Qatar national handball team
| Qatar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Information | |||
| Association | Qatar Handball Association | ||
| Coach | Valero Rivera López | ||
| Colours | |||
| |||
| Results | |||
| Summer Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2016) | ||
| Best result | 8th (2016) | ||
| World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 5 (First in 2003) | ||
| Best result | 2nd (2015) | ||
| Asian Championship | |||
| Appearances | 13 (First in 1983) | ||
| Best result | 1st (2014, 2016) | ||
| Last updated on Unknown. | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Championship | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2015 Qatar | |
| Asian Championship | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2014 Bahrain | |
| | 2016 Bahrain | |
| | 2002 Iran | |
| | 2012 Saudi Arabia | |
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2004 Qatar | |
| | 2006 Thailand | |
The Qatar national handball team is the national handball team of Qatar and is controlled by the Qatar Handball Association.
Honours
- Winners: 2014, 2016
- Winners: 2014
Results
Summer Olympics
- Brazil 2016 – 8th place
World Championship
- Portugal 2003 – 16th place
- Tunisia 2005 – 21st place
- Germany 2007 – 23rd place
- Spain 2013 – 20th place
- Qatar 2015 – 2nd place
- France 2017 – Qualified
Asian Championship
- 1983: 6th place
- 1987: 6th place
- 1989: 6th place
- 1991: 4th place
- 1993: 7th place
- 2002: 2nd place
- 2004: 3rd place
- 2006: 3rd place
- 2008: 5th place
- 2010: 5th place
- 2012: 2nd place
- 2014: 1st place
- 2016: 1st place
Current squad
The following is the Qatari roster in the men's handball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[1]
Head coach: 
Valero Rivera López
|
Controversy
Player naturalisation
The Qatari national team naturalized a large number of foreign players to their squad for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship.[2]
According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team, a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match.[3][4] This allowed several foreign-born players, including Spanish-born Borja Vidal, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović from Montenegro, and Bertrand Roiné who previously played for France, to play for the Qatar team at the championship.
Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past." He also announced an end to the policy at the time, adding however that they "[might] make an exception only in the case of an experienced goalkeeper."[5] In January 2014, Danish sports agent Mads Winther said he had met with "contacts involved with Qatar" regarding the possibility of naturalising Danish players.
The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper after his team's loss to Qatar in the quarter-final, saying "It [felt] like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship."[6] At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter.[6] Spanish player Joan Cañellas did not think it was an issue, saying "If they can do it, why not."[4]
After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching the final as a result the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams.[7]
Paid fans
Qatar flew in about 60 Spanish fans to cheer for Qatar during the 2015 World Championship.[8]
Refereeing favouritism
The referees were widely accused of being one-sided in favour of Qatar during its biggest success, 2nd place in the 2015 World Championship. Especially at the last-16 encounter against Austria,[9][10][11] the quarterfinal against Germany[9][12][13] and the semifinal against Poland.[14][15][16][17] After the final whistle, the Polish players showed their disgust by sarcastically applauding the three referees.[18]
References
- ↑ "Qatar Men's Handball Team". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- ↑ Qatar stops naturalizing foreign players
- ↑ "Player Eligibility Code" (PDF). ihf.info. International Handball Federation. p. 5. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
They shall not have played in any national team of another country in the three years preceding their first appearance in the national team in an official match.
- 1 2 "Qatar's foreign legion primed for handball date with Germany". dw.de. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ↑ "Al Shaabi says no to further naturalisation". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- 1 2 "Qatar handball team coach faces questions over foreign players". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ↑ http://eurosport.onet.pl/pilka-reczna/mistrzostwa-swiata-pilkarzy-recznych/danijel-saric-to-on-zabral-polakom-final-ms/ygpjd
- ↑ Qatar 'buys' noisy Spanish handball fans
- 1 2 Team, Fans und Schiris gekauft? (German)
- ↑ Handball-WM in Katar: Österreich hält sich für verpfiffen (German)
- ↑ Österreich von Referees und Katar aus WM gekickt (German)
- ↑ Reaktionen auf deutsches WM-Aus: "Man muss aufpassen, was man sagt" (German)
- ↑ WM-Aus der deutschen Handballer: "Im Schiedsrichterwesen gibt es Grauzonen" (German)
- ↑ Sramotno: Pogledajte trenutak kad su srpski suci pretjerali s navlačenjem za Katar (Croatian)
- ↑ Polský smutek. Katar je ve finále MS v házené, pomohli mu rozhodčí (Czech)
- ↑ Polska - Katar - czemu Katar awansował? Kontrowersje wokół drużyny gospodarzy, nie byli faworytami (Polish)
- ↑ Michał Jurecki: Każdy wie, co tutaj się dzieje... (Polish)
- ↑ Polacy nagrodzili postawę sędziów ironicznymi brawami