Kosovo federation fined; Vladimir Vranjes' suspension upheld

The judicial bodies of European Handball Federation, namely the Court of Handball and the second instance Court of Appeal, have released two decisions, regarding two separate cases, on Monday.

Handball Federation of Kosovo fined

The Court of Handball has released a decision in a case against the Handball Federation of Kosovo following the failure to produce a match signal meeting the applicable quality standards within the organisation of the Women’s EHF EURO 2018 qualifier Kosovo vs Netherlands.
 
In accordance with (i) Article D.1 e) of the List of Penalties and (ii) the specificities of the case, the Court of Handball decided to impose a fine of €4,000, half of which being deferred for a probationary period of two years as of the date of the present decision.
 
An appeal may be filed within 7 days.
 
Vladimir Vranjes decision confirmed
 
The Court of Appeal has confirmed the decision of the Court of Handball dated 23 February 2018 to suspend Vladimir Vranjes from EHF national team competitions for two matches and to impose a fine of €500 on him.
 
Following the appeal filed by the national federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Court of Appeal has found in substance that the factual assessment made by the body of first instance was accurate. The player turned his body towards the opponent, shortly paused and eventually swung his arm into the opponent’s stomach. Such a motion is (i) absolutely unrelated to either the course of the action or any normal and expectable defensive action, and (ii) intentionally and consciously committed.
 
Finally, when assessing the type and extent of a sanction to be imposed, the Court of Handball took into account the applicable regulations (i.e. Article B.2 of the List of Penalties), the nature of the behaviour, i.e. intentional, malicious and unrelated to a normal defensive action as well as the previous disciplinary record of the player, according to which he was already sanctioned for similar behaviours in the past.
 
Hence, the Court of Appeal finds the first instance decision proportionate and adequate.
 
A recourse to ECA may be filed within 21 days.