Egypt's was presented with a new global handball mandate, writes Inas Mazhar of Egypt was reelected president of the International Handball Federation (IHF) for four more years. Mustafa received 85 out of 134 votes and thus the necessary majority. His nearest rival, Stefan Holmqvist of Sweden, received 46 votes. On Friday, the seaside resort of El-Gouna was a bright, fitting backdrop to the results of the elections, if you were Egyptian and if you were Mustafa. That day the ordinary congress studied a bylaw and structure-related items. In addition, the handball federations of Afghanistan, Barbados, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and Liberia were affiliated as new members. Then the congress got down to the main item on the agenda. Mustafa was the first to make his presentation. It took Mustafa about 20 minutes to present his achievements of the past four years. After he was through, he received a 10-minute ovation. "I was very happy with that and I can tell you that receiving such applause even before the elections took place gave me a lot of confidence," Mustafa told Al- Ahram Weekly following the vote. "Not all people know about my achievements. Some federations are not aware of what we are doing. I gave them the facts and figures and I guess they appreciated the effort that the IHF has been doing for the past period," Mustafa said. After the results were announced, Mustafa thanked the congress for the confidence they had again entrusted in him and promised to continue his work and fulfill his and their dream for the sake of the sport. He also called his rival, Holmqvist, a brother and friend who have been working together for almost 16 years. The Swede did not leave empty-handed. Holmqvist was elected vice president of the IHF. Mustafa was the first to congratulate him publicly. The IHF now has 155 members: Africa 48, Asia 34, Europe 46, Pan America 22, Oceania five. Following the admission of the new members and the approval of the minutes of the previous Congress meeting, Mustafa and presidents of the various committees each presented his report on the previous term. After Mustafa was confirmed in office, secret ballots were used to fill the remaining vacancies. Vice presidents from the continents were Christophe Yapo Achy (Africa), Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al- Subah (Asia), Tor Lian (Europe), Manuel Luiz Oliveira (Pan-America), Vernon Winitana (Oceania). Peter Mèhlematter of Switzerland, former president of the competitions committee, became secretary general. The treasurer Miguel Roca Mas of Spain was confirmed. Alexander Kozhukhov of Russia was named president of the Commission of Organising and Competition while Christer Ahl of the US was selected president of the Playing Rules and Referees Commission. President of the Commission of Coaching and Methods was Naser Abu Marzouq of Kuwait. President of the Medical Commission is François Gnamian of the Ivory Coast and the president of the Commission for Promotion and Public Relations is Carin Nilsson Green of Sweden. Continental representatives on the council included from Africa and Tawfik Khouaja of Tunisia, Mansourou Aremou of Benin. From Asia Yoshihide Watanabe of Japan, Europe Jean Brihault of France and Pan-America Mario Garcia de la Torre of Mexico. Alexander Kozhukhov of Russia was a council member elected to the executive committee. Chairman of the Arbitration Tribunal: Ulrich Strombach of Germany. Chairman of the Arbitration Commission: Charalambos Lottas of Cyprus. Auditors: Jèrg Steib of Switzerland and Gènal Ensari of Turkey. Substitute Auditor: Helmut Schebeczek of Austria.
