Hungary Loses Handball Congress

(ATR) The handball federations of the world will not be headed to Budapest.

In a letter circulated on April 30, the International Handball Federation informed its member federations that the IHF Congress scheduled for June has been postponed.

Sixty-three national federations come from countries with no diplomatic representation in Hungary. Delegations from those countries were unable to obtain entry visas, according to an IHF statement.

"The IHF will always strive to offer best possible conditions to all member federations and will always work on providing them with their right to participate in the IHF Congress.

"As under these conditions this right cannot be fulfilled, it has been decided to postpone the congress."

Handball president Hassan Moustafa had contact "on the highest level" with the Hungarian government, including sports minister Istvan Simicsko.

Ultimately, visas could only be guaranteed to delegates who arrived in Budapest as their first entry point into the Schengen Area of Europe.

This was not possible for delegates who could not fly to Budapest without connecting through Amsterdam, Munich or Brussels, among others.

The site and date of the rescheduled congress "will be announced in due time," according to the IHF statement.

A federation source tells Around the Rings it will take place "later in the summer."

Written by Nick Devlin

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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