It is frustrating and disappointing to feel obliged to write yet again about a theme that I had hoped would be dead and buried.  But it is now ‘strongly rumored’ that the IHF President appears to insist on enforcing his personal and absurd ideas on the refereeing in the Youth and Junior World Championships.

I am talking about his persistence about splitting up well-established referees couples from around the world and suddenly using them in ‘mixed’ couples during the most important events for them and teams. 

As I have noted before, there is nothing ‘holy’ about the idea of permanent couples.  Mixed couples (or trios) function in basketball.  So even if the mutual familiarity and teamwork within the couple are critical for good performances of handball referees, it is theoretically possible that mixed couples could function in handball also.  But, this would be dependent on a worldwide agreement to change the current system, and instead start bringing up young referees in the habit of constantly changing partners.  In this way, they would be completely used to the method, if one day they were nominated to a World Championship.

However, we currently have a system under which referees around the world become used to a fixed partner, as they climb the career ladder up to the international level.  This means that they know each other and trust each other completely.  They have the same interpretations, and they know what to expect in each situation.  Clearly this facilitates quick and accurate decision-making in hectic moments.

Moreover, in recent years, the IHF and many continental/national federations have had their top referees use headsets and wireless communication to be in constant contact with each other.  This obviously depends on quick and easy verbal exchanges that would be totally undermined when two referees of different nationalities and native languages are put together. 

Again, if one wanted to experiment with an approach based on mixed couples, to investigate the desirability of a complete change in the future, then they are safe events where this could be done.  The reason why this is not happening is that no major handball federations are interested in the idea and that the IHF President has not had the courage to try to convince them.

But in any case it is obvious that this kind of experiment does not belong in a World Championship.  On previous occasions, when the IHF President came with the same idea, the participating federations joined together and refused to accept this inappropriate experiment.  One would hope that either this happens again, or that somebody can convince the President to stop the nonsense.  But I am not so optimistic.  The reason is that the President, as always, is sure that “he knows best” and that nobody can stop him…

Is this when the medals are decided?

Of course I must admit that sometimes I have started speculating about an event when I have seen the result of the draw.   And it is of course legitimate to discuss what might happen, even if the event in question will not take place for another six months.  But sometimes the euphoria seems a bit excessive, and one almost gets the impression that the media create a hype to have something to get excited about and write about when there is no event currently going on.

But it then seems to go a bit far when team representatives are being interviewed, and much of the story is focused on bad luck in draw, or unfairness in the seeding even before the draw has been made, seemingly to create some excuses for the possibility of bad results when the event finally takes place.  Examples of this artificial excitement have been seen recently, during the month of June, when the draw for the Men’s European Championship in January 2012 took place, and when the seeding both for the Women’s World Championship in December and for the EHF 2011-12 Champions League were announced.

We all know that the preliminary round of the Men’s European Championship is always very tough, typically with 14-15 really strong teams out of 15.  So even of three teams from each group of four go on to the next round, it is critical first to have some relative luck with opponents in that first round, and then, when looking ahead, also with the teams placed in the neighboring group on the same half.  I cannot remember having such a unanimous sigh of relief as among the four teams in Group B:  Germany, Sweden, Czech Rep., and FYRO Macedonia.  They were in a sense insulting each other by talking excitedly about how lucky they had been.  I would not want to be the part of the team that fails to qualify from that group.  What possible excuses will they have?  Perhaps the bad referees…

By contrast, there has to be a ‘group of death’ in every event.  And if perennial champions France and recent bronze medal winners Spain are drawn in the same group, that certainly is enough,  And if you add Russia and Hungary to that mix, then one can understand if the optimism is not so great.  If one then, like France and Spain undoubtedly want to do, look ahead to the next stage, it is not exactly reassuring to know that three out of the group with Croatia, Island, Norway and Slovenia will be waiting there.  In Slovenia they talk especially about the game against Croatia, but in Croatia they seem to be more concerned about the tough battle they always seem to have against Iceland.

On the women’s side, the draw will not take place until July 2, when the PanAmerican Championship finishes.  But there has already been some grumbling about the caprices of how the teams have been placed in seeding groups.  The second category finds Kazakhstan mixed in with Denmark and France, while the unpredictable opponents from Angola and Brazil are on the third line.  Germany, who were a surprise qualifier against Hungary, after the dismal exit from the European Championship, now find themselves down on the fourth line together with Korea.  Which team from a higher level would want to see Korea being drawn into their group?  Finally, China and Spain have had to accept a fifth-level seed, but they are surely capable of causing surprises.  So the final draw will surely be a nerve-racking affair for the participants and their supporters.

Finally, the seeding of the men’s teams for the next Champions League has already created a stir.  First, of course, there was the issue of which teams would be allowed to compete for the wild-card entry.  For some reasons that are hard to understand, the EHF open mentioned five candidates for four slots, and then went ahead and left one team out without any clear criteria.  But perhaps Skjern on the men’s side were being ‘punished’ for the fact that their Danish compatriots Viborg were given a wild card chance on the women’s side.

As the draw is not directly based on the relative qualities and results of the individual team but rather on the rankings within the countries, there are some seemingly odd outcomes.  For instance, Chekhovski and Montpellier were placed in category 1, whole Ciudad Real and Kiel had to accept line 3.  And in between there are teams like Veszprem, Croatia and AG on line 2.  But the lack of grumbling may have been the effect of the EHF’s rules being clear, which they apparently were not for the Men’s EURO 2012. 

What makes the draw a little bit anticlimactic is that, just as was the case in 2010-11, there seems to be a demarcation between the top 16 team and the eight teams that will complete the groups.  In other words, it might not matter much for the better teams which group they are drawn in, because as long as four teams out six advance, there is not too much of a risk for them.  The risk is instead, for neutral observers who simply want some excitement, that again the whole group phase will be a long, boring ‘transportation stage’.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some surprises and unexpected thrills.

A Real Dilemma

It is not exactly a secret that the overall economic situation in Spain is very shaky.  The country has allowed itself to live above its means for quite some time (just like in so many other countries, including the U.S.) so the situation is simply not sustainable.  Budgets have to be tightened, expenditures have to be reduced, and loans cannot easily be had.  In this context, spending money on ‘luxuries’ such as sports at the elite level, or on expensive forms of art and culture, is no longer so easy. 

So not long after we celebrated Barcelona’s Champions League successes in football and handball, together with top performances also by Real Madrid in football and Ciudad Real in handball, doomsday prophecies are beginning to be heard.   Of course, these top clubs may be the ones who can hold out the longest, whereas the smaller, less resourceful clubs are the ones who already feel the budget crunch.

It is almost too easy to find reports in Spanish media about handball clubs in the top league ASOBAL who have not been able to pay their players for several months and have debts to tune of a couple of million Euros.  Some clubs have been given an ultimatum and a deadline;  unless the debts are paid off, the clubs will be forced to move down from the top division.  This includes, among others, the traditional top club Granollers, which was the positive surprise of the past season, at least in terms of game performances.

There is not exactly a line of clubs waiting to take up positions that may become vacant.  Both the clubs that were relegated and those who narrowly failed to gain promotion seem unable to meet the requirements for a season at the top level.   In any event, some experts suggest that a consolidation into a smaller top division might be the healthiest approach in any case.

So what about the two top clubs, Barcelona and Ciudad Real?  One might not be ready to believe that Barcelona would have any financial problems.  But attracting the players needed to form such a strong team is an expensive affair, so the football section of the club incurred major losses.  There is now a decision that the previously generous support for other sports, such as handball, will suffer a major cut-back.   What this might mean for the handball team’s ability to retain and recruit star players is uncertain. 

But the situation seems even more acute for Ciudad Real.  This club is all about handball.  And it is a club from a small town with a very modest basis for a team at the international top level.  (Some people have mistakenly thought that it is a Madrid club, but Ciudad Real is a town of about 75.000 inhabitants, located 200km south of Madrid).  It has a rich history and was once prominent, but that was a few hundred years ago.  And its most famous personality, together with the club’s owner Domingo Diaz de Mera, is none other than Don Quixote…!  And now it has become known that the clubs totally dominant sponsor is backing out.

While some might think that this just means that Diaz de Mera will have to thrown in more of his own money, these days seem to be over.  In fact, there are instead reports about a merger with some well-known football club, initially Atletico Madrid.   And then suddenly there are indications that the football archrival in the capital, Real Madrid might also be interested.  Real already has a strong basketball section in addition to the football team.  Perhaps it seems that a club from Ciudad Real fits in better with Real than Atletico Madrid.  (As it happens, the football training facilities for Real Madrid are named precisely Ciudad Real Madrid…)

It will be interesting to follow these developments.  It may be that both Barcelona and Ciudad Real will be able to survive as the dominant handball clubs of Spain in some form.  But being dominant in a much shakier ASOBAL may no longer be such a good environment, and it may not translate into remaining dominant by European standards.  One topic of speculation, with different opinions attached, is that at least the ability to recruit well-known players from other countries may be substantially reduced.  While this may initially lower the quality, it would mean a major increase in opportunities for young Spanish players.  The beneficiary might then be the Spanish national team, and Heiner Brand’s concerns and ideas regarding Germany may end up being tested in Spain.  We will see how it all develops!

The real border line between America and Europe??

I am just back from a week of sightseeing on Iceland, but I also managed to fit in a handball game, namely the final European qualifying game between Iceland and Austria.  Moreover, I had the opportunity to meet with some of my old handball friends.

The game rather quickly became a bit anticlimactic.  Iceland needed to win the game in order to qualify, so there were some nerves involved prior to the game.  But soon it became clear that Iceland had regained some of that fighting spirit that seemed missing in the World Championship earlier this year.  Their defensive play, including the goalkeeping, was really solid and the Austrians became increasingly desperate.  The Icelandic team also managed to use their own chances very efficiently, so the final result 44-29 really reflected the action quite well.  The Reykjavik handball arena is rather small, with room for only 2500-3000 spectators; but a different way to look at it is that one percent of the entire population of the country was there to watch the game and cheer on their favorites frantically.

Iceland relied mostly on their experienced players.  Thirteen of the players from the World Championship were on the team, most of them at age 30 or above.  Only goalkeeper Bjorgvin Gustavsson (25) and Aron Palmarsson (20) have yet to acquire veteran status.  Three younger players who are still playing for Icelandic clubs had also been added to the squad, and they got a chance to get out on the court in the final minutes.

More generally, my Icelandic friends described a situation where the flow of new, young talents continues undiminished.  The ‘U-21’ team narrowly lost in their World Championship qualifying, having to play Serbia at their home court.  And the Icelandic league continues to remain competitive, at least among the top 4-6 teams, despite the fact that no less than almost 60 men’s players are enrolled in clubs abroad, with about half of them in Germany. 

I pointedly noted that we are seeing talented Icelandic athletes joining American universities on basketball scholarships;  does this in any way suggested that handball is losing its dominating position in Iceland?  My friends, who are obviously a bit biased, offered a somewhat joking explanation:  if a young talent absolutely wants to study in the U.S., then they reluctantly have to choose basketball;  or else the explanation is that they realize that they simply do not have the talent to make it to the top in handball…

The men’s champion of the 2010-11 season in Iceland was FH (from the Reykjavik suburb of Hafnarfjordur) who beat Akureyri (from the North Coast) with 3 games to 1 in the play-off finals, thus reversing the positions from the regular season.  FH will now participate in the qualifying round of the EHF Champions League.  The other two teams in the play-offs was the Reykjavik club Fram and HK Kopavogur.  The traditionally strong clubs Haukar and Valur finished next in line.

By the way, veterans Olafur Stefansson and Gudjon Sigurdsson are moving from Rhein-Neckar Lowen to AG Copenhagen for 2011-12, a move that has upset the Germans and has highlighted the complications arising from the fact that both clubs have the same Danish owner.  On the other hand, goalie Gustavsson is moving from Switzerland to Magdeburg.

Further to the remarkable feat of Icelandic handball to place so many players in top clubs abroad, one should also remember how many top coaches are working in exile.  Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Alfred Gislason and Dagur Sigurdsson may be the most prominent names due their work with top clubs in the Bundesliga, but one should also mention Thorir Hergeirsson who is in charge of the strong women’s national team in Norway.  In total, about 15 Icelandic coaches are active abroad.  By the way, I got some informal comments that the EHF punishment of Gislason had fallen well short of what had been expected in Icelandic handball circles.

Finally, as some of our (Pan)American readers are aware, there has been an ongoing debate about the legitimacy of an IHF decision to assign Greenland to the PanAmerican continent.   But I got a clue during my visit that, in fact, the IHF may have had more of a tangible, scientific basis for this decision than what may have been understood.  If anything, the question might arise whether one should really consider Iceland as a part of PanAmerica as well. 

The photo at the top provides the clarification.  Iceland sits atop the ‘Mid-Atlantic Ridge’, which separates the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates;  these are moving apart in a process known as the ‘continental drift’.  This drifting is related to earthquakes and tremors, and perhaps also to volcanic eruptions.  Nowhere is this division as visible as some distance east of Reykjavik, in the area of Thingvellir, where the Icelandic Parliament was established in the year of 930.  So perhaps we should take some credit and argue that most of the Icelandic handball players should in fact be considered ‘American’!?  At least perhaps, apropos John Ryan’s recent articles on the topic, they might qualify for dual citizenship!

 P.S.  If you wonder why there is not one word about women’s handball above, that is because I felt that the belated but remarkable progress on Icelandic women’s handball at the international level warrants a separate article that will come soon!

Partners in efforts to achieve change?

In recent weeks, much of the focus of the world has been on developments in Libya, Syria and Yemen.  By contrast, events in Bahrain have received comparatively much less attention.  One could easily be deceived to think that all the problems there are gone.  Then on June 1, the Bahraini government lifted its martial law decree, an action that was intended to signal an end to the violent crackdown against the Shiite opposition.  Conveniently, some people took this a sign that one could adopt a ‘business as usual’ attitude in the relations to Iran.

For instance, the Federation of Motorsports (FIA) quickly announced that the Formula 1 Grand Prix race that had been cancelled would now be reinstated in October, although there is some hope that the racing companies may not play along.  This may not be such a big issue for the racing world, but it certainly is a big deal for the Bahraini government.  This event is a matter of great pride for them, and very symbolic for their acceptance in the world of sports and business.  When I was visiting there, I was taken to the racing course, which for them is one of their most famous attractions. 

Both international observers and human rights activist within Bahrain have reacted with dismay.  Things are not suddenly back to normal, not even by Bahraini standards, just because of the June 1 decision.  Yes, a number of people have been let out of jail, many with physical and mental scars for life after brutal treatment.  A number of well-known athletes and sports journalists are among those who have been set free.  But many others remain in prison, like some national team players and top referees in handball and football, together with their counterparts in many other sports.

Of course, the Vice President of the Football Federation argued that those who remain in jail are not just protesters but criminals.  Accordingly, FIFA should have no business trying to inquire or get involved.  This football VP happens to be a prominent member of the ruling royal family, so he should know…  But my sources in Bahrain suggest that those who remain in jail are actually kept their almost as hostages or symbols, as a deterrent to the rest of the population.  Of course, as I have noted earlier, the regime has nothing to fear from entities such as IOC or FIFA.  Their habitual interference at the national level does not appear to extend to the countries or regions where the members of the ruling families are well entrenched in the IOC and international sports federations. 

On June 23, we are yet again supposed to have a global celebration of Olympic Day, a reminder to everyone around the world about the importance of the Olympic spirit.  This involves major sports and cultural events intended to ‘spread the Olympic ideals to every corner of the world’.  A map on the IOC web site shows that apparently no such events have been scheduled on the Arabian Peninsula.  Perhaps this is appropriate in the circumstances.  I have no disagreement with the notion of having an Olympic Day.  But perhaps it behooves the IOC also to set aside a special day in commemoration of those events and places where the Olympic spirit has been egregiously abused.

Clearly, just as I noted in my earlier article, athletes and sports officials are far from the only categories singled out for harsh treatment. What seems to me as especially outrageous is the persecution of medical doctors and nurses who lived up to their professional oath during the uprisings, treating people on both sides to the best of their ability, both in the streets and in the hospitals.  For their decisions to treat those who protested against the government, they are now imprisoned or mistreated in a highly targeted fashion.  Some of them are facing secret trials accused of treason.

So when President Obama met with the Crown Prince of Bahrain at the White House a couple of days ago, there were indeed serious matters to be discussed.  The U.S. government has been observed to tread very gingerly in the case of Bahrain.  And of course, it is ironic that the dialog was with the Crown Prince.  I am sure that he was delighted to back in Washington, despite the reasons and circumstances.  This is the place where he attended university and enjoyed the environment, as he enthusiastically told me some years ago.  And I am convinced of the veracity of everything that has been said about him as the member of the royal family who is a person of reason with a sense for democratic principles.  But he remains a ‘junior’ member of a family seemingly dominated by his retrograde uncle, the Prime Minister.  So it was appropriate, but nevertheless remarkable, that the Prime Minister’s attitude was openly subjected to criticism during the Crown Prince’s visit.

One can hope that both the open criticism and what is undoubtedly being conveyed behind the scenes will have some impact.  But it is naturally far too early to tell.  And in the meantime, representatives of the worlds of sports, business and politics would do well to refrain from prematurely resuming their affairs with the Bahraini regime.  On the contrary, it is necessary to keep up the pressure and show that their behavior is not tolerated.  At least there is a slight hope that this might have some positive effect for those still being persecuted!