FILE PHOTO: IHF Handball World Championship – Germany & Denmark 2019 – Final – Norway v Denmark – Jyske bank Boxen, Herning, Denmark – January 27, 2019 Norway’s Magnus Gullerud and Norway’s Kristian Bjornsen in action with Denmark’s Mikkel Hansen and Mads Mensah Larsen REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
(Reuters) – Handball’s global governing body has turned down an offer of financial aid from the International Olympic Committee and asked it to provide funds to sports federations more in need following the coronavirus pandemic, the Inside the Games here website reported.
The pandemic has brought global sport to a standstill, with the Tokyo Olympic Games, originally scheduled for this summer, pushed back to July-August 2021.
The postponement has left international federations who were to receive multi-million dollar payments from the IOC after the Olympics counting their losses.
But the International Handball Federation said it was financially able to withstand the impact of the pandemic.
The IHF made a profit of 6.8 million Swiss francs ($7 million) in 2018, taking the value of its assets to over 131 million Swiss francs, it said regarding its latest figures.
“We answered the IOC inviting them to dedicate the mentioned financial assistance to the international federations which are deeply affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games.”
Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson