Today, Monday 26 August, is ‘Asian Handball Day’ which recognises the exact same day back in 1974 when the first motion to recognise handball at the Asian Games and the subsequent formation of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) was proposed, on the fringes of the 7th Asian Games, held in Tehran, Iran.

The motion was proposed in the Executive Committee meeting of the Asian Games in Iranian capital by the head of the Kuwaiti delegation, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in recognition of the sport being widely played across Asia at the time and that further official and technical support was provided in order ‘to achieve handball’s further development and expansion in the Asian region.’

Handball was subsequently recognised as an official sport by the Asian Games with Sheikh Al Sabah then inviting delegation heads in Tehran to formally establish the AHF. Statutes and byelaws were drafted and in 1976 handball federations from all over Asia, along with the then Secretary General of the IHF, announced the formal establishment of the AHF with Sheikh Al-Sabah as its first President.

Handball then made its debut at the 9th Asian Games which was held in 1982 in Delhi, India and in August 1990 Sheikh Al-Sabah’s son, Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Sabah, took over the president position following the death of his father, a position he still holds today.

“Congratulations from the heart to all our colleagues at the AHF,” said a statement from the Kazakhstan Handball Federation today recognising the sixth edition of ‘Asian Handball Day’. “We want to wish you all a constant striving for success, indispensable good luck on the way to your goals, great opportunities for the realisation of ideas and plans, prosperity in life and personal happiness.”

In 2019, the AHF has 44 member nations, from Kazakhstan in the north all the way down to Malaysia and Indonesia in the south. 

This year has seen big success for the federation with a number of high profile events in the region including the 2019 AHF Women’s Asian Junior (Lebanon) and Youth (India) Championships, the 7th AHF Men’s and Women’s Asian Beach Handball Championship (P.R. of China), the fourth edition of the AHF Women’s Club Championship (Kazakhstan), the 21st AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship (Kuwait), four regional IHF Women’s Trophy events and the first-ever IHF Women’s Super Globe (P.R. of China).

Still to come this year is the IHF Men’s Super Globe (Saudi Arabia), the AHF Men’s (Qatar) and Women’s (China) Asian Qualification events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the 22nd AHF Men’s Asian Club League (Korea), beach handball at the 2019 South East Asian Games (Philippines), handball at the South Asian Games (Nepal) and the debut of the ANOC World Beach Games, in Qatar in October, before the year ends in Japan with the 2019 IHF Women’s World Championship.

Back in February, the President of the International Handball Federation, Dr Hassan Moustafa, attended the 22nd Ordinary Congress of the AHF in Bangkok and praised the role of Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah in helping to form an historic, unified Korea team at the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship in Germany and Denmark.

On behalf of President Moustafa and the entire handball family, the IHF would like to wish everyone connected with Asian Handball all the best and is looking forward to a continuous successful collaboration to grow and develop handball in the continent. 

Photo: Asian Handball Federation