Handball maintains its image as a clean sport

For another season the European handball can boast a clean doping sheet. So far in 2015 tests have been carried out in both club and national team competitions in 24 different venues, 12 countries and 16 different competitions. All tests have been returned negative.

The EHF places great importance on maintaining handball as a clean sport and sees doping as fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport.

“Handball – and we can be proud of it – is really a clean sport. We had only a few positive cases during the last 10 years. And these cases were mainly based on the use of contaminated nutrition supplements,” commented Hans Holdhaus, the Head of the EHF Anti-Doping Unit.

“Handball is a very complex sport, which means that there is no specific substance which would increase the performance level without a negative side effect on another important performance determining factor,” head of the unit explained.

Another possibility for a positive result would be the use of a medicine which is on the forbidden list.

“Players should be aware of this risk and should ask a doctor or someone from an anti-doping-organisation before taking it,” Holdhaus reminded.

The anti-doping unit also focuses on the education of the young generation.

“It is very important to educate players of the younger age categories on anti-doping issues. Right at the moment the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is running a conference on anti-doping education in Ottawa, where I am taking part.

“We will use the opportunity to discuss with European anti-doping organisations how we can harmonise the education process in the European countries and how we – as an umbrella organisation for handball in Europe – can assist them in their work. Nevertheless we will use the opportunity to inform young players during European Younger Age Events on anti-doping too,” Holdhaus concluded.

The independent EHF Anti-Doping Unit was founded in July 2012 to strengthen the ability of the federation, on a European level, not only to control and monitor but also to educate athletes and raise awareness of anti-doping issues.