Official statement on the release of the Member Refereeing

The decision was taken by the EHF Executive Committee at a meeting on Thursday. It was made after information had been received by the EHF from Danish broadcaster TV2 on 23 May.

According to TV2, the information sent to the EHF was obtained by setting up a meeting in January 2020 with Dragan Nachevski and an alleged businessman, pretending an intention to install a Chinese handball team in the SEHA League. As part of the meeting, which according to TV2 was recorded with video and audio, the topic of match fixing was touched.

The EHF was informed by TV2 that Dragan Nachevski in this meeting more than once declined an offer to cooperate in match fixing, however, according to quotes provided, he did not distance himself completely from the matter and therefore sent wrong signals in the technical function he represented.

The EHF underlines that the Member Refereeing of the Competitions Commission is not responsible for the nomination of referees for matches organised under the umbrella of the EHF.

Furthermore, it was mentioned that an anonymous source, allegedly a former international referee, stated to TV2 that Dragan Nachevski had asked him via a second person to manipulate a match. No date or additional information was provided for this alleged incidence.

In a statement to the EHF, Dragan Nachevski has written that he has never been involved in any sort of match fixing.

For the EHF, even though the quality of the information provided by TV2 could not be fully checked until now, measures to safeguard the handball environment became essential under the given circumstances.

In order to protect the integrity of the sport and the institution as well as in the interest of the entire competition system, the EHF Executive Committee took the decision to release Dragan Nachevski until further notice from his duties relating to his function within the Competitions Commission and the Technical Refereeing Committee.

With reference to the Anti-Corruption and Fair Competition Act which forms an integral part of the EHF’s legal regulations, the available information was presented to the Initiator of Proceedings in order to take care of the necessary steps on the level of legal proceedings. The topic will therefore be further dealt with within the independent legal system.

The information, in the same way as on previous occasions, was also forwarded to respective department of the Austrian federal police.

The European Federation confirms its zero-tolerance approach when it comes to any kind of match fixing or undue influence on the match result. Match fixing is not acceptable in any sport, and on the level of the EHF competitions it is a substantial violation of core values of the European Handball Federation, its statutes and regulations.

In case there is additional information available, the EHF asks for any such information to be forwarded so that all necessary measures can be initiated with immediate effect.

The EHF can be contacted directly and reports granting full anonymity can any time be made via the EHF’s whistleblowing platform at https://www.eurohandball.com/en/services/ehf-whistleblowing-platform/

Further information will follow during the process and according to the respective regulations.

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