On the invitation of Romanian Handball Federation (FRH) President Alexandru Mihai Dedu, IHF President, Dr Hassan Moustafa, was in Bucharest earlier this week (28-30 August) for various meetings around handball development in the country and the planning for the 2020 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship which will be held in Bucharest and Brasov in two years’ time.

In his discussions with the FRH, President Moustafa met with President Dedu and other FRH officials including Cristina Varzaru (Secretary General), Sorin Dinu (Vice President), Sorin Toacsen (Federal Coach – Senior Teams), Alexandru Dia (Federal Coach – Junior Teams), Dan Arnautu (Executive Director) and Jan Mateescu (President of the Romanian Referee Foundation).

President Moustafa also met with the Romanian Minister of Youth and Sport (Ministerul Tineretuluisi Sportului – MTS) Ioana Bran at the MTS headquarters in the capital city, alongside President Dedu where they discussed a number of different topics relating to handball in the European country.

"Handball in Romania has been, and is, at the top level and has always produced top players, coaches and good referees,” said President Moustafa to the gathered media, including Romanian Public Television – TVR, at the MTS headquarters following his meeting with Minister Bran. “We want to achieve the goal that President Alexandru Dedu presented to us: that at the end of his term, one of Romania's national teams will win a gold medal at a final tournament. 

“The IHF wants to help develop and promote handball in Romania as well as working together to make a success of the 2020 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship.”

Minister Bran hailed the meeting and committed the support of the Romanian Government to help continuing to develop handball in Romania.

"We discussed the good relationship that President Moustafa has with the Romanian Handball Federation and the partnership that the Ministry of Youth and Sport has with the FRH.” she said. 

“We concluded that we have a correct common relationship based on results, activity and number of legitimate athletes and we also showed the readiness to support federal projects as far as our help is needed.”

President Moustafa then visited the Romanian National Olympic Committee (COSR) and met with Secretary General George Boroi and other COSR officials where they discussed a number of topics including development of beach handball in Romania and administrative aspects relating to handball performance.

"This very important visit of the IHF President to Bucharest shows again how valuable Romanian handball is,” said Boroi. “It is also a proof of the recognition for the recent results of our women's team and even the men’s team, who are now on an upward slope.”

Alongside IHF Executive Committee Member, Narcisa Lecusanu, President Moustafa also attended the debut match of Steaua Bucuresti in the SEHA-Gazprom League, which saw an exciting one-goal (26:25) victory for the home side over Tatran Presov at the Sala Polivalenta in the match which officially opened the eighth season of the regional league.

“President Moustafa really values Romania and Romanian handball,” said FRH President Dedu after the visit. “We will take advantage of his visit to see how we can we develop our strategy for the coming years.

“We are one of the top 10 nations in the world of handball and 2020 will be an important test for us as we look to organise a senior championship in the future and hope for a medal with our women’s team.”