Handball Federations Take Dispute to Court

(ATR) Leaders of handball governing bodies tell Around the Rings they will settle disputes relating to Olympic qualifying tournaments at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Hassan Moustafa, president of the International Handball Federation, says he has a good working relationship with Sheikh Ahmad of the AHF. (ATR/M.Bisson)

Hassan Moustafa, president of the International Handball Federation, met with Asian Handball Federation president Sheikh Ahmad in Lausanne this week where they agreed to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“Whatever the CAS says we will respect it,” Ahmad told Around the Rings following a meeting on the autonomy of sport and the Olympic Movement in Lausanne.

“This is the professional way we have to deal with it,” says Ahmad, dismissing suggestions that a ruling in favor of the IHF will undermine the credibility of his federation.

Both the IHF and AHF are keen to put the dispute behind them, although no court date has yet been set.

“We have to work together, we are one family,” Moustafa says, claiming the dispute arose because of misunderstandings on both sides. Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah is an IOC member, head of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian Handball Federation. (ATR/M.Bisson)

“I am not angry because I have a very good relationship with Sheikh Ahmad.”

The controversy blew up after the IHF ordered men's and women's Asian qualifying matches for Beijing to be replayed. The move followed complaints from Japan and South Korea about dubious refereeing decisions from Middle East officials. The women's tournament was in Almaty, Kazakhstan in August; the men's took place the following month in Tokyo.

The Asian Handball Federation replaced German referees with Middle Eastern officiators at the last minute. Federation officials say they made the move because of concerns that the IHF-appointed referees could be influenced in advance of matches.

Ahmad, who has always rejected the accusations of biased refereeing at the Asian Olympic qualifiers, claims the IHF broke its own rules about short lead times between a referee's appointment and the game by appointing officials more than 21 days in advance of the tournament.

Last month, only South Korea and Japan contested the IHF-ordered replays which were boycotted by the other Asian countries. South Korea's men and women emerged victorious to claim Beijing berths.

The Asian Handball Federation, based in Kuwait, last week fined Japan and South

Korea one thousand dollars each for participating in the replays in breach of an order not to take part. Both countries' handball federations are reportedly refusing to pay the fine, although they have three months to do so.

Earlier this week, Japanese media reports said Ahmad, who also serves as president of the Olympic Council of Asia, claimed the IHF-ordered The Court of Arbitration for Sport typically takes six to 12 months to adjudicate cases; the Olympics begin in less than six. (Getty Images)replays would damage Tokyo's 2016 Olympic bid.

But he later retracted his comments, saying the replays would have no impact on the bid.

In a statement, he said the relationship among the OCA, the Japanese Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2016 is “excellent”.

“Tokyo is an Asian city and it is a duty of OCA president to support it. I will support Tokyo as any other bid cities from Asia,” Ahmad added.

Ahmad is hoping the row does not escalate at the Asian men's championships taking place in Esfahan, Iran, Feb. 17 to 26.

On Feb. 10, the AHF agreed to cede control and supervision of the Iran tournament to the international body, according to an IHF statement.

"Following the AHF's initial refusal to accept IHF's control of the tournaments and their final say in the selection of the referees, the IHF made it clear that if their terms were not unconditionally accepted the results of the Asian Championship would not be approved and the winner would not qualify for Croatia 2009," reads the IHF statement. It refers to the next world championships, set for Zagreb.

However, the CAS case – which touches only on the Olympic qualifiers – will go forward, the IHF confirms.

With reporting from Mark Bisson in Lausanne.

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