Hans Moser (in Romania known sometimes as Ioan Moser; born 24 January 1937 in
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
, Romania) is a former Romanian-born German
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
player and coach. He won two world championships as a player for the Romanian national team.
During his active player career, Moser, who is 1.92m tall, played as a center fielder.
In 2000, the official bulletin of the
International Handball Federation
The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...
, ''World Handball Magazine'', chose Moser as a member of the "Team of the Century", together with teammates
Cornel Penu
Cornel Penu (born 16 June 1946) is a retired Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the ...
and
Gheorghe Gruia
Gheorghe Gruia Marinescu (October 2, 1940 – December 9, 2015) was a Romanian handball player, coach and sports official. Born in Bucharest, Gruia won the gold medal in the 1964 World Handball Championship and the 1970 World Championship. In t ...
.
Before beginning to play handball competitionally, he used to play
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
(in the latter, he was even called up for the Romanian national team's training camp).
Moser studied at a vocational high school between 1952 and 1956. In Timișoara he played for Constructorul and Știința Timișoara (winning the field handball national championship in 1956).
After studying
agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...
for three years in his hometown, he studied
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
at the Sports Institute in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
(1960–1965). In Bucharest he played for
Dinamo Bucharest A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator.
Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to:
Places
* Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia
* Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...
.
He participated in four Men's World Championships:
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
,
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
,
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
.
In 1961, in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, he became world champion with the Romania's national team. In 1964, in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, besides becoming again world champion with the Romanian team, he was one of the three leading top scorers of the tournament. In the same year he was named "Best Handball Player in the World".
In 1964–1965, he won the
EHF Champions League
The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...
with Dinamo Bucharest.
In 1970, during the World Championship held in France, the French National Postal Service issued a stamp featuring Moser.
He played 224 games for the national team of Romania. He won eleven national championships (including three in
field handball
Field handball (also known as outdoor handball or grass handball) was a form of what is now handball and was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
The sport is played on a grass field (similar to an association football field) between lo ...
) with Dinamo Bucharest.
In 1968 he was allowed by the Romanian authorities to go to West Germany for six months as a playing coach for TV Milbertshofen. After the contract expired, he decided to
defect
A defect is a physical, functional, or aesthetic attribute of a product or service that exhibits that the product or service failed to meet one of the desired specifications. Defect, defects or defected may also refer to:
Examples
* Angular defec ...
. His wife and son, Richard, were visiting him at the time, so they decided to defect, too.
After he retired as an active player, he managed teams in Germany and Switzerland.
In 1996 he set up a series of businesses in Romania.
In 2004 he was investigated for
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
, use of forgery, and
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
. In 2008 he was sentenced by a court of law in
Sighetu Marmației
Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; german: Marmaroschsiget or ''Siget''; hu, Máramarossziget, ; uk, Сигіт, Syhit; yi, סיגעט, Siget), until 1960 Sighet, is a city (Municipalities of Romania, municipality) in ...
to one year and six months imprisonment, suspended for three and a half years.
He has been married four times, his last wife being Cuban.
He has at least three children.
Awards and distinctions
*1961 ''Honored Master of Sports'' ("Maestru emerit al sportului")
* 2007 Honorary citizen of Timișoara
* 2009 Sports Merit Order, Second Class with bar
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moser, Hans
Romanian male handball players
CS Dinamo București (men's handball) players
German male handball players
German handball coaches
Sportspeople from Timișoara
Banat Swabians
Romanian defectors
1937 births
Living people