TV2 report on potential Match-fixing in Handball

Date: 2023.07.13 | Category: EHF, IHF, Professional Handball Board (PHB) | Response: 0

The Danish TV Station TV published a documentary on match-fixing in Handball on 5th July (part I) and 12th July 2023 (part II).

Match-fixing can not be accepted by any sports bodies, as it harms the integrity and therefore the basis of any sports. This holds true for IHF, EHF, National Federations, Leagues, Clubs, match officials, team officials, referees and players.

FCH requests its member clubs on regular basis to follow the rules of EHF and National Federations, prohibiting betting of players and team officials on the outcome of Handball matches.

Attempts of match-fixing shall be reported to EHF or anonymously to https://report.whistleb.com/ehf. The link to the reporting platform is not available via the EHF website as this could allow tracking of individual IP addresses and the potential identification of the individual.

SPORTRADAR is a company monitoring the betting market on behalf of the various stakeholders, ie Federations, Leagues and Betting companies. In 2018 SPORTRADAR produced  a report on suspicious betting activities/match-fixing in Handball.

The report says itself that it does not contain any proofs for match-fixing in European Handball. Anyhow it contains indications on suspicious referees/refereeing.

The report was discussed on various levels in EHF and FCH. It was agreed to

  1. present the materials to the Austrian police authorities
  2. professionalize the EHF refereeing system
  3. present the materials to the internal EHF legal system

Concerning 1.: The Austrian authorities provided the materials to Europol for further investigation.

Concerning 2: EHF and FCH started to discuss changes in the refereeing system. One of the outcomes of these discussion was the decision that as of the season 19/20 the EHF Competitions Committee member  Refereeing Dragan Nachevski was no longer responsible for the nominations of referees in European Cup competitions.  

Concerning 3: The matches were analyzed by EHF and FCH experts without finding indications for match fixing. As there were no proofs, no legal case was opened in 2018/19.

FCH wants to underline that all decisions were taken jointly. During the whole period a permanent exchange of information between the EHF and FCH took place.

FCH welcomed and supported the steps, taken by EHF.

The core of the documentary is a conversation in January 2020 between the former EHF Competitions Commission member Refereeing Dragan Nachevski and an actor, pretending to be a chinese business man with interests to register a Chinese Handball team in SEHA league. The conversation was recorded by TV2 with a hidden camera.

During the conversation the actor/businessman makes attempts to involve Nachevski in match-fixing. The attempts are denied by Nachevski.

At the same time Nachevski continues speaking to the actor/businessman in a friendly manner. He did not inform the European Handball Federation about the conversation for three years.

EHF received of a video copy of the conversation from TV2 on 23rd May 2023. The Executive Committee of EHF decided to release Nachevski from his in duties in an extraordinary meeting with immediate effect only two days later – on 25th May 2023. The Court of Handball opened a case against Nachevski.

FCH welcomes the decision of the EHF Executive Committee.

At the same time FCH wants to underline that a European body like the EHF can not and should not take measures on the basis of unproven allegations. EHF acted consequently and transparently at all times.

FCH calls on EHF to take all necessary measures to avoid match-fixing in the future.

6.4.23: EHF F4 Business Weekend on the fringes of the F4 in Cologne

Date: 2023.04.06 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

EHFM will organize the EHF F4 Business Weekend on Friday/Saturday 16./17.6.2023. The program contains presentations and discussions, starting on Friday afternoon and finishing Saturday around noon. Details will be announced by EHFM in the near future. Save the date!

28.1.2023 FCH welcomes first member club from Asia

Date: 2023.01.28 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

Zeekstar Tokyo is the first Asian club to become member of Forum Club Handball. This decision was taken during the 27th General Assembly of FCH which took place in Stockholm, Sweden today.

FCH welcomed also Kanji Wakunaga, the President of the Japanese Handball Association. The visit of the Japanese delegation is part of the Japan project of FCH.

FCH intends to invite further members from Asia, Africa and America in the future.

Bin Moustafa, chairman of the World’s Handball Club New York City, represents the non-European member clubs as Vice-President in the FCH Board.

13.1.23: Zeekstar/Tokyo to attend 27th GA for FCH

Date: 2023.01.13 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

The Japanese club Zeekstar from Tokyo will attend the 27th General Assembly of Forum Club Handball, taking place on the fringes of the IHF World Championship in Stockholm on 28th January 2023. Potentially Zeekstar will become the first Asian member club of FCH.

Futher none-European club representatives in the meeting will be the presidents from ‘The World’s Handball Club’ from New York City and Detroit HC.

At the beginning of the meeting the IHF President Dr. Hassan Moustafa and FCH President Xavier O’Callaghan will sign the new Partnership agreement between FCH and IHF.

Further topics on the agenda will be marketing of EC competitions, rules and refereeing, players’ agents, resin-free ball and others.

3.11.2022 Detroit/USA becomes 2nd ‘Non-European’ FCH member

Date: 2022.11.03 | Category: Forum Club Handball, IHF | Response: 0

The FCH Board confirmed the membership of Detroit HC during its ordinary Boardmeeting in October 2022. Accordingly Detroit HC became the second ‘non-European’ member club of FCH! Heartily welcome, Joe Williams!

FCH intends to add further clubs from Africa, North- and South America, Asia and Australia to the organization in the future. The membership is free of charge.

20.10.22: IHF and FCH reached agreement on prolongation of the Partnership agreement

Date: 2022.10.20 | Category: Forum Club Handball, IHF | Response: 0

IHF and FCH will sign the prolongation of the Partnership Agreement in Sweden on occasion of the final weekend of the IHF World Championship. An according agreement was reached between the Presidents of IHF, Dr. Hassan Moustafa, men’s FCH Xavier O’Callaghan and women’s FCH Zsolt Ákos Jeney. The signing will be exectuted during the 27th General Assembly of Forum Club Handball on 28th January 2023. The invitations to the 27th GA will be delivered to the FCH member clubs end of October 2022.

1.7.22 Interview on Players’ Agents with Dierk Schmäschke/SG Flensburg

Date: 2022.07.01 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

? Mr. Schmäschke, first of all congratulations for your new job as President of SG Flensburg. On your first day in office the new ‚IHF Regulations on Transfers’ come into effect. Which consequences will this have on the business of the clubs?

Thanks for the flowers. As you mention it I would like to convey my best wishes to my successor, Holger Glandorf.

It is easy to describe the consequences for the clubs: If an agent represents the interests of a player, the player has to pay the agent! That’s it!

? Sounds logical. What is the big change?

The players will face a change. In the past as a rule the players did not reimburse their agents. According to the new IHF regulations this will be differently in the future: Agent and player will have to agree which amount is paid from the player to the agent. This is freely negotiable and it has to be negotiated. It is important whether the commission of a 3-years-contract is the same in the 2nd and in the 3rd year as it is in the 1st year. Is the commission of the agent based on the net or on the gross salary of the player? What about commission on bonuses? What about the duration of the agreement? Is the agreement limited to a certain league, ie ASOBA or 1st Denish League? What exactly are the services of the agent? What happens, if the agent does not provide a reasonable offer for the player?

In the future the player should consult a lawyer before signing a contract with an agent. In the past these agreements were concluded more or less ‘pro forma’ …

? This means that the player himself has to negotiate with his agent?

Yes, true. Roughly speaking, in the past, the club used to pay 90% to the player and 10% to the agent. In the future the player will receive 100%, but he will have to pay for the services of his agent. So at the end of the season he might end up with more – or less net revenues.

? The new system will cause more tax payments!?

Also true. But there will be no changes for the clubs. Before the new regulations came into effect, we used to have 100% of money for player and agent. We will have exactly the same 100% also in the future. If the government increases the taxes, or if an insurance company increase a fee, we as a club do not have automatically 105% budget for the player – just because the insurance increased the fee.

Nothing is changing for the clubs. We used to have 100% for the player and we will have 100% for the player in the future. I a clubs spends all over sudden 105% on a player, the club has a different problem.  

? Understood. Remains the question concerning the Players‘ Agent.

The Agents do not like the new regulation. They will be in direct competition in the future which was not the case in the past. In the past usually the agents did not charge their players. In the future there will be different percentages of commission. The players will start to compare the services of the agents.

The agents founded an organization in order to avoid the new regulation. Our Managing Director of Forum Club Handball, Gerd Butzeck, met twice with the representatives of that organization for longer consultations and explained the situation.

There will be no big changes for the quality agents. Nobody denies the necessity of agents. They will continue earning good money in the future. They simply invoice the player – as of now.

At the moment some agents try to create confusion amongst the clubs. They claim that the one or the other club will continue to pay the agents. I saw according messages which were send to us confidentially. The big clubs agreed to act according to the new regulations and I am sure that they will do so.

It will take a while, until everybody understood the new system. FC Barcelona started to apply this system already 4 years ago in Football, Basketball and Handball. More or less they were forced to change it from the tax authorities. The authorities stopped acknowledging the invoices of agents as expenses of FC Barcelona, as the agents are providing services to the players – and not to the club.  

? How does the system work in other sports?

Generally speaking, in Football it is more or less the same as it used to be in Handball. The excesses are well known to every sports fan. There are endeavors from German top clubs, to copy our model. In Football the system is more complex. Transfer compensations play a bigger role and cause more discussions.

In Basketball FIBA applies the same system as we do now already as of 1.1.22, in the Swiss Hockey League even as of 1.7.21. So actually the whole story is not new and not a surprise.  

In America all players always paid their agents. No question about that! The Americans are shaking their heads when they get to know about our European system!

? And what to expect now for the future?

We have no choice. The regulation is approved and will come into force on 1.7.22. The vast majority of the clubs will apply the regulation, some will try to trick around. But they make themselves dependend/blackmailable on players and agents. We as SG Flensburg will not do that, as we respect the regulations and we believe them to be reasonable.

At the moment it does not concern anybody, as almost all players already signed a contract for next season. Only the new contracts are concerned which will be signed as of now …

? Thank you for the conversation.  

1.7.22: Interview mit Dierk Schmäschke zum Thema ‘Spielervermittler’

Date: 2022.07.01 | Category: IHF, Professional Handball Board (PHB) | Response: 0

?Herr Schmäschke, zunächst einmal Gratulation, ab heute sind Sie Präsident der SG! An Ihrem ersten Amtstag treten auch die neuen ‚IHF Regulations for Transfers‘ in Kraft. Welche Änderungen ergeben sich daraus für die Clubs?

Danke für die Blumen. Ich wünsche meinem Nachfolger Holger Glandorf alles Gute.

Die Änderungen für die Clubs sind relativ einfach zu beschreiben: Wenn ein Spielervermittler die Interessen eines Spielers vertritt, dann muss der Spieler seinen Agenten bezahlen.

?Das klingt zunächst einmal logisch. Wo ist die grosse Änderung?

Die grösste Änderung ergibt sich für die Spieler. In der Vergangenheit gab es in der Regel keine Zahlungen vom Spieler an seinen Agenten. Die Klubs haben den Vermittler bezahlt. Künftig wird das laut IHF Regulations anders sein: Der Spieler und sein Agent müssen sich darauf einigen, was der Spieler seinem Agenten bezahlt. Das ist frei verhandelbar und muss auch verhandelt werden. Es wird wichtig, ob die Provision zB im 2. und 3. Jahr eines 3-Jahres-Vertrags die gleiche ist, wie im 1. Jahr. Wird die Provision vom Brutto- oder vom Nettogehalt gezahlt, wie sieht es mit Prämien aus? Wie lange läuft die Vereinbarung? Ist sie auf eine gewisse Liga, zB die ASOBAL oder die Dänische 1. Liga beschränkt? Was genau leistet der Agent für den Spieler? Was passiert, wenn der Agent dem Spieler kein passendes Angebot unterbreitet?

Die Spieler sollten künftig für den Abschluss eines Vertrages mit einem Agenten einen Anwalt hinzuziehen. In der Vergangenheit war diese Vereinbarung mehr oder weniger ‚pro forma‘ …

?Also müssen die Spieler jetzt selber mit ihrem Agenten verhandeln?

Ja, genauso ist es. In der Vergangenheit haben die Klubs, grob gesprochen, dem Spieler 90% und dem Agenten 10% gezahlt. In Zukunft bekommt der Spieler 100%, muss davon aber seinen Agenten bezahlen. Er kann also mit mehr – aber auch mit weniger – Netto am Ende des Jahres dastehen.

?Bei dem neuen System fallen mehr Steuern an!?

Auch das ist richtig. Aber für die Vereine ändert sich nichts. Sie hatten vor der neuen Regelung 100% Geld für einen Spieler incl. Vermittler zur Verfügung und werden dies künftig auch haben. Wenn der Staat die Steuern, oder eine Versicherung die Prämie erhöht, hat der Verein ja auch nicht plötzlich 105% zur Verfügung – nur weil die Versicherung teurer geworden ist. Für die Clubs ändert sich also nichts. Ein Club hatte vorher 100% Geld für einen Spieler und wird das auch künftig haben. Wenn – ob der neuen Regelung – plötzlich jemand 105% für einen Spieler ausgibt, dann hat der ein anderes Problem.

?Verstanden. Bleibt noch die Frage nach den Spielervermittlern.

Den Spielervermittlern gefällt die neue Regelung nicht. Sie werden künftig in einem direkten Konkurrenzverhältnis stehen, was bisher so nicht der Fall war. In der Vergangenheit haben alle Agenten ihrem Spieler in der Regel nichts berechnet. Künftig wird es unterschiedliche Prozentsätze geben. Die Spieler werden die Leistungen der Agenten vergleichen.

Die Spielervermittler haben eine Vereinigung gegründet, um die neue Regelung abzuwenden. Unser Geschäftsführer vom Forum Club Handball, Gerd Butzeck, hat sich mit zweimal mit Vertretern des Vorstandes zu jeweils einem längeren Gespräch getroffen und die Situation erläutert.

Für die guten Spielervermittler wird sich nicht viel ändern. Die Notwendigkeit von Spielervermittlern ist ja unbestritten. Sie werden weiter gutes Geld verdienen. Die Rechnung geht halt ab jetzt an den Spieler.

Einige Spielervermittler versuchen gerade, Unruhe bei den Clubs zu stiften. Sie behaupten, das dieser oder jener Club weiter den Spielervermittler bezahlt. Ich habe schon entsprechende SMS gesehen, die uns vertraulich zugesendet wurden. Die grossen Clubs haben sich bereits abgesprochen werden sich sicher an die Regelung halten, die kleineren werden folgen. Da bin ich mir sicher.

Es wird eine Weile dauern, bis das System von allen verstanden ist. Der FC Barcelona verfährt in allen Sportarten, also im Fussball, Basketball und im Handball, schon seit 4 Jahren so. Mehr oder weniger gezwungener Maßen, da die Steuerbehörden nicht mehr mitgespielt haben. Sie haben die Rechnung der Spielervermittler nicht mehr als abzugsfähig anerkannt, da der Vermittler die Leistung in der Regel für den Spieler erbringt – und nicht für den Club.

? Wie sieht das System eigentlich in anderen Sportarten aus?

Im Fussball läuft das mehr oder weniger so, wie bislang im Handball. Die Auswüchse sind jedem Sportfan bekannt. Es gibt Bestrebungen, ua auch von deutschen Topclubs, unser Modell zu übernehmen. Im Fussball ist das System halt komplexer, Transfersummen spielen eine grosse Rolle und sorgen für Diskussionen.

Im Basketball wird seit dem 1.1.22 auch das Bestellerprinzip angewendet, in der Schweizer Eishockeyliga schon seit dem 1.7.21. So neu und verwunderlich ist das alles also nicht.

Im Amerikanischen Sport haben die Spieler schon immer den ‚Players‘ Agent‘ bezahlt. Die Amis schütteln über unser bisheriges System nur den Kopf.

?Und wie geht es jetzt weiter?

Wir können uns das ja nicht aussuchen. Die Regelung ist vom Weltverband IHF beschlossen und tritt am 1.7.22 in Kraft. Die grosse Mehrheit der Klubs wird die Regelung anwenden, einige werden versuchen zu tricksen. Aber die machen sich natürlich von Spieler und Spielervermittler abhängig/erpressbar. Wir als SG werden das nicht tun, weil wir die Regularien respektieren und für richtig halten.

Und momentan betrifft es ja erstmal niemanden wirklich, da fast alle schon einen Vertrag für die nächste Saison haben. Es geht um die neuen Verträge, die ab jetzt geschlossen werden ….

? Danke für das Gespräch.

23.5.22 Important Guests expected to attend FCH General Assemblies

Date: 2022.05.23 | Category: EHF, Forum Club Handball, IHF | Response: 0

The 16th General Assembly of Forum Club Handball (women’s clubs) and the 26th General Assembly of FCH (men’s clubs) will take place in June on the fringes of the EHF Champions League Final4 events in Budapest/women’s clubs on 5.6.22 and in Cologne/men’s clubs on 19.6.22.

FCH invited the President of the International Handball Federation (IHF), Dr. Hassan Moustafa. FCH and IHF intend to sign the prolongation of  their Partnership agreement during these meetings.

The host of both Final4 events, Michael Wiederer, President of the European Handball Federation, will address the participants and inform on the latest developments in European Handball.  

In Cologne the Japanese Handball association will be represented by Yoshihide Watanabe, acting President of Asian Handball Federation and Honorable Chairman of Japan Handball Association, Roland Nemes., Councilor, International Relations, Japan Handball Association and Yoshiki Hirabayashi, Secretary General of the Japan Handball Association.

FCH and the JHA intend to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, promoting the cooperation between European and Japanese top clubs.

4.4.2022 FCH and IHF finalize work on ‘IHF Regulations on Transfers’

Date: 2022.04.04 | Category: IHF, Professional Handball Board (PHB) | Response: 0

FCH started to discuss the relationship between Player agents and Clubs in 2020. In December 2020 the 23rd FCH General Assembly decided: ‘FCH Member clubs do not pay for the services of an agent in international transfers if the agent already has been mandated by the player.’  

This decision of European top clubs was discussed in the various bodies of EHF and EHFM, such as Men’s Club Board, Advisory Board, Professional Handball Board and EHF Executive Committee.

As all EHF/M bodies supported the initiative of FCH, it was decided to implement the idea into the IHF Regulations for Transfers. Discussions on various levels with IHF took place. A new wording of the regulations was worked out and finally confirmed by the IHF Council.

The key sentence of the new regulation: ‘A third party (= Player agent) shall not intervene for more than one party in a transfer and must be remunerated only by the party in question.’

As of 1st July 2022 a player, who has authorized a Player agent to represent his interests, shall remunerate his Player agent.

Clubs shall no longer reimburse the Player’s agent, if the agent represents the interests of the player.

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