Handball family pays last respect to Tor Lian

The funeral of former EHF President Tor Lian took place in Oslo on Tuesday with EHF President Jean Brihault, Vice President Arne Elovsson and Secretary General Michael Wiederer in attendance.

They were among the several hundred guests who attended the solemn ceremony at the Uranienborg church in the Norwegian capital. Also present was Hassan Moustafa, the president of the International Handball Federation.

Lian, who was the president of the European Handball Federation from 2004 to 2012, had passed away on 14 July after long illness at the age of 71.

"It was my privilege to be his vice president in the European Handball Federation and as such to sit by his side on the Council of the International Federation and there was never one moment when he departed from the ethical principles which were so important to him," said Jean Brihault, who succeeded Lian as the EHF President in 2012, in his speech.

"His approach to ethics was not a theoretical one: he was not a man for pompous declarations. His approach was a practical one. One where every step taken was measured against values that never needed to be expressed since they were fully integrated in his way of thinking and his way of acting.

"We, in the European Handball Federation, have received so many messages from national federations, clubs and individual persons that it is impossible to list them. They just signal Tor’s impact on all those who were lucky enough to know him."

A handball player in his early years and then a coach, Tor Lian went on to become president of the Norwegian Handball Federation from 1985 to 1996. He was also vice president of the Norwegian Olympic Committee from 1990 to 1996 and vice president of the organising committee of the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer.

Lian became the EHF Vice President in 2000 and president of the federation in 2004. He announced his decision not to candidate for a further period of office in January 2012 during the EHF EURO in Serbia.

Remembering Tor Lian (1945 - 2016): Obituary as it was handed out at the funeral