A report by German public broadcaster ARD revealed that "regardless of Germany’s results during qualifying" for the 2015 World Handball Championship in Qatar (Jan. 17-Feb.1), the Int'l Handball Federation "promised a wildcard to the German team," according to L’EQUIPE. In June, Germany lost its qualifying match against Poland, but Polish handball coach Michael Biegler said he felt "overwhelmed by the situation." Biegler: “I felt very uncomfortable having to tell my players that Germany would advance whereas we had to win. It became increasingly clear that Germany would get a wildcard to go to Qatar.” A month later, the IHF announced the inclusion of Germany in the World Championship. Even "more surprising" is the reasoning IHF gave to justify Germany’s spot. Australia, who "believed that it had validated its place" for the int'l meeting as the winner of the Oceania Championship, was told by the IHF it was "no longer allowed to participate in the World Championships on the grounds that the Oceania Confederation is no longer recognized by the international bodies." Furthermore, the ARD report revealed IHF President Hassan Moustafa "stressed the importance of Germany," which has “approximately one million players” and “is followed everywhere by television” (L’EQUIPE, 11/24).
