limited level of competition and education.   This is the reality of how to go about spreading our often unknown sport, slowly but surely.

BUT, I am really intrigued about what the plans of the IHF and particularly the PATHF are, now that these eight countries have been added to the membership.  It would have been normal to find some kind of proud media announcement, together with an indication of the general plans to help these countries with some kind of jump start.  After all, they are in a region where travel costs do not match those of Greenland teams going to Chile, and they could even be collaborating with each other in a synergetic effort to create competition and interest.  And both IHF and the PATHF should be able to provide material and teachers at the grassroots level to train players, coaches, referees and administrators.

I am raising the question with some degree of apprehension or even suspicion, because I have experienced in the past that the efforts often have fizzled out, once some brand new federations, without any handball traditions, have been signed up.  The countries have been left to their own devices and one has almost had the impression that it was mainly a ‘numbers game’.  In other words, it looked good to be able to show that the continent’s handball was growing.  And here I am not picking particularly on Panamerica and PATHF;  the trend has been the same everywhere.  Where the suspicions enter the picture is when the time comes for an IHF Congress.  IHF dutifully(?) provides the poor new members with the help they need to attend.  And these new and uninformed members are then in the hands of continental bosses when it comes to understanding how to use voting power, how to be loyal members of the continent, and how to show their gratitude to the existing regime.

So my point is: I wish the eight new member federations every success.  I hope to see them matching the level of activity from football, both at the grassroots level and in regional competition, in a not too distant future.  Indeed, I just regret that this is happening now, after my PATHF involvement is finished, because just perhaps I could have been of some help if it had happened some years ago.  But the progress will clearly not come about with the external support that I mentioned about above.  These federations will need a lot of help, so I hope the IHF and the PATHF will be serious about that this time.  Again, I am looking forward to hearing about the plans for an efficient and sustained effort!

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Serious concerns after IHF dismisses its Head of Anti-Doping

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The International Handball Federation is required to abide by all aspects of the World Anti-Doping Code.  This involves, inter alia, educational programs, testing as prescribed by the Code, and taking appropriate measures on the basis of test results.  It clearly also entails strict adherence to the formal procedures under the Code, which includes issues such as complete confidentiality regarding planned testing efforts and strict privacy rules regarding all data pertaining to testing.

The standard procedure for a federation such as the IHF is to establish a specialized and separate Anti-Doping Unit (ADU), in a completely compartmentalized way and separate from the normal administration of the federation, so that all the necessary confidentiality can be ensured.  Financial resources and professional staffing has to be provided for the ADU.  The IHF has had such an ADU since 2006, all the time under the leadership of the Austrian Professor Hans Holdhaus, who has been supported by one specific assistant, seconded from the IHF staff.  The well-known competence and integrity of Holdhaus has served as a guarantee in WADA and IOC circles that the IHF would be in compliance.

The IHF President has indeed been heard to proudly talk about this status of compliance.  Behind the scenes, the reality has been different.   In 2009, as was reported by John Ryan for Teamhandballnews at the time, the IHF in fact refused to provide the necessary financing for the ADU, so that for instance out-of-competition testing became impossible.  Holdhaus and most of his colleagues on the IHF Medical Commission wanted to resign over this issue, but the IHF President came to his senses under the threat of IOC intervention.  Already back in 2005, the IHF President arranged for the dismissal of the person who was up for re-election as President of the Medical Commission at that time, essentially as a result of disagreements over anti-doping matters (see the final paragraph below).

What now happened in March 2011 was that the assistant of Holdhaus was summarily fired, as she correctly refused to pass on confidential ADU information to the IHF office manager Khalifa, the IHF President’s loyal crony, who acts as his whip and his eyes and ears on all matters and all people at the IHF Office.  (As a separate matter, numerous other IHF staff have resigned or been dismissed under the joint Moustafa/Khalifa regime).  The excuse subsequently presented was that it would be dangerous not to have anyone else aware of the information that the ADU assistant possessed…  That this notion completely flaunts the clear WADA rules apparently was unimportant.

The next episode was when Professor Holdhaus was scheduled to appear at the IHF Office to prepare and coordinate the arrangements for the anti-doping control at the recent Junior and Youth World Championships, together with some other pending ADU matters.  At the last moment he was informed that his presence in Basel was not wanted.  When requesting an explanation from the IHF President for this strange situation, he was simply told that the IHF President did not want to talk with him  – ever again!  When Holdhaus wrote to the IHF to note that he could not carry out his job in this fashion, in return he received a curt letter thanking him for his service!

Shortly thereafter, Holdhaus received a call from the IHF medical person who supervised the doping tests during the Junior Championship.  Apparently, the organizers did not accept to carry out the prescribed number of tests and referred to an agreement with someone in the IHF office.  Holdhaus dutifully tried to intervene but was unable to achieve anything.  Instead, a few days later, he was summarily dismissed from the IHF after 20 years of valuable service.

It now appears that the IHF President tries to pretend that nothing important has happened and that WADA compliance remains ensured.  It seems that the person now nominated is one of the only two on the medical side who has remained totally loyal to the IHF President, including the refusal to take a stand during the 2009 dispute.   He and the other remaining loyalist are also the ones designated to supervise doping tests at the IHF events.  Nobody who knows the situation will have any illusions about the notion that the compartmentalization and confidentiality of ADU matter will remain intact.   It could easily be expected that the IHF President will have the unlimited, but prohibited, access that he has shown in the past that he wants.

It remains to be seen whether the IOC and WADA will react.  Professor Holdhaus has simply informed them that he is no longer involved with the IHF.  It is also important for the rest of the international handball family to be alert and draw its conclusions.  The risk for serious repercussions for our sport is obvious.   The European Handball Federation (EHF) is rumored to have drawn the conclusion that it must now establish its own ADU, for its massive competition system, rather than relying on the IHF.  Indeed, it appears that the EHF has anticipated all along that it could come to a situation where the IHF could not be trusted; the recently established EHF regulations for punishments contain a remarkable phrase: ‘The IHF Anti-Doping Regulations apply to any EHF competitions, unless they are inconsistent with the WADA Anti-Doping Code’.  This is really telling, but it seems that the implicit suspicions were fully justified!

It would also not be surprising if suspicious people, also in the absence of any evidence, started to wonder about coincidences.   At a time when the IHF Anti-Doping Chief is removed from any influence over the Junior and Youth World Championship, the Egyptian teams were having remarkable successes at both events.  I surely hope that there is no connection at all, but the mere suspicions would be very bad for our sport.  And people would remember the situation at the 2004 pre-Olympic handball event, where testing was suddenly announced, unbeknownst to the IHF President and the participating teams.    After a verbal fight, where the IHF President tried to cancel the testing, half of the Egyptian team suddenly pulled out of the game before it started…  This was the key to the IHF President getting the then President of the Medical Commission ousted at the next opportunity.

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The younger referee generation: promising, but support and hard work needed

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The overall impression is that the referee performances were rarely the focal point during the recent Junior and Youth World Championships.  This is always a good sign.  And perhaps the broad acceptance from the teams was primarily an indication of honest refereeing without any biases.  So it is rewarding to see that an effort that started in a serious way only 6-7 years ago (the IHF’s Global Referee Training Program) has already produced so much.  The IHF clearly now has a good talent pool from which one can draw in coming years.

But as I have been commenting on earlier occasions, there are risks involved in relying heavily on young and relatively inexperienced referees, and it is easy to become too optimistic and move them up the ranks too fast.  The principle is correct:  there are all kinds of reason why a major rejuvenation was needed and the game needs younger and more athletic referees than we had at the elite level in the past.  The demands of the modern game make it necessary.  But, this does not mean that maturity and experience have become unimportant, and this is ‘the other side of the coin’.  With such a focus on younger referees, special efforts are needed to offset the inherent disadvantages, and this is not an easy or quick process.

In the world championships in Greece and Argentina, the referees generally showed a good understanding of the game, they positioned themselves well, and they seemed to know what to look for.  The interventions typically came at the right moment.  They were particularly good at being alert to technical faults etc.  However, the decisions in some key respects sometimes showed a lack of stability and consistency.  In other words, they observed fouls, but they did not always take the right decisions regarding punishments, and they did not manage to maintain a clear line regarding 7-meter decisions.  These are of course critical situations in the game.

Regarding the 7-meter decisions, there was sometimes a strange mixture of giving unwarranted 7-meter throws, when the defender was clearly not inside the 6-meter line or when the attacker did not even have full control of ball and body, and situations where a 7-meter throw was clearly necessary but not given.  This inconsistency would seem to be primarily related to inexperience, in the sense that the right instincts and the right focus have not yet been fully developed.   This is an area where observers and instructors can provide a lot of help, and where referees who aspire to higher levels must work hard to acquire the necessary stability.

When it comes to the application of punishments for excessive fouls, it was more of a one-sided problem.   The referees reacted in the right situation, but then they seemed to become hesitant or to lack the necessary confidence, as the punishments often were missing or not strong enough.  They seemed to ‘forget’ the clear instructions under the 2010 rule book to be much more ready to give direct 2-minute suspensions or disqualifications, instead of ‘using up the yellow cards first’.  Even the young players in the junior and youth events have developed the habit of using careless methods or excessive force.  In fact, their eagerness and lack of experience may make them more prone to overdoing it. 

There were numerous games where the playing style from both teams was quite physical throughout, yet both the TV broadcasts and the match reports showed that the punishments in some cases were amazingly few.  One would get the feeling that it was not so much a matter of having the ‘wrong calibration’ or understanding of IHF’s instructions.   It sometimes looked more as the result of a lack of mental strength, and reluctance to face up to the consequences of unpopular decisions.  One needs to have a good deal of understanding for this.  It does take time to build up the maturity as a person and as a referee, so that the necessary tough action comes instinctively, without hesitation.  But it is far from impossible, and I can myself observe and enjoy the strong progress made by young referee couples whom I have followed from their early days under the auspices of the IHF’s programs.

Here again, the ‘maturing process’ needs to be speeded up with the help of strong and consistent support from competent observers and instructors.  There are no difficulties in finding the necessary educational material and, above all, the relevant video support to make absolutely clear to the referees what is expected from and to give them the feeling of complete backing when they take the correct action.  Positive feedback, and of course a strong correlation between actual performance and future assignment are critical components.  The pressure to improve must be strong and constant.

Unfortunately I have the sense that the constant and determined follow-up of the young IHF referees is rather lacking.  It is clear that adequate support is in most cases not available at the national level, so the IHF must stay involved on a continuous a basis.  But the impression is that once the good efforts have been made to recruit new talents and to bring them up the first step to an initial IHF event, then it seems that the young referees are left too much to their own devices.  To some extent it may be an issue of conflicting priorities, in the sense of insufficient personnel and financial resources, something that the IHF clearly would then need to change.  At least I do hope that the need for this ‘fostering’ and mentoring effort is fully understood!  These referees need to keep maturing and improving, because in a few years they will be needed at the more senior levels where the demands are even higher…

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US says no to 2020 Olympics Bid: No free ticket for U.S Team Handball until 2028?

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2012 London Olympic Tickets: 2028 might be the soonest we'll see Summer Olympic tickets with a U.S. City .

 

 

The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) recently announced that the U.S. will not put in a bid to host the 2020 Olympics.  Still stinging from two back to back losses (New York’s 2012 and Chicago’s 2016 bid) the determination was made that the USOC needed to first renegotiate the revenue sharing agreement between the USOC and IOC.  The USOC currently receives 20% of the IOC’s Global sponsorship deals and 12.75% of the U.S. TV rights.  Several members of the IOC Executive Committee aren’t too happy with this arrangement as their nations don’t get any of this money. And as these are the same guys that vote for host city the calculated decision was made to not compete until that issue is resolved.

This decision to forgo 2020 could very well mean that the U.S. might not host a Summer Olympics until 2028 at the earliest.  This is because there is already some strong talk of Denver, Reno and other cities putting together a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.  There’s no guarantee that a U.S. bid would win, but assuming that the funding differences are worked out, I’m guessing the U.S. would be the odds on favorite.  A successful 2022 bid then would make a 2024 bid in the same country a very unlikely prospect.  Which means that 2028 could be the next realistic opportunity for a U.S. based Summer Olympics and the automatic qualification it provides for team sports.

So, if you’re a U.S Team Handball athlete with Olympic dreams it should be pretty clear now that the only way you’re likely to fulfill that dream is to earn it via qualification.   17 years is a long time to wait unless, you’re around 12 years old now, an extremely durable athlete or a goalie.

For the U.S. Federation this reality means that  in addition to no qualification, there will be no host city looking to give the sport a boost like Atlanta did in the 1990’s.  At least not until around 2021 when the U.S. might be gearing up for a 2028 bid.  It also means no easy sponsorship deals (relatively easier, anyway) as an ancillary benefit to hosting either.  And it goes without saying, that there will be plus up from the USOC. (In past Olympics, the USOC has provided more funding as while they know medaling is unlikely, they still want to put forward a respectable performance on home soil.  Not to mention the fact, that they’ve got more sponsorship funding to throw around anyway.)

But while this is a blow, it at least makes long range planning simpler.  For instance, there’s certainly no need to factor in Olympic host city prospects into your resident program location decision.  And it makes it very clear that the only way to move way forward is with a better team and overall program.  This may seem like an obvious reality no matter where the Olympics is located, but I saw firsthand how guaranteed qualification for Atlanta 1996 resulted in at least some level of complacency in the 1990’s.   It’s human nature to ease up a bit and even great teams get a little concerned that not having to worry about qualification might make them a little soft in terms of preparation.  On the other hand, if you know that you’ve got to win to qualify, that all but guarantees greater effort.  And for the foreseeable future Olympic qualification will either mean PANAM Games Gold or knocking off two European teams in a qualification tournament.  Anything less will mean staying home.

Associated Press (22 Aug 2011): US pulls out of bid for 2020 Summer Olympics: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-usoc-no2020bid

 

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Global Warming and its impact on North American Team Handball

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Will melting icebergs result in Greenland participating in the PANAM Games?

Last week I heard several stories on National Public Radio (NPR) concerning the Arctic region.  A couple of stories on Greenland highlighted how the warmer temperatures there are making it easier to explore and potentially extract natural gas and oil.  The stories go on to highlight that dividing up the income from mineral wealth amongst a population of only 56,000 people could make Greenland a very wealthy country.  Wealthy enough so that it would no longer feel any need for Danish subsidies and could become a fully independent nation.  Hence, the title of this story.

Back at the 2007 World Championships in Germany I was first introduced to Greenland Handball and its passionate fans.  For a nation that small (population wise) to play some pretty respectable matches against much larger nations was quite a story.  Long time readers will also remember how later that year the Pan American Team Handball Federation’s (PATHF) tried to drop Greenland as a full member, so they could no longer qualify for the World Championships.  This site and others helped publicize that injustice gradually leading to Greenland’s reinstatement as a full member.

But, while this cleared Greenland for continued participation in IHF events, Greenland’s partial independence still isn’t considered sufficient for IOC and Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) related events.  This is why Greenland has never participated in the PANAM Games or qualification events for the PANAM Games, but does participate in PATHF Championships that lead to IHF World Championship qualification.

Full independence, however, would likely pave the way for recognition from the IOC and accordingly, the opportunity for Greenland to participate in the PANAM Games.  Qualification schemes could change, but the current system would logically put Greenland into the North American Qualification bin and the 3 nations would probably end up playing a single or double round robin with the 1st place nation qualifying directly and the 2nd place nation qualifying for the 2nd chance tournament.

As things currently stand Greenland’s men’s team is probably on par with the USA and Canada.  I would even probably give them a slight nod, but a resurgent USA team with a few more games under their belt would probably beat them.  The Greenland women’s team has been less competitive, but, so quite frankly have been the American Women and the Canadians are currently in rebuilding mode.   So based on results over the past decade an independent Greenland would certainly stand a good chance of qualifying for the PANAM Games from the North American region.

Greenland independence, however, won’t happen overnight and it’s also hard to project future team success.  There are a lot of variables to consider, as well, such as Canadian and American funding levels.  And not to be overlooked is the potential for a more wealthy Greenland to invest a significant portion of its sporting budget on the one sport where they are already competitive.  More funding can only take your National Team so far, but it’s worth noting that at least some of Brazil’s Handball success for the past decade can be attributed to the generous sponsorship of the Petrobras oil company.  56,000 people aren’t a lot to work with, but if Iceland can be one of the top teams in Europe with 300,000 people, it’s conceivable that Greenland could be one of the top teams in Pan America.  And it’s not out of the realm of possibility to even envision a Greenland team that could qualify for the Olympics with a PANAM Games Gold.  It would probably take the combination of a “golden generation” of Greenlander Handball players and the rest of the PATHF nations slipping a bit, but it could happen.

THN (26 Jan 2007):  Greenland Handball:  A National Passion: https://teamhandballnews.com/2007/01/greenland-handball-a-national-passion/

THN (18 Apr 2007): Why the Recent Downgrading of Greenland’s PATHF Memership Status is Wrong: https://teamhandballnews.com/2007/04/why-the-recent-downgrading-of-greenland%E2%80%99s-pathf-membership-status-is-wrong/

National Public Radio Stories on Greenland:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=139825669
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/18/139734019/mineral-companies-eye-greenlands-untapped-wealth
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/17/139696551/greenlanders-divided-on-arctic-oil-gas-exploration
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/16/139673096/in-the-land-of-white-nights-and-erik-the-red