“Let's take the example of Hungarian handball!”

GSP.ro talked to Daniel Kotecz and found out the ideas with which he thinks he can contribute to the recovery of Romanian handball.

Daniel Kotecz: “I know the realities of Romanian handball at all levels!”

– Hello, Mr. Kotecz! Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Directors?

– I was convinced to run by the representatives of some sports structures – clubs from the National League, junior clubs and some AJH presidents, who consider my experience, knowledge and expertise beneficial. And the presence of an impartial and apolitical member in the CA, who is not regimented in any club or in any political party, would be necessary to make correct, unbiased decisions and in accordance with the wishes of the majority of sports clubs.

– How can you change from CA some problems in Romanian handball?

– The Board of Directors adopts all the regulations and approves or rejects the requests of the Steering Committee. Therefore, it is important that the members of the CA are competent, know in depth the FRH statute and regulations, prevent and sanction any slippage or abuses. If I am to be part of the future CA I will try to keep my objectivity, I will not be part of any “voting machine” and I think I can contribute with proposals, recommendations and solutions to solve some of the problems of Romanian handball.

I know the reality of this sport, both at the highest level – because I participated with the teams from Baia Mare in the Champions League, but also at the youth handball level – because I was involved in the administration of some junior teams, from mini-handball to youth groups. By the way, in 2010 we organized in Baia Mare the inaugural edition of the national mini-handball championship (junior V), which later turned into a national festival.

“Board members must not be employees of FRH!”

– If you were to decide, what would be two measures that you would immediately impose in Romanian handball?

– Even if it seems like a populist theme, I think that the amendment of the statute is essential and must be done as soon as possible. Including through the lens of the organization of the General Election Assemblies. One of my proposals would be that the people who represent a sports structure with the right to vote must be part of the governing body or have a contract with the club, in the case of coaches, registered with the FRH at least one year before the date of the elections.

This would avoid that, for example, the Minaur Baia Mare club would be represented by a delegation of a shooting driver from Fetești. Another proposal would be to introduce an eligibility condition for all CA members, including the vice-president, namely not to be an employee of the FRH during the mandate, or not to be in contractual relations with the FRH, in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

I would have a few more proposals: the establishment of Division B – the third echelon of values, the implementation of the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system at all matches in the National League and at the Final 4 tournaments of the Romanian Cup / Supercupclassification of clubs and academies for children and juniors, rewarding coaches who constantly promote juniors for national teams, legal and effective protection measures for Romanian players in national competitions.

“The status of handball entrepreneurs must be regulated urgently!”

– What bothers you the most in Romanian handball?

– There are several aspects that should be corrected, corrected or modified. But I would like to refer to a topic that has not been addressed at all, with an increased impact in recent years in Romanian handball. I think it would be time to regulate the activity of handball players' agents / agents. At the moment it is a real outlaw in this area.

Anyone can be an impresario, regardless of whether they are an active player, coach, manager, even a referee or FRH employee. Why? Because it is not prohibited by any regulation, there is no licensing system for impresarios by FRH, automatically there are no rights, obligations, possible sanctions. I think that the task of the future CA should also be the regulation of this activity because more than 80% of the players in the National League are represented by impresarios, but also a lot of juniors.

– Is there corruption in Romanian handball?

– Unfortunately, I think there are deviations from morality and preferential favors, the reality in handball being reflected in many situations according to a well-known Romanian proverb “Whoever divides, parte si fae!”.

“Hungarian handball can be an example for Romanian handball”

– Do you think there is a successful model in world handball that should be implemented in Romania?

– There has been a lot of discussion on this topic lately due to the fact that we have moved far away from the elite of world handball at the level of national teams. The Spanish, French or Scandinavian models were considered. I would look more carefully in the yard of our neighbors in Hungary.

For many reasons, which are similar to us: geographical space, mentality, tradition, massive public investments. There are also many differences, which today are clearly in favor of the Hungarians. In Romania there are now 68 teams active in two senior leagues (National League and Division A, male and female), in Hungary there are 177 teams participating in the first three value levels, but there are still about 200 teams in the county championships!

In the neighboring country there are 40,000 licensed handball players, almost four times more than here. Athe organization is clearly superior, with world-class infrastructure, professional club teams, children's and junior academies producing players for the national teams – who have won medals at the last World and European Junior and Youth Championships.

The Hungarian national academy, NEKA, was founded by Mocsai Lajos and has in its technical staff coaches with important successes, including Champions League winners: Danyi Gábor, Kiss Szilárd, Sótonyi László, Bakó Botond. Therefore, the “cream” of trainers work at NEKA. Here, in the Centers of Excellence, unfortunately, coaches who do not have a contract with any team are usually co-opted.

• The elections for the 15 seats in the FRH Board of Directors will take place on Friday, April 24, when the new president will also be elected. Constantin Din, Sorin Dinu, Bogdan Voina and Cristian Potora are running for the position of president. The representatives of the 242 sports structures with the right to vote will vote in the elections.