Three candidates and a choppy campaign to take the handball Federation

Philippe Bana wants to switch from DTN to president of the Handball Federation.

-

• The French Handball Federation will elect a new president this weekend.

• The campaign was clashed between the three candidates.

Democracy cannot be learned in five minutes when one is used to reigns without sharing, so we must congratulate the French handball federation for trying it out anyway.

For the first time in forever, finally since 2004, year of the only exception, the election of the President of the Federation is not decided in a small committee, after everyone has tuned their violins, according to the will of the two or three guys that matter to the board.

Not that this desire for transparency has manifested itself as an uncontrollable eruption.

Joël Desplanques, who did not wish to run for a third term, intended to pass the baton to Jacky Buttenfeld for a succession in continuity, as they say.

But the latter had to decline for medical reasons, and his withdrawal revealed vocations.

Not just any, by the way, and it is as much the personality of the candidates as the unprecedented crisis situation that the hand federation is going through that make this ballot exciting.

# FFHB2020 #Elections

This is the heart of the debate if some elected officials from leagues and committees are still wondering who to vote for tomorrow!

#SportIndex @npaconseil pic.twitter.com/yPYki5qTGG

- Handball-lefilm (@handballlefilm) November 27, 2020

The management of the Blues at the heart of the differences

We are obviously talking about the carambouille that followed this Euro 2020 missed in great width by the showcase of the Fédé, namely the French men's team.

A trainer with the XXL record of the time of Experts, Didier Dinart, fired like a mess after a debriefing that looked like a court martial.

On the front line at the time?

DTN Philippe Bana, now a candidate, who concentrates the blows of his two adversaries, Jean-Pierre Feuillan, the current vice president in charge of marketing, and Olivier Girault, captain of the Olympic champions in Beijing, in 2008. The first him criticizes "its clan functioning in its manner of manager, based on the approximation and on the lie".

He also partly blames Bana for the confusion of the management of the Dinart case.

“The crisis of the France team was managed by three men, the president, the vice-president and the DTN.

I have never been consulted on this ”.

If the Feuillan team promises to let Guillaume Gilles prove himself, despite the presence on his list of Montpellier coach Philippe Canayer, who has never hidden his desire to one day take the Blues, that of Olivier Girault intends set foot in the dish even before the world championships in January (if they are held), and especially the TQO of Montpellier, which will decide the Olympic fate of the Blues, still finalists since 2008. Some even suspect Girault of having remote-controlled the famous affair of the dedication of Claude Onesta to Didier Dinart in order to embarrass the Federation a little more.

The two are close, but Dinart has never publicly supported him.

"It is the skill which must guide any structure whatever it is," suggests Arnaud Gandais, former trainer of Issy Paris Hand and close to Girault.

This somewhat old-fashioned patronage aspect, with very closed decision-making, has had its day ”.

Failed merger between Feuillan and Girault

The former radio consultant has walked into the arena like a dog in a bowling game, but no one underestimates his ability to rally, two years after his takeover of the National Handball League at the hussar.

“Olivier has for him to be a real captain, someone who makes you climb the curtain and who knows how to highlight each individual, continues Gandais.

But it is often the captains who make the teams win ”.

The Feuillan team has also attempted a public rapprochement, to the tune of "Come learn the trade with us, and we'll leave you the place the next time", but the former Expert saw the opening , and the trial of inexperience even reinforced him in his conviction.

Girault was not however the most aggressive during the debate which opposed the three men at the house of handball on Friday, November 20, one week before the poll.

If he released the best punchline of the evening on the weakness of the TV rights of the discipline ("Dom Pérignon in a plastic bottle"), he tried, classic posture, to send his two opponents back to back, since they have a past at the Fédé, or a liability, it depends.

It is Jean-Marc Feuillan, who recently explained to us "to be practically certain of winning the elections", who was responsible for "lighting" Bana, most of the time.

Too far from the base, more interested in what shines than in small clubs, arsonist in the management of the Dinart file, the all-powerful DTN of French handball, who left his post to be able to present himself, was probably thinking of living a campaign quieter, if not triumphant.

Bana attacked on all fronts

For 20 years he has been the media face of the success of national teams, on the sidelines of the coaches, but also the preferred interlocutor of the ministries, and the French voice which carries to the international federation.

No doubt Bana must have estimated that this would be enough to win the support of the League and Committee presidents, invited to vote by electronic vote.

This may be the case, moreover, as the predictions are so impossible to establish in this type of triangular, but the criticisms of a league competition against him surprised some of his supporters, including Jérôme Fernandez.

“What transpires is an elaborate tactic against Philippe Bana, while each candidate defends very laudable ideas which can represent good solutions.

It's easy to blame Philippe for things as a DTN, but he could also blame Jean-Pierre Feuillan's marketing record, or Olivier Girault's record at the NHL ”.

Olivier Girault (foreground) with Jackson Richardson.

- Coudert / Sportsvision / SIPA

The latter is accused, in substance, of not having succeeded in promoting the French championship as he had promised when he arrived at the head of the League, while Jean-Pierre Feuillan can be reproached for not having Fairly developed the revenues of the Federation when the gold medals returned by truck.

Basically, however, the three men are more or less in line with everything.

The return to the roots of amateur handball, "these abandoned clubs for the benefit of the French team showcase", a financial support plan to help the recovery, the search for a lasting solution to the profitability of the brand new home of handball , which causes the Fed to lose 1 million euros per year, and the modernization of governance principles which sometimes smell of mothballs.

An uncertain outcome

Will the winner be able to allay the little resentments that have accumulated in recent months?

If each candidate promises more or less "that he will not deprive French handball of competent men or women who want to serve them (Jean-Marc Feuillan), Jérôme Fernandez fears that this campaign will leave traces:" elections and the episode of the dedication between Claude and Didier, the image conveyed by French handball bothers me a little.

It's been a long time since I had felt so much animosity between handball players.

Perhaps it is the fact that the French teams were successful which camouflaged the moods of each other, but I hope that everyone will know how to make sense of things and come together after the results ”.

Answer Saturday at the beginning of the afternoon.

Sport

Confinement: "The closed door is not sustainable" ... Professional sports (excluding football) condemned to end their season?

Sport

Didier Dinart evokes "dubious", "inexcusable" and "indefensible" remarks by Claude Onesta

• Sport

• Handball

• French team

• Nikola karabatic

• The experts

• Jerome fernandez