Spanish handball has "written what it hopes will be the first chapter of the story of its salvation," according to Pablo Ibáñez of EL MUNDO. Meeting at the headquarters of the Spanish Superior Sports Council (CSD), CSD President Miguel Cardenal, Spanish Handball Federation President Francisco Blázquez and members of the handball players union "stamped their signatures on a protocol that will look to guarantee economic transparency in the management of handball clubs." The "alarm sounded" on July 9 when the "disappearance of the Atlético Madrid handball club was confirmed." At a meeting on Wednesday, handball leaders agreed on a series of measures designed to guarantee the competition's viability. Blázquez said, "Today is a historic day. We have passed through very complicated situations and thanks to the intervention of the CSD we have established a protocol to try to oversee in the best way and control a little bit more of the faults that are being produced by the clubs." The agreement will put the CSD in charge of auditing clubs. The "peer committee" between the CSD and the Spanish handball league (ASOBAL) will require "clubs to pass a quarterly test with information that will allow for a budgetary execution evaluation" (EL PAIS, 7/24).
COMMEMORATIVE STAMP: During the meeting, the Spanish postal service (Correos) also presented a stamp commemorating the Spanish men's national team's 2013 World Championship. Correos President Javier Cuesta presented the stamp with Cardenal, Blázquez and Spanish Public Works Undersecretary Mario Garcés Sanagustín all in attendance. Correos' series of sports stamps started in '60 and recognizes accomplishments in Spanish sports. The commemorative stamp's postal value is €1 ($1.30) and there are 260,000 now in circulation (Correos).
