Doctor Mansourou AREMOU : "The African teams are on the right track"

Through Egypt, Africa hosted the senior men's handball world 2021. A competition in which Africa was represented in quality and quantity. At the end of this great world mass, the president of the African Handball Confederation, Doctor Mansourou AREMOU through this interview he gave us gives us his assessments.

M. The President, what is your assessment of the African participation ?

As part of the expansion of the World Championship, Africa was entitled to 7 places for this 27th edition and this quota was completely covered by five nations accustomed to this meeting, namely Algeria, Angola, Egypt, the Morocco, Tunisia and two new countries, Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic.

It is therefore a great honor to have so many teams in the World Championship, CAHB is very happy about it. We are really happy with what the teams achieved in Cairo and I think their ranking does not really show or express the quality of the teams during the championship but we all have to agree that sport is the reality of results who awards the points.

That said, the African teams have shown a lot of desire They have generated more confidence and our wish is that they continue, that they improve and that when they are more experienced, we can probably expect more success from them too.

Nevertheless, the World Championship will not have brought the expected satisfaction in terms of results.

Non ! But all these results are not as important as those that will follow in the future., I mean that given the behavior of the teams, talent and youth of the players these results are the sketch of what can happen tomorrow. The world championship is also an opportunity to reveal nations that were not known.

The 27th edition showed that Africa is progressing and you will agree with me that after each major handball event, it's an evolution that begins, a future that is taking shape little by little and each page is different from the previous one.

How did you experience the elimination of Egypt in the quarter ?

 Egypt lost their match against Denmark arms in hand if I can put it that way. Resist fiercely until fate decides the outcome of the penalty shootout, is a remarkable feat as Denmark is the best nation to date on the handball planet. We must continue in this direction, with great confidence and humility, but the potential is there to perform.

How did you find the organization ?

It is an honor that the African continent hosts this world championship. To be the scene of this great event, it is truly an honor. Moreover, this is the first IHF men's world championship to be organized with 32 teams. Germany/Denmark 2019, the last men's IHF world championship, only had 24 teams with two organizers, and this time, this is 32 teams with one organizer, so we can only be proud of them because they did a great job of organizing this event and they can also be proud of them because it is a huge accomplishment to have 32 teams in one country.

Denmark become world champions, you deserve it?

Absolutely Denmark remains on top of the world !!! With this coronation the Danes confirm their domination of international handball thanks to this second consecutive title.

What should be noted is that there is no chance, there was hard work and bravery. Denmark have brought together all the performance and playing technique sufficient to reach this level. This cup is in my opinion deserved and I go through your microphone to reiterate my sincere congratulations.

Your assessment of the overall level of play in the world 2021

The level of performance was high, very consistent for some teams like Denmark (defending champion), Portugal, Spain, Sweden Serbia Egypt and so on… A real show of force, of experience, technique and above all team spirit.

Your final word

 African teams are on the right track. Modern Handball becomes more restrictive and very offensive. I believe that somewhere, we must ensure that the coaches raise their level and that they can meet the expectations of modern Handball. Each side must learn from what we experienced in Egypt for the other championships to come.

Production : Damien TOLOMISSI