The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rendered its reasoned Award in the case Pan-American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) v. International Handball Federation (IHF) today.

 
In its Award, CAS does not challenge the split of PATHF into two confederations, as the CAS Panel expressly states that it is “not concerned with whether or not it is a wise, justifiable or feasible initiative to split the PATHF into two confederations, as this is something that should be left to the self-governing powers of associations such as the IHF”.

The IHF Congress decision dated 11 November 2017 was declared null and void due to formal issues only, i.e. the change of the wording of the motion on short notice, and the delegation of the IHF Congress’s authority to the IHF Council, which is not possible under Swiss law:

i. No proper notice was given for the motion that was ultimately presented during the IHF Congress resulting in the IHF Congress Decision.

ii. The IHF Congress was clearly not entitled to delegate its authority to the IHF Council to “discuss, evaluate and take a decision on the motion regarding the IHF Statutes related to the Pan-American continent and consequently on the relevant IHF statutory amendments”.

Therefore and according to the justification of the decision of CAS, the IHF will maintain the implementation of its handball development project in North America and the Caribbean as well as South and Central America. The whole project will be presented to the next IHF Congress.