Handball refs turned down bribe

Two Danish handball officials were offered bribes during the World Cup qualification matches in June 2008 by Romania, according to documents from the European Handball Federation (EHF).

Martin Gjeding and Mads Hansen - considered two of handball’s best referees - were each allegedly offered €30,000 to ensure that Romania won its tournament match against Montenegro. The two Danes refused the bribe and reported the matter to EHF.

European handball has been reeling from accusations of malpractice since German club Kiel was charged with bribing officials two weeks ago. And just last week, two German referees were stopped by customs after trying to re-enter the country with $50,000 after refereeing a tournament in Russia.

But the Danish Handball Union’s administration knew nothing of the matter until Jyllands-Posten newspaper reporters informed them of the matter - despite the fact that the union’s referee committee was informed of the bribe by Hansen and Gjeding after it occurred.

‘I didn’t consider the case to be serious,’ said Ole F. Petersen, the committee’s chairman. ‘There was no reason to pursue the matter any further when Mads and Martin didn’t accept the bribe.’

But the union’s administration feels differently.

‘If we had known about the bribe we would have taken immediate action,’ said Morten Stig Christensen, the union’s managing director. ‘I’ve previously made it clear to the committee that these types of cases must be sent on to us.’

He said he did not understand why EHF had not done anything with regards to the case.

‘This information stresses that it’s high time we perform a radical cultural change within the handball world.’

http://www.cphpost.dk/sport/120-sport/45086-handball-refs-turned-down-bribe.html