Olympic Handball Qualifiers Racked by Controversy

It seems that international handball has been racked by controversy lately. The Associated Press reported that the women South Korean team defeated their Japanese counterparts 34-21, in a replay of their original qualifying match. The news report cited the replay as a symptom of an issue plaguing the handball world:

They [South Korea and Japan] were the only two nations replaying Asian qualifiers initially held in September last year, when referees from Jordan and Iran were brought in at the last minute by the Asian Handball Federation to replace German referees.

Their disputed calls helped Kuwait win the men’s tournament and Kazakhstan the women’s, qualifying them for August’s Olympics in Beijing.

Hopefully this controversy can be settled before the actual Olympic tournament begins, so that there will be no questions left about the validity of the final podium placings.