Egypt is to get a new professional handball league, writes Inas Mazhar A professional handball league will begin next season in Egypt. The surprise news was announced by the president of the Egyptian and international handball federations, Hassan Mustafa, at a press conference at the Egyptian Federation's headquarters in Nasr City , Cairo. Mustafa said the new league will include eight teams, adding that the winner will receive prize money offered by the sport's main sponsors. The league will be run by a committee headed by Medhat El-Beltagui, head of the federation's competitions committee, and a member of the committee at the IHF. Mustafa said a professional handball league was long overdue as part of the federation's plan to promote and develop the game more in Egypt. "But it took us some time. We decided to do it after the end of the World Championship." He added that such a league was sorely needed because the level of the national league had become so weak. Out of the eight teams competition is invariably limited to Ahli and Zamalek. "But the professional league and the prize money will heat up the competition and will raise the level of performance," Mustafa said. Mustafa admitted that the deterioration in the performance and results of the Egyptian national team at the world level was a result of a poor and weak national league and FA cup. "The professional league will revive the game once more. No strong national team can be formed from a weak national competition and that was the main complaint of most of the foreign coaches who have trained us in the past decade. "They always said that national competitions were very poor in comparison to the level of the national team. The low spectator turnout at league matches in comparison to the national team's is proof of that. The fans prefer watching exciting national team matches than attending boring league games." The new league will be divided into two seasons, winter and summer. The summer season will begin in the first week of September and will end by mid- December. One match will be held weekly. The winter season will begin in the first week of February and will last until the last week of May. Each season will produce a champion. The professional league winner will be determined by a decisive playoff between the two champions. According to the new system, clubs will have the right to register up to seven international players from abroad. On another front, the Ahli handball team held on to first place in the standings by the end of the league's second round despite a 33-33 draw with arch- rivals Zamalek. The league champion will be determined after two super-league tournaments in Alexandria this month and in Cairo in May. Ahli lead by just three points ahead of Zamalek. Ahli was leading 33-32 with only two minutes to go when Abdallah Mohamed was sent off for a foul. Zamalek then had Hassan Yousri, Reisha and veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El- Roubi to help get the tie.
