MADRID, 25 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Royal Spanish Handball Federation (RFEBM), Francisco V.Blázquez, stated on Tuesday that they will support the professionalization of handball as long as it is “good” for this sport, although he warned of the danger of taking steps without being “convinced “that the clubs are prepared.
“If professionalization is good for handball, we will support it, but is handball ready to make the leap? Are clubs with professionalized structures and players and referees with employment contracts ready? Isn’t it better to take small steps, set ourselves obligations and challenges like in the League of Warriors and try to achieve the goal when it arrives?” Blázquez asked himself in the ‘Sports Breakfasts’ of Europa Press sponsored by State Lotteries and Betting, Unicaja, DAZN and Repsol.
The leader, who was introduced by the former captain of the ‘Hispanos’ Raúl Entrerríos and by the captain of the ‘Guerreras’ Silvia Navarro, is clear that the “professionalization issue is very much in the cloud” and that “the numbers speak for yes alone”. “Clubs must believe in professionalizing the player and the field, but not force themselves if they are not sufficiently prepared,” he pointed out.
“We have to try to find a balance, understanding the effort of the clubs and the need of the players to have their rights. We have to take steps to be convinced, not without a course that tomorrow makes us take steps back” added the president.
He warned that those who bet like ASOBAL on professionalization “perhaps they thought they were going to get 20 sponsors”, but that for this to happen there must be “someone who is interested in the product”. “With the Federation there is no difference in whether or not they are professionals, if the aim is that handball will be better, I will be the first to help. This has not been premature, handball has been ‘professional’ for a long time, but for professionalization there is an important step,” he said.
Blázquez described the current relations with ASOBAL as “cordial”. “I always reach out and I will reach out, but you must understand that they are not a separate federation. I try to show that we must go hand in hand, but ASOBAL does not have to establish itself as something independent,” he remarked,
“The Federation is not coming to touch its piece of the cake nor do we need it to have more income. I see the titanic fights in football between the RFEF and LaLiga and I think it is more beautiful to go together. We are approaching the point of understanding with ASOBAL and the dialogue is improving little by little”, sentenced the federation president, for whom the Spanish league is “attractive” despite the total dominance of FC Barcelona, which he considers “a benchmark worldwide”.
“IT HAS BEEN TEN YEARS OF HARD WORK”
Francisco Blázquez has just turned ten years in charge of his organization. “You see ten years go by and what you have left behind, the people who have fallen by the wayside and a pandemic that made us all think about where we were, where to go and what we wanted. That the presidents of the EHF and IHF recognize your work motivates you, it’s been ten years of hard work,” he said.
“It was not easy at first, they told me that everything was limited and that I could not take a step forward, but against a challenge I got down to work. I found a very broken federation that had not been touched in 30 years, with a Viability Plan, with a debt of 1.7 million and a budget of three, and the image, despite being the current world champions at the time, was not the best for strengthening handball. to turn the image around and be modern, and whoever wanted to enter was to be part of the handball family,” he explained.
Blázquez recalled that it is “the presidents” who are “selling” their sport and that he wants “companies and institutions to get involved.” “That beyond the investment they are part of a project and are proud of the growth,” explained the leader, who assured that they have been “working for a long time to create a show and to give a real and futuristic image of what the sport itself is.” “.
The leader does not forget that “the pandemic hurt the clubs” and he thanked them for the help received and referred to the issue of equality. “I try for the product to be joint and for it to be that of handball, but there is still a lot to do in women’s sports so that they have better conditions or equality at least,” he reflected, equally happy with the success of beach handball and Arena Handball. Tour with which he manages to “attract the youthful mass and give continuity to handball.”
Finally, he confirmed that he will stand for re-election, especially “for the projects that remain to be defined.” “We managed to do a great women’s event and now we want to do a men’s event, the 2028 European Championship, with that final at the Bernabéu. That will be the moment when another force comes for change,” concluded Blázquez.