On 24/25.4.2010 the International Handball Federation (IHF) Congress on Bylaws will take place in Rome.

The leadership of the European Handball Federation (EHF) criticized in a letter, dated 10.3.2010 and addressed to all European member nations, the proposals of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Council to change the IHF bylaws and increase the power of IHF President Hassan Moustafa dramatically:

‘… the point that we find the most worrying is the structural reform proposed in this document. It would result in one person, the President, simultaneously holding several responsibilities: President, President of IHF Marketing, Head of Administration, Treasurer or Financial Controller. This is in total contradiction with the principle of “checks and balances”’

IHF replied on 23.3.2010 to all European National Federations. The letter is signed by all Council members beside Tor Lian, Jean Brihault, Joel Delplanque and President Hassan Moustafa.

The 13 Council members ‘fully decline’ all EHF statements. Even more:

‘We rather consider them as an attempt to manipulate and mislead the entire handball community in the personal interest of a few individuals from the EHF.’

The Council Members address the EHF President and Vice-President as ‘a few individuals’ and impute ‘personal interests’.

The Council Members state that ‘he (Lian) voted in favor (of the motions in question) and had no objection’. In the EHF letter Lian denies that the motions were treated in the Council meeting and refers to the minutes.

The Council Members continue: ‘… The phrasing of the letter is not respectable and not worthy of such a major federation. We believe this is a classic example of improper conduct and an illicit attempt to discredit others in the personal interest of a few individuals.’ and summarize:

 ‘… we must strength the power of the President as if we have a weak president, the whole handball organization will collapse. ….. As for the personal attacks against the IHF President; the Executive Committee and Council members are disappointed to see such wording formulated by someone who is a member of the important IHF bodies. We declare ourselves against such irresponsible accusations. We are civilized and respected personalities, everyone in his field of activities. Therefore we do not make such accusations against one another in this manner and without evidence.

…. We are wondering if these allegations are raised because the President is a non-European!’ GB

During the last Council Meeting of International Handball Federation (IHF) in China (Dec 2009) the compensation for President Hassan Moustafa was increased from 30.000 CHF to 500.000 CHF per year (according to DER SPIEGEL 4/10). According to the motions which shall be presented to the IHF Congress in Rome 23/24.4.2010 the influence of Hassan Moustafa shall be increased dramatically.

So the President in the future shall become the ‘Head of Administration’,  ‘control the financial transactions’ and ‘is entitled to take decision in-between Executive Committee meetings’. Further more: ‘The President of the Executive Committee is the Chairman of the IHF Marketing AG’.

The European Handball Federation (EHF) informed their member nations accordingly on 10.3.2010. According to EHF the motions are not a proposal of the IHF Council, as claimed by IHF. Further more, the motions are not a ‘direct result of the work performed by the “working group” appointed by the President of the IHF’.

If the motions are not proposed by the IHF Council and not a result of the appointed Working Group, one has to raise the question who proposed/proposes the mentioned motions.

EHF finds the structural reform ‘the most worrying’. lt would be ‘one person, the President, simultaneously holding several responsibilities: President, President of IHF Marketing, Head of Administration, Treasurer or Financial Controller.’

Summarizing the situation, the President and the Vice-President of EHF state that ‘such an approach can only be interpreted as a move towards more opacity when we need more transparency and more despotism when we want more democracy’. GB

http://www.eurohandball.com/article/012925/EHF+statement+on+IHF+matters

On 9.2.10 GROUP CLUB HANDBALL EEIG, the European Professional Handball League Association and the European Handball Players Union sent a common letter to EHF, asking for the position of EHF regarding the allegations against IHF President Hassan Moustafa in German DER SPIEGEL magazine.

On 25.2.10 EHF issued an official statement, recommending to IHF an external audit for IHF and IHF Marketing AG by an internationally known firm. IHF President Hassan Moustafa immediately accepted such a procedure.

EHF expects the results to be presented already during the next IHF Congress, taking place in Rome on 23/24.4.10. GB

According to German HANDELSBLATT the International Handball Federation (IHF) is ready to compensate Clubs and Federations with a total of 3.65 Mio CHF (incl. Insurance) per World Championship, once an agreement with the ‘stakeholders’ is achieved.

The German daily newspaper is quoting the minutes of a meeting with continental, federation and club representatives which took place on 28.1.10 in Vienna/Austria. According to HANDELSBLATT IHF President Hassan Moustafa confirmed the figures. GB

According to German DER SPIEGEL magazine the IHF Council increased the annual compensation for Council members from 204.000 to 1.325.000 CHF during a meeting in Nanjing/China in December 2009. The compensation for IHF President Hassan Moustafa was raised from 30.000 to 500.000 CHF per year. For further details:

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/sonst/0,1518,679098,00.html

English translation of the article:

IHF president Moustafa gets an increase of 1567 percent

The total annual ‘expense allowances’ for the top officials in the International Handball Federation (IHF) will, according to information obtained by Der Spiegel, increase from 204.000 CHF per year to 1.325.000 CHF per year. The increase for President Hassan Moustafa is particularly drastic.

The top officials of the IHF allow themselves a magnificent compensation for their services. This becomes clear in a document from the IHF Council that had until now been kept secret; the Council is the forum for the 17 IHF top officials. According to this document, when the Council met last December in Nanjing, China, they arranged for themselves an increase in the expense allowances from an aggregate of 204.000 CHF to 1.325.000 CHF.

The most grandiose increase concerns the president: 1567 percent. The Egyptian Hassan Moustafa, who last summer was re-elected in his position until 2013, will now get 500.000 per year instead of 30.000 CHF.

The Council members also allow themselves an increase in their daily allowances – instead of 250 CHF per day, when they are on duty for the IHF, they will now receive 400 CHF. For Moustafa this adds up to a six-digit amount, as he last year claimed to have been on duty for the IHF during 280 days.

Today the Presidents of the European Player, League and Club organisations expressed their concerns in a letter to EHF President Tor Lian, regarding the allegations against IHF President Hassan Moustafa, expressed in German DER SPIEGEL Magazine (No 4/2010).

The European President was requested to explain the position of his Federation and asked for further information.

At the same time the undersigned assured Tor Lian that the European Handball Federation can always count on Players, Leagues and Clubs for any action, serving to improve the image of handball. GB 

On 1.4.2009 GCH lodged a complaint against EHF/IHF, challenging the monopoly of the International federations. During the 13th ordinary General Assembly GCH discussed the possibility to split the complaint in two parts: one against IHF and one against EHF.

Since April 2009 GCH is in concrete negotiations with EHF, regarding the change of the structure of European Handball and the involvement of the various stakeholders (clubs, players, leagues) in the decision taking process concerning professional handball issues. The next meeting between GCH and EHF delegations will take place on 11.2.10 in Vienna. A draft of a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (to be presented to the next ordinary EHF Congress) will be discussed.

Splitting the complaint, GCH would be able to suspend the complaint against EHF temporarily.  

At the same time IHF continues to refuse any communication with GROUP CLUB HANDBALL EEIG, a representation of 19 European Top Clubs.  GB

Please find the following press information on the IHF-Homepage:

Historical moment for Handball

2010-01-29

On the fringes of the 9th Men’s European Championship in Austria a high potential working group met in Vienna on 28 January.

On initiative of the IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa, representatives from the IHF, from the continental federations, national federations and, for the first time in handball history, representatives from four top clubs, met to discuss the future calendar of international handball and the involvement of the stakeholders into international handball in general. Specifically, proposals for an implementation of a releasing fee, an increase of the prize money and for a launching of an appearance fee were discussed. The members of this group of experts agreed basically on the following points:

1.    Coordination of the international competition calendar
2.    Launching of a releasing fee system
3.    Launching of an insurance system for players during the World Championship

The meeting participants supported the steps of the European Handball Federation to create a Professional Handball Board, integrating the current stakeholders, National Federations, Clubs, National Leagues, and Athletes, permanently dealing with issues regarding professional handball in Europe.

The International Handball Federation basically supports the idea of building a forum of expert’s representing the professional handball and is always open to the problems the members of the handball family might have, but not for subgroups who are not affiliated to the IHF.

The experts who met today created the following working group which will work out the details of the individual points:

•    Sandi Sola (Representative IHF)
•    Dr Mansourou A. Aremou (Representative of continental federations)
•    Alexander Toncourt (Representative EHF)
•    Ulrich Strombach (Representative of national federations)
•    Patrice Canayer (Montpellier HB, General Manager)

The results of the elaboration of this Working Group will be presented and discussed on the fringes of the Final Four of the EHF Men’s Champions League on 29/30 May 2010.

The meeting was held in an open and positive atmosphere and the participants emphasized their interest in the development of the sport handball on all fields.

Today for the first time during the Presidency of Hassan Moustafa the International Handball Federation (IHF) invited club representatives to discuss about Calendar issues. In the presence of the Continental Federation Presidents and various National Federations Presidents (CRO, FRA, GER, ESP) the participants from BM Ciudad Real, THW Kiel, HB Montpellier and RK Zagreb took the chance to raise further questions, such as ‘Compensation for release of players to the national team’ and ‘Insurance in case of injury during World Championships’.

It was achieved a common opinion about the fact that the

– International Calender has to be harmonized

– Compensation for release of players has to be discussed

– a solution regarding the insurance problem has to be found.

IHF agreed to continue the work on the mentioned issues.

As the working group is no body of the IHF, no decisions were taken in Vienna. GB/UD

The Super Globe, the official World Championship for Club Teams, will take place in Quatar for the next 4 years. According contracts were signed by IHF President Hassan Moustafa during the last weekend.

This year the tournament will take place from 17.-21. May 2010, 8 days before the EHF Championsleague final. IHF spreads this information via own Homepage.

The clubs were not at all involved in the decision taking process.  GB