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Headquarters and Development: Dr Moustafa Meets with Two Presidents

11 Nov. 2019

Headquarters and Development: Dr Moustafa Meets with Two Presidents

IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa has started the week focused on Dutch handball, welcoming Dutch Handball Federation (NHV) President Tjark de Lange to the IHF headquarters in Basel on Monday morning. The meeting with the NHV president followed Sunday’s meeting with Mediterranean Handball Confederation (MHC) President Zoran Radojicic.

Sunday’s meeting agenda focused on the preparation of a long-term MHC development programme as well as the new MHC headquarters which will be located in Greece. President Radojicic also reported the different MHC activities and future MHC events to be organised. Dr Moustafa confirmed the IHF will provide technical support and emphasised the need to coordinate the MHC calendar with the IHF’s.

On Monday, NHV President Tjark de Lange was welcomed by Dr Moustafa in Basel. The Netherlands has been a notable model of development in recent years, as their strategy has led to spectacular results from the women’s national team in particular – they are the only nation to reach the semi-finals at every major international championship since December 2015, and remain a favourite to do so again at the upcoming IHF Women’s World Championship in Japan. The men’s team have also made significant steps, qualifying for their first major international tournament this year – the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, to be played in January.

In light of these achievements, de Lange shared the current status of the development and organisational structures within the Netherlands, both on a club and national level. De Lange also shared his views on international development and organisation as part of the discussion about the possible hosting of a women’s 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament (OQT) and 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. 

The IHF Council will award the OQT hosting rights following the composition of the groups, which can only take place after the 24th IHF Women’s World Championship, throwing off on 30 November and concluding on 15 December. The 2025 Women’s World Championship will be awarded in February 2020.