Statement: 'hummel' & Egyptian Handball

Following concerted and repeated attempts to engage with the sportswear brand; 'hummel' in private that have been ignored, today, equitysport calls for hummel to urgently address our concerns regarding female representation in Egyptian handball and their ongoing sponsorship agreements that contradict their public commitments to women's rights and equality in sport.

hummel is an official sponsor to Egypt Handball and the main sponsor of IHF who in 2021 will host their flagship event; the World Handball Championships in Egypt.

Egypt has no women’s national first team despite considerable demand for one from its cohort of highly accomplished age-group female handball players and their fellow countrymen and women. For years, this group of determined and talented young women have campaigned for parity with their male counterparts through the establishment of a womens national team.

The Egyptian Handball Federation has refused to engage with them, rejecting their demands out of hand, claiming that female participation in the sport is not in their interests as “women will get married and drop out of the sport.”

The demands made by this cohort of passionate and committed handball players, who have enjoyed significant success on a world stage throughout the age-group system, are reasonable and fair. They deserve constructive engagement from their governing body and their concerns addressed in an appropriate manner.

To be able to represent your country in your sport, among the best in the world, is the greatest honour an athlete can dream of in their career. The opportunity to do so should not be determined by gender.

On the hummel website, the brand proudly states that as part of their commitment to corporate social responsibility, hummel is actively “working on strengthening women’s rights and generally reduce inequality through sport”.

We urge hummel to immediately clarify how their continued support of the Egyptian Handball Federation and the World Handball Championships in Egypt in 2021 through their official partnership with the International Handball Federation furthers this commitment.

We request a response to this statement, and assurances that the hummel will take action to ensure the IHF and the EHF are acting to further the best interests of its athletes, male and female, and in keeping with the public commitments hummel have made in this regard as soon as possible.

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