Hassan Moustafa, President of International Handball Federation, charged of bribery – IHF News
Hassan Moustafa, the current president of the International Handball Federation (IHF) is struggling to clear his name from the scandal that has come as a shock in the world of handball.
Suspected for possible corruption and bribery, authorities are doing their part to go to the bottom of the scandal. Local authorities raised the issue, as he is guilty over television contract scandals, placing him in the spotlight.
The Swiss authorities raided his home in Rheinfelden to investigate into the matter, which has proved to be nothing but an embarrassing moment as it has shattered the dignity of Moustafa, who holds the highest place in the sports
of handball.
Prosecutors claim that Moustafa took money apart from his salary, through improper and illegal means. Moustafa received $830,000 as his consulting fees in 2007. This fees was not part of his pay scale but, in fact money which he
received by a sports marketing firm called Sportfive.
From the year 2006 to 2009, Sportfive bought the rights to IHF competitions and it is reported that Moustafa accepted a payment as a reward. This reward, however, was given to him for his services to provide Sportfive the contract
and the rights to IHF’s competitions.
While investigating into the report of corruption involving the IHF President, it was also uncovered that in April 2007, Moustafa took a check for $414,000 and in November 2007, money had transferred in his bank account amounting
to $416,000.
Born in 1944 in Cairo, Moustafa became the head of the IHF in 2000. He is termed as the first ever Egyptian to have ever led any international sports federation in the world. He has had various roles in his sporting career.
He has been a player followed by rendering his services as a referee, a coach and now serving as the head of the global body representing the sport of handball.
The scandal took off when irregularities were seen in the marketing activities, which were conducted in 2007 related to the World Championships. Moustafa became the first official from Egypt to lead an international sports federation
and has been IHF’s president since 2000.
Swiss authorities raided the premises of the headquarters of International Handball Federation in Basel, Switzerland, as they were trying to find any sort of lead into the investigations.
Moustafa’s scandal first surfaced up in 2010 when Der Speigel, the weekly news magazine from Germany. It was stated that the money that Moustafa received was actually paid to him in gesture of the television rights, which Sportfive
had acquired for the IHF competitions.
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