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Asian Handball Federation AHF
Sport	Handball
Other sports	Beach handball
Official website	www.asianhandball.org
History
Year of formation	26 August 1974; 50 years ago (1974-08-26) at Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Demographics
Membership size	44 Members
Affiliations
International federation	International Handball Federation (IHF)
IHF member since	1974
Other affiliation(s)	Olympic Council of Asia
Governance
President	Yoshihide Watanabe (acting)
1st Vice-President	Yoshihide Watanabe
Secretariat
Address	South Surrah, Al-Salam Area, Block 7, Street No. 705, Villa 508
Country	Kuwait
Secretary General	Muhammad Shafiq
Official Language(s)	English (Official) Arabic (Also used for correspondences)
Number of staff	8
Finance
Sponsors	Al Kass Sports Channels SK Group Gerflor Molten Corporation
Regions
Western Asia Central Asia South Asia Southeast Asia East Asia

The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) is the governing body of handball and beach handball in Asia. It has 44 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent, but excludes the transcontinental countries with territory in both Europe and Asia – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation and Turkey – which are instead members of European Handball Federation (EHF). Three other states located along the western fringe of Asia – Cyprus, Armenia and Israel – are also EHF members. Hong Kong and Macau, although not independent countries (both are special regions of China), are also members of the AHF.

One of IHF's six continental confederations, the AHF was formed officially on 26 August 1974 in Tehran (Imperial State of Iran), on the sidelines of the 7th Asian Games 1974. The AHF headquarters is located in Kuwait City (Kuwait). Its current president is Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah from Kuwait, who is a member of House of Al Sabah, the ruling family of Kuwait.

History

The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) is in one way absolutely unique: during its history to date it has had only two presidents, and they were father and son.

When in 1976 the federation was officially founded and Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was elected as president, the sheikh had already contributed significantly to efforts around the sport. In 1974, during the 7th Asian Games in Tehran (Iran), he applied as head of the Kuwaiti delegation at the executive committee for the inclusion of handball into the sports programme and the foundation of a continental handball federation. Handball was at that point already widely spread in Asia. The leaders of the Asian Games accepted handball as an official sport and asked the sheikh to act as interim president and to prepare the statutes of the federation. In this task he was supported by the Secretary General Syed Abul Hassan (Pakistan).

Presidents

S. No.	Name	Tenure
1.	Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah	26 August 1974 – 2 August 1990
Acting	Mohammed Ali Abul	2 August 1990 – 1991
2.	Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah	1991 – 5 November 2021
Acting	Yoshihide Watanabe	5 November 2021 – present

^1 Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah died on 2 August 1990 during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait while defending Dasman Palace. Mohammed Ali Abul served as acting president until the war finished in 1991.
^2 Sheikh Ahmed stepped down from AHF presidency following a guilty verdict against him in a Swiss forgery trial. Therefore, 1st Vice-President Yoshihide Watanabe was appointed as acting president till further orders.

Secretaries-General

S. No.	Name	Tenure
1.	Syad Abul Hassan	26 August 1974 – 26 November 2000
2.	Dr. Roshan Lal Anand	26 November 2000 – 25 October 2013
3.	Muhammad Shafiq	25 October 2013 – present

Executive committee

The following is the AHF Executive Committee for 2017 – 2021.

Designation	Name
President	Vacant
1st Vice-President	Yoshihide Watanabe
Secretary General	Muhammad Shafiq
Treasurer	Bader Mohammad Al-Theyab
Member	Ahmed Mohamed Abdulrab Al-Shaabi

Council

The following is the AHF Council for the term 2021 — 2025.

Designation	Name
President	Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
1st Vice-President	Yoshihide Watanabe
Vice-President	Ahmad Mohammed Abdulrab Al-Shaabi
	Ali Mohamed Isa Eshaqi
	Dr. Sari Hamdan Ghanima
	Ms. Wang Tao
Secretary General	Muhammad Shafiq
Treasurer	Bader Mohammad Al-Theyab
Council Member	Ameen Al-Barwani
	Choi Jung-suck
	Mohammed Julfar
	Sombat Kuruphan
	Alireza Pakdel
Female Council Member	Gulnara Turlykhanova
Chairman of AHF COC	Fadhel Al-Nemer
Chairman of AHF PRC	Saleh bin Ashour
Chairman of AHF CCM	Prof. Dr. Chung Hyung-kyun
Chairman of AHF MC	Dr. Katsuhiko Sakuma
Chairman of AHF CPP	Mitra Noorigollehjareh
Chairman of AHF MKC	Mohammad Jaber Al-Mulla
Chairman of AHF UDC	Ismoiljon Matkhalikov
Chairman of AHF CYSH	Mohammed Al-Araje

Commissions

The following are the AHF Commission members for the term 2017—2021.

Commission	Chairman	Members
AHF Commission of Organizing and Competition (COC)	Fadhel Al-Nemer	COC Members Issa Abdullah Al-Jabri Ahmad Darwich Faisal Baqer Dr. Anandeshwar Panday Noboru Goto Qiao Cheng Ms. Hong Jeong-ho
AHF Playing Rules and Referees Commission (PRC)	Saleh bin Ashour	PRC Members Khalaf Al-Enezi Zuhir Samha Dr. Zain Al-Abedin Bani Hani Wu Ruiting Minoru Nakada Dr. Chatchai Sangsukeelux
AHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM)	Prof. Dr. Chung Hyung Kyun	CCM Members Alireza Habibi Amjad Karwani Dr. Nabeel Taha Al-Shehab Dr. Taiysir Mansi Dhafer Sahib Mohammed
AHF Medical Commission (MC)	Dr. Katsuhiko Sakuma	MC Members Dr. Mohammad Saeid Rajaei Dr. Hussein Al-Haddad
AHF Promotion and Public Relations Commission (CPP)	Mitra Noorigollehjareh	CPP Members Helmi Cheaib Husain Al-Asfoor Othman Al-Qasmi Ameen Al-Muddaeai TBA Matar Al-Zarraa Kareem Abdullah Al-Rammahi
AHF Marketing Commission (MKC)	Mohammad Jaber Al-Mulla	MKC Members Daulet Turlykhanov Tamim Sulaiman Abed Naji Oudah Dr. Nasser Saab Al-Shammari Nasir Al-Hammadi Ms. Vivin Cahyani
AHF Under Development Countries Commission (UDC)	Ismoiljon Matkhalikov	UDC Members Hamza Saleh Hamza Jamal Abuyousef Ms. Nour Obeidat Tej Bahadur Gurung Francis Gihan Dalpethado Ms. Mavjuda Matkhalikova Kim Kwang-su
AHF Commission of Youth and School Handball (CYSH)	Mohammed Al-Araje	CYSH Members Moosa Al-Bulushi Ms. Joanna Franquelli Ms. Samha Salem Al-Ajmi Ms. Abeer Ali Al-Zadjali Mustafa Masyhur Ms. Yang Li
AHF Arbitration Commission (AC)	NA	AC Members Dr. Abdulla Musfir Al-Hayyan Ms. Roya Rahimi
AHF Experts Commission (EC)	NA	EC Members Dr. Khalid Al-Sharji Abdullah Al-Theyab Ali Hassan Al-Aliwat Nasir Herz Allah Ms. Oh Seong-ok Yoon Kyung-shin Ms. Nasrein Abuhashieh Li Zhiwen Nabeel Bin Ashour Ulugbek Ikromov
AHF Women's Commission (WC)	NA	WC Members Mrs. Gulnara Turlykhanova Ms. Nguyễn Thị Như Quỳnh Ms. Valentina Degtyareva Ms. Mona Khalil Kamal Ms. Dalal Mohammad
AHF Beach Handball Working Group (BHWG)	NA	BHWG Members Ismail Salem Mohammad Fadhil Ahmed Baqer Muhammad Imran Dr. Mutasem Ahmad Khatatbeh Ms. Long Peili Ms. Sirintra Poburipanich

Tournaments

AHF

• Asian Men's Handball Championship
• Asian Women's Handball Championship
• Asian Men's Junior Handball Championship
• Asian Women's Junior Handball Championship
• Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship
• Asian Women's Youth Handball Championship
• Asian Games
• Asian Youth Games

Club

• Asian Club League Handball Championship
• Asian Women's Club League Handball Championship

Beach

• Asian Beach Handball Championship
• Asian Youth Beach Handball Championship
• Asian Beach Games

Zones

West Asia

• West Asian Women's Handball Championship
• West Asian Games

South Asia

• South Asian Men's Handball Championship
• South Asian Women's Handball Championship
• South Asian Games

Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asian Games

East Asia

• East Asian Games

Current champions

Category	Men's	Women's
Senior Handball Championship	Qatar (2024) (6)	South Korea (2022) (16*)
Asian Games	Qatar (2018) (2)	South Korea (2018) (7*)
Junior Handball Championship	Japan (2022) (1)	India (2022) (1)
Asian Youth Games	Qatar (2013) (1*)	South Korea (2013) (1*)
Youth Handball Championship	South Korea (2022) (3*)	Iran (2022) (1)
Beach Handball Championship	Qatar (2023) (6)	Vietnam (2023) (2)
Asian Beach Games	Qatar (2016) (3*)	Vietnam (2016) (1)
Youth Beach Handball Championship	Iran (2022) (1*)	Thailand (2022) (1*)
Club Handball Championship	Al-Najma (2028) (5)	Kaysar Club (2019) (2*)

(Titles) (*) Record titles

Disputes

A dispute arises between the International Handball Federation (IHF) and the AHF following a controversial decision to replace referees of opening match of Asian Men's Handball Qualification Tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics between Kuwait and South Korea played on 1 September 2007 in Toyota (Japan). AHF replaced experienced and IHF nominated German referees Lemme and Ulrich with Jordanian referees Al-Shoubaki and Hirzallah, neither of whom stood on the list of IHF-qualified referees having "IHF Status", meaning that they had not completed the Global Referees Training Programme (GRTP), a program established by the IHF for the development of IHF-level referees. The Jordanian referee pair completely destroyed the South Korean team with more than 20 wrong decisions only in first half of the match which favoured the Kuwaiti team. IHF COC Chairman Aleksandr Kozhukhov (Russia) who was appointed by IHF as supervisor for the event and member of AHF Technical Committee Khalaf Al-Enezi (Kuwait) intervened into the matter at half-time of the match and asked the referees to be fair but the South Korean team nevertheless could not get the result in their own favour losing the match by 28–20.

Later, on 17 December 2007, in an IHF Council meeting held in Paris (France), IHF decided not to approve the results of the event conduct by AHF and decided to replay both men's and women's events due to biased referee allegations. AHF objected against this decision and warned all the AHF member federations not to participate in the replay organised by IHF. Only South Korea and Japan participated in the IHF replay and South Korea won both men's and women's matches. On February 5, 2008, AHF imposed a fine of $1000 on both the Japan and South Korea and banned them from participating in any event organised by AHF until the fine is paid.

When the matter becomes that complicated, both AHF and IHF mutually decided to took the case to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for decision. The Kazakhstan Handball Federation and Kuwait Handball Association also want to become a party in the case but CAS refused their appeal. On 20 May 2008, after hearing all the parties, CAS decided to approve the result of IHF men's replay and also approved the AHF organised women's event results.

Members

First level

• Bahrain
• China
• Iran
• Iraq
• Japan
• Kuwait
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea
• United Arab Emirates
• Oman

Second level

• Chinese Taipei
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Lebanon
• North Korea
• Syria
• Thailand

Third level

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan ✝
• Brunei
• Cambodia ✝
• East Timor
• Hong Kong, China
• India
• Indonesia
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos ✝
• Macau China
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Palestine
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Sri Lanka
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Vietnam
• Yemen

• ✝ non-active member

Sponsors

• Al-Kass Sports Channel
• SK Group
• Molten Corporation
• Gerflor

References

1. "AHF History". Asian Handball Federation's Official Website. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
2. "Referee Questions for Handball and Badminton". www.aroundtherings.com. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
3. "Original decision of CAS" (PDF). www.tas-cas.org. Retrieved 10 March 2020.

External links

• Official website (in English and Arabic)

v t e National members of the International Handball Federation (IHF)
African Handball Confederation (CAHB)	ALG ANG BEN BOT BUR BDI CMR CAF CHA CGO COD COM CIV CPV DJI EGY ETH GAB GAM GBS GHA GEQ GUI KEN LBA LBR LES MAR MAD MAW MLI MOZ MRI MTN NAM NGR NIG RSA RWA SEN SEY SLE SOM SSD SUD TAN TOG TUN UGA ZAM ZIM
Asian Handball Federation (AHF)	AFG BAN BHU BRN BRU CAM CHN HKG IND INA IRI IRQ JOR JPN KAZ KGZ KOR KSA KUW LAO LBN MAC MAS MDV MGL MYA NEP OMN PAK PLE PHI PRK QAT SIN SRI SYR THA TJK TKM TPE UAE UZB VIE YEM
European Handball Federation (EHF)	ALB AND ARM AUT AZE BEL BIH BLR BUL CRO CYP CZE DEN ESP EST FRO FIN FRA GBR GEO GER GRE HUN IRL ISL ISR ITA KOS LAT LIE LTU LUX MDA MKD MLT MNE MON NED NOR POL POR ROU RUS SLO SRB SUI SVK SWE TUR UKR
North America and Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC)	Caribbean ANT BAH BAR CAY CUB DMA DOM GLP GRN HAI IVB JAM LCA MTQ PUR SKN TTO Northern America CAN GRL MEX USA
Oceania Continent Handball Federation (OCHF)	ASA AUS COK FJI GUM KIR NRU NZL PNG SAM SOL TGA TUV VAN
South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC)	Central America BIZ CRC ESA GUA HON NCA PAN South America ARG BOL BRA CHI COL ECU GUF GUY PAR PER URU VEN
Associated Members	ENG FSM MHL MNP NCL SCO TAH WLF
ǂ = suspended by the IHF

v t e International handball
IAHF IHF Olympic Games World Championships Men Women National teams Player of the Year Achievements by nation Beach handball World Championships World Games
International	World Championships Men's U-21 Women's U-20 Men's U-19 Women's U-18 University Wheelchair Men's Field Handball Women's Field Handball Youth Olympics Summer Universiade Emerging Nations IHF Inter-Continental Trophy Arab Games Mediterranean Games
Africa	African Championships Men Women Men's Junior Women's Junior Men's Youth Women's Youth African Games
North America and Caribbean	North American and Caribbean Championship Men Women Pan American Games (Junior) Central American and Caribbean Games Central American Games
South & Central America	South & Central American Championships Men Women Men's Junior Women's Junior Men's Youth Women's Youth Pan American Games (Junior) South American Games Bolivarian Games
Asia	Asian Championships Men Women Men's Junior Women's Junior Men's Youth Women's Youth Beach Beach Youth Asian Games
Europe	European Championships Men Women Men's U-20 Women's U-19 Men's U-18 Women's U-17 Beach Men Beach Women Wheelchair Handball Nations' Tournament European Open
Oceania	Oceania Championships Senior Junior Youth Beach Pacific Cup French Pacific Championship
Defunct	Goodwill Games Intercontinental Cup Pan American Championships Men Women Men's Junior Women's Junior Men's Youth Women's Youth Beach Beach Youth

• Asian Handball Federation
• International Handball Federation zones
• Handball governing bodies
• Sports governing bodies in Asia
• Handball in Asia
• Sports organizations established in 1974
• 1974 establishments in Asia