It is with great sadness that the International Handball Federation has learned of the passing of former IHF Referee Mohamed Ball Camara last month.

Camara, and his referee partner Aboubacar Diakite, became respected referees at home in Guinea and eventually made the continental CAHB African Handball Confederation list.

Following their rise to continental referees, in August 2011 the pair attended the IHF’s Global Referee Training Programme (GRTP) in Burkina Faso and subsequently made the IHF world list for the 2012/13 season.

Leading the tributes to Camara, who was also a handball coach, was Guinea Handball Federation President Camara Paya Mamadouba, who helped to organise the funeral, held in Dixinn, a suburb of Guinea’s capital, Conakry.

The funeral was attended by a large number of Guinean handball representatives, players and coaches before a procession to a local cemetery where the former referee was laid to rest. 

On behalf of everyone at the IHF, President Dr Hassan Moustafa would like to offer his sincerest condolences to the family and friends Mohamed Ball Camara, and to President Mamadouba and everyone at the Guinea Handball Federation and African Handball Confederation.