“Gratitude is just not the decisive criterion,” says the DHB president as debate over IHF management intensifies
The race for the presidency of the Worldwide Handball Federation (IHF) has sparked tensions inside German handball. Former DHB vice chairman Bob Hanning sharply criticized the German Handball Federation (DHB) for the way in which it endorsed Gerd Butzeck as its most popular candidate to problem long-time IHF president Hassan Moustafa. DHB president Andreas Michelmann has now publicly responded.
“The way in which the DHB positioned Gerd Butzeck didn’t please me. There isn’t a particular person in world handball who has achieved extra for German handball than Hassan Moustafa,” Hanning informed Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten.
“Everybody who criticizes him ought to keep in mind that the present standing of German handball is carefully linked to Hassan Moustafa’s work.”
In his response, Michelmann emphasised that the federation’s endorsement was made with a view to the longer term moderately than out of loyalty to the previous.
“The assertion by Bob Hanning raises the query of whether or not an election suggestion needs to be based mostly on gratitude or on expectations for future improvement,” mentioned Michelmann.
“In my expertise, gratitude is just not the decisive criterion in political, financial, or sporting decision-making. Gratitude is expressed by means of respect and recognition — and the DHB has all the time proven each to Dr. Hassan Moustafa. That may stay the case.”
Michelmann, who has led the DHB since 2015, will search one other time period on the upcoming DHB Congress on November 16 in Dresden.
“An election suggestion or candidate proposal, in accordance with the DHB’s place, is primarily made based mostly on expectations for the longer term,” he mentioned.
“The DHB has concluded that change is required on the prime of the world federation to make the IHF extra fashionable and future-ready. For that cause, we nominated Gerd Butzeck early and communicated it transparently.”
