Hungarian journalist József Simon passes away

It is the sad and difficult duty of the EHF to report the death of the Nemzeti Sport journalist, József Simon.

He died in a car accident in Budapest on Friday, 26 July. He was 64.

József was a well-known and highly respected handball journalist, who covered the sport for many decades for the leading Hungarian sports newspaper.

He also played an active role in supporting the work of his colleagues in the handball media, serving since 1993 as a member of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Handball Commission.

József followed Hungarian club and national team handball at many major EHF and IHF events over the years.

He was an old-school journalist, whose charm and ability to switch between Hungarian, German, English, Croatian, Serbian and Spanish made him a firm favourite with top players and coaches as well as a much-loved friend and colleague in the media centre.

Commenting on his death, the EHF President, Michael Wiederer, said: “I knew József for as many years as I have been involved in international handball and in contact with handball in Hungary.

"His contribution off the court as a journalist was equally as important to the success of our sport as the on-court performance of the players and teams he wrote about. The handball family will remember him."

The EHF joins the international handball media in expressing its deepest sympathies and condolences to József Simon’s wife, daugther and grandson, family and friends as well as his colleagues at Nemzeti Sport at this difficult time.