IHF President hails Qatar's Organization of Sports Events

alt
October 23, 2023
handball
feed type icon
23-October-2023

IHF President hails Qatar's Organization of Sports Events

Doha: President of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Dr. Hassan Mustafa hailed Qatar's organization of the Asian Men's Handball Qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympics, currently held in Doha and lasts until Oct. 28 with the participation of 11 national teams.

In his remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), he said that the organization is at the highest level, not only from his point of view but as seen by all participating delegations.

Regarding the technical level of the Asian handball qualifiers, Dr. Hassan Mustafa said that the matches held so far showed the development of the level of the game in Asia, adding that new teams are heating the competition, such as Japan, which was the first to qualify for the semi-finals, in addition to the return of Kuwait with a young team.

Dr. Hassan Mustafa added that what caught his attention in the qualifiers is the presence of a Gulf women's refereeing team that runs men's matches, noting that in general, the Asian qualifiers are going well so far.

The President of the IHF pointed out that changing the qualification system for the Olympic Games gave a greater opportunity for teams from outside Europe to advance to the Olympics.

 He said that the old system required that the top seven places in the World Championships qualify directly for the Olympics, and they were always European teams. Therefore, that system had to be changed, and this has actually led to the qualification of teams that would have been difficult to participate in the Olympics under the previous qualification system.

Regarding the level of Qatari handball, Dr. Hassan Mustafa indicated that the Qatari team was the first team from outside Europe to reach the final match and achieve second place in the Men's World Championship, which was held in Doha in 2015. This was an achievement not only for Qatari sports but also for Arab sports, which clearly shows the development of the game's level that has made many achievements in recent years.