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New EHF President Brihault Vows to Take Women's Handball to New Level |
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Handball - 22 Jun 2012 - Jean Brihault has pledged to raise the profile of women’s handball after today being elected as the new president of the European Handball Federation.
Brihault, who hails from France, was standing unopposed at the EHF Congress in Monaco to succeed Norway’s Tor Lian and duly became only the third leader of the continental governing body.
Following his election, Brihault, whose term runs until 2016, said that one of his priorities would be to help take the women’s game to a similar professional and commercial level to the men’s game.
He has been succeeded as EHF vice president by Arne Elovsson of Sweden who defeated Reine Witte of Germany by 41 votes to nine. Two other candidates – Per Bertelsen of Denmark and Ulrich Rubeli of Switzerland – withdrew before the election.
Brihault claimed that the proposed establishment of a Women’s Handball Board, a proposal put forward to Congress by the EHF, under which there will be additional women’s representative on the EHF Executive, was a sign of progress for the sport.
Brihault told eurohandball.com: “If successful this body will also need to evolve in the future to become more like the Professional Handball Board we have in the men’s game. Right now the women’s game is in a different place.”
He added: “The gap between women’s and men’s handball has grown in recent years partly because of the rapid development of men’s handball, through major events such as the Velux EHF Final4.
“It is at club level where we have an issue in particular. Clubs find it difficult finding sponsors and getting on television.
Women’s handball is a fantastic product, and could be very attractive to a major sponsor, but we need to do this without creating a caricature of femininity. I’m totally against the idea of pink floors and playing with flowers in their hair, this is not what we need.”
Sportcal
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