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Spotlight on Sport
Handball, sometimes referred to as European Handball due to
its popularity in mainland Europe, has an electric pace and an
intensity that draw increasing interest in television and digital
media.
With the closing of the 22nd Men’s Handball World Championship
in Stockholm, on the 30 January, organisers have been quick
to point out their game’s increasing popularity and established
qualities.
In the recent championship, 24 nations were represented,
underlining handball’s international standing.
Speaking before the final, which saw France beat Denmark (37:35)
the International Handball Federation (IHF) President Dr. Hassan
Moustafa said “Never before, a World Championship has been
broadcasted in so many countries. By reflecting the last ten years
the increase to 160 countries is enormous. Aside the number of
spectators rose compared with the last World Championship in
Croatia. The arenas were full in all venues.”
More than 430,000 spectators attended the 98 matches in
Sweden.
In an interesting, and some say controversial move, IHF has
awarded the rights to host the 2015 finals to Qatar. This move
provides a parallel case with the World Cup going to the Gulf
state, and similar questions have been raised in the handball
community.
Champions France were hopeful of gaining the hosting rights, but
respected handball resource teamhandballnews.com suggests
they bungled their bid, saying “they relied a lot on reputation, they
used their proud French team as the ‘poster boys’ par excellence,
and they seemed to feel it would be a bit too ‘gauche’ to do any
heavy selling of their bid.”
Alternatively, “Qatar spared no effort (or riyad) to draw attention
to their bid and to what would be special about a Championship
hosted in their country.”
It would seem that the World Championship in Qatar will be
viewed with great interest, not only by handball enthusiasts but
also by those in football wondering how Qatar will cope with the
pressures of running n major sporting event.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, it is played in an area roughly
the same size as an indoor soccer pitch in game of two 30 minute
halves. Teams consist of six outfield players and one goalkeeper,
and scores over 30 goals are commonplace.
Players receiving the ball may not carry the ball for more than
three paces, and have a limited time to select a pass, to dribble
or to shoot.
The modern game of handball was formalised in Northern Europe,
where it still enjoys great popularity.
Handball is a contact sport and there is a certain amount of
accepted gamesmanship in the matches. Players may not make
contact with opponents from the side or behind but may challenge
them from the front.
The game is played at such a pace that these levels of contact
can make the sport challenging for the players and exhilarating
for the fans. Add to this the rapid change from attack to defense
and the limits to movement allowed once the player catches the
ball and you have a sport in which players are regularly injured.
Coachsinfo.com even cites handball as responsible for more
injuries than any other international sport after soccer.
The most common injuries are in the foot, given the constant
shifting and turning as attack turns to defense. A 2005 article the
European Journal of Sports Science states that in their research
sample “nearly half of the players reported that they had been
injured during the previous two years.”
Injury in the sport is a serious issue, with most players out of
action for at least a week during the regular season. The report
found that aside from regular preparation, the players benefited
from the use of prophylactic equipment.
Handball is a sport well placed to gain popularity. Relatively
untouched by scandal and with a history of high quality
international competition, the sport has a global reputation
that sees its market share steadily increasing. South American
countries are embracing the sport, with Argentina placing 12th in
the 2011 championship.
Sport Profile: Handball
Handball is a sport worth
watching in the coming years.