“Very amateurish”
Handball legend Kretzschmar criticizes the association harshly
May 7, 2024, 5:00 p.m
In terms of sport, things are going well at the German Handball Association: Both national teams have achieved the extremely important qualification for the Olympics, and the men’s U21 are world champions. They recently held an enormously successful World Cup. And yet there is unrest. Former national player Stefan Kretzschmar is stunned.
Stefan Kretzschmar has sharply criticized the German Handball Federation (DHB) and its decisions on filling leading sporting positions. “It seems very amateurish to me,” said the former national player in the talk format “Kretzsche & Schmiso” on the Dyn streaming service: “I don’t know who is thinking.”
“What is the DHB anyway? Who is the DHB? Who are the decision-makers there? And with what qualifications, with what know-how?” asked the sports director of the Bundesliga club Füchse Berlin? At the DHB, decisions are made by the large executive board chaired by President Andreas Michelmann. Kretzschmar’s criticism was initially directed at the termination of the collaboration with CFO Benjamin Chatton. He had declared that he wanted to leave the DHB at the end of the year. Chatton was an “absolutely strong personality” and his departure was therefore “a loss” for the DHB, explained Kretzschmar.
The profile of the search for a new DHB manager is also “a complete disaster”. First and foremost, he has to get along well with national coach Alfred Gislason. According to Kretzschmar, Gislason is not involved at all. “I spoke to Alfred on the phone a few weeks ago and he didn’t know anything about it. This is all bad. This is bad form,” said the 51-year-old.
Kretzschmar is also critical of the decision not to extend the contract with Axel Kromer, which expires at the same time. “I know why the contract is not being extended, but if I give the reason, that again speaks of the weakness of the DHB,” he said. The DHB had not yet given any background information. Kromer himself said on Sunday that he was “completely surprised by the non-extension of my contract” and further explained that he was “pretty disappointed, but in the short term this decision only affects me personally.”