Handball keeper regrets his "clueless" outburst
Till Klimpke is having a hard time coping with his non-nomination for the European Handball Championship in his own country. He sees "many clueless people" at work at the German Handball Federation. He now regrets his outburst - and grovels.
Goalkeeper Till Klimpke has apologized with emotional words for his all-round attack on the decision-makers at the German Handball Federation (DHB). The day after his harsh criticism, Klimpke released a statement from his club HSG Wetzlar in which he apologized "to those responsible at the German Handball Federation and national coach Alfred Gíslason for my statement yesterday". "I only really realized the impact of my statements this morning," he is quoted as saying.
After the 30:36 defeat against leaders Füchse Berlin, the keeper had reacted irritably in the DYN interview to the question of his non-nomination for the 35-man squad for the home European Championships in January. He said that there were "many clueless people" at work at the DHB and added: "I have to be careful what I say now." He described the nomination decisions as "politically led".
"It's not me!"
With a day's distance, he said: "That's not me! Everyone knows me, I'm an emotionally performance-oriented professional handball player. Not being nominated for the DHB's extended squad for the European Championships was very hard for me." He also recently had to cope with the loss of his grandmother, explained Klimpke: "But none of that should be an excuse for me to say something like that."
He also made an appeal to Gíslason: "I hope that in the future, if my performances are sustainable, I will get the same fair chance as everyone else to realize my dream of playing for Germany again." He emphasized: "Maybe as a person you can understand that when you're extremely disappointed after a defeat and you're asked about something that's really close to your heart, namely playing for Germany and perhaps at a European Championship in your own country, you say something that you don't really mean. So all I can say today is that I'm incredibly sorry and hurt!"
Klimpke was absent from Gislason's squad announcement for the home tournament (January 10-28); instead, Joel Birlehm (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Silvio Heinevetter (TVB Stuttgart), Daniel Rebmann (VfL Gummersbach), David Späth (Rhein-Neckar Löwen) and Andreas Wolff (Industria Kielce) have been called up as goalkeepers for the time being.
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Till Klimpke's apology extended to the national handball team as well, expressing his regret for criticizing the decision-makers of the DHB. He mentioned that he regretted his words towards the German Handball Federation and its national coach, Alfred Gíslason, specifically in relation to his non-selection for the European Handball Championship squad.
In his club statement, Klimpke acknowledged the impact of his negative statements about the 'DHB' and its handball-em (team selection) processes, stating that he should have been more cautious in his words.
Source: www.ntv.de
