 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509 
| ||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
| ||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The goal of his life
By Inas Mazhar and Gamal Nkrumah
Hassan Mustafa, a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF), wants to be more than just a member. No longer content to be part of the sports' body, Egypt's handball supremo now wants to be its head. His chance is coming soon. Elections for president of the IHF is set for 28 November in Basel, Switzerland. Mustafa believes he has a lot to offer.
Hassan Mustafa
"I have no objections to the people running the IHF," Mustafa, president of the Egyptian Handball Federation, said recently. "For the past decade much has been achieved but I think there is still much to be done. We need new blood in the IHF with new ideas and suggestions that would help raise the level of the game and promote it worldwide."
Mustafa has several ambitious projects in mind if elected. He would fight for a permanent premises that the IHF can call its own. He wants regional and continental federations to communicate more among themselves and with the IHF. He seeks more interpreters for the cacophony of languages being used in congress meetings. He would like to see a more cordial relationship blossom between the IHF and the International Olympic Committee which he thinks will garner more sponsorship benefits.
Mustafa's campaign platform also seeks to increase the number of full-time professional referees who would adjudge all qualifying matches for world championships and the Olympic Games. If elected, Mustafa says, he would set up advanced courses and increase the number of seminars given by top-level coaches to trainers and coaches.
Mustafa is not through yet. He would organise an under-17 world championship which would not put any financial burden on national federations. The tournament would be aimed at maintaining a constant flow of skilled and talented players in the game.
Mustafa would want to see the game's popularity rise in cities that have hosted world championships and Olympic Games such as Atlanta, Tokyo and, most recently, Sydney. Allowing more tournaments for women, helping federations create larger bases of players and spreading the popularity of beach handball are all part of Mustafa's scenarios.
"Supporting the national federations that have been financially hurt by economic or political circumstances and adopting a contractual system for four countries per continent every year to help their federations execute their programmes to spread the game would also be in the works," he said. "A new IHF should also consider helping federations whose national teams qualified for the world championship but who were not able to properly prepare themselves to compete at this high level."
He intends to increase television broadcasting for both national and international championships and will publish guides on the game to be distributed in countries which have little knowledge of handball.
"One matter that needs more work is developing various financial resources from sponsors, advertising rights, television and broadcasting and the IOC."
"We need to reconsider the rules of the game to make it more attractive. This will increase the game's popularity and will help it become more widespread, which in turn will facilitate promotional opportunities needed to increase financial resources."
Before he can be elected, Mustafa's faces stiff competition from IHF president, Austrian Erwin Lance, and IHF vice president and European Federation President Stefan Holmqvist of Sweden. But Mustafa already enjoys the backing of African, Asian and Pan American nations which represent the majority of votes at the IHF.
The African diplomatic community in Cairo was overwhelmingly in support of an African candidate. South Africa's Ambassador to Egypt Frank Mdlalose told Al-Ahram Weekly that he supports Mustafa's candidacy. "Sports is a vitally important aspect of human development in Africa, as elsewhere," Mdlalose said. "African youth can be enlisted in the development process through active participation in sports and they must have role models to look up to as well as towering figures like Mustafa to guide them."
Henry Moyana, the Zimbabwean ambassador to Egypt, concurred. "It is vitally important to back Africa's bid in order for the African continent to head for the first time the international federation."
African ambassadors also took the opportunity to urge closer cooperation between Egypt and other African ambassadors in sports. The Algerian ambassador, whose country had fielded a candidate but withdrew after consulting with Egypt, said, "Algeria is behind Mustafa, Africa's candidate."
Mustafa played for Ahli and the national team before coaching both but decided to change course after receiving a PhD in sports administration. He was elected president of the Egyptian Handball Federation in 1985. In 1992, he became president of the IHF Coaches and Methods Commission and was re-elected in 1996.
During his 15-year reign Mustafa has propelled Egypt to the seventh best handball country in the world. Should he win the IHF presidency he would be the first Egyptian to hold such a high-profile position in sport. That would be a goal worthy of the record books.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
