Alain Portes (born 31 October 1961) is a French

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

player and coach, who competed in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. He have formerly coached the Tunisian national team, France women's national team and Algerian national team.

Player career

Son of a former international handball player, he began handball in the club founded by his father before being spotted and recruited from the juniors by

USAM Nîmes Gard USAM Nîmes is a French team handball, handball team based in Nîmes, that plays in the LNH Division 1. Crest, colours, supporters Naming history Kit manufacturers Kits Results *LNH Division 1: **''Winners: (4)'' 1988, 1990, 1991 ...

. He spent his entire career there, winning four French championship titles and three French cups. He stopped his career in 1994 after a final vice-champion title, the club being demoted to the lower division following a bankruptcy. He had his first experience with the

France men's national handball team The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danis ...

in 1983 and participated in its long construction under the leadership of Daniel Costantini who led France from the bottom of Group C worldwide in the early 1980s to the top of the world hierarchy. For Alain Portes, this will translate into a bronze medal at the

1992 Olympic Games 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Coaching career

In 1995, he became a coach in the other Nîmes club, the women team of

HBC Nîmes HBC or HbC may refer to: Companies and organizations * Halton Borough Council, England * Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the state-owned radio and television broadcaster for Greece * Hokkaido Broadcasting, Japan * Houston Boychoir, Texas, US * ...

, with whom he won the first European title in the history of French women's handball, namely the 2001 Challenge Cup. In 2004, after 9 years at the head of the club, Alain Portes leaves the D1 to supervise the emerging Training Center. In 2006, he was chosen to take the reins of his former club,

. He managed to hoist the club in 5th place in 2007 and 2008, the two best results of the club since the title of vice-champion in 1994 in which he participated. In early June 2009, he signed a three-year contract with the Tunisian men's national team. After three weeks of preparation, he obtained with Tunisia the 3rd place at the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

. In February 2010, he won the

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

by beating the Egyptian team in the final with a score of 24–21. Title which he kept two years later, having Algeria 23–20 in the final of the 2012 edition which allowed him to qualify for the

2012 Olympic games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Finally, at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he narrowly lost to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the quarterfinals. He qualified with the Tunisian team to the round of 16 of the

2013 World Men's Handball Championship The 2013 World Men's Handball Championship was the 23rd World Men's Handball Championship, an international handball tournament that took place in Spain from 11 to 27 January 2013. This was the first time Spain hosted the World Men's Handball Ch ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

after a good performance by beating the team of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

25–23 in the first round. Alain Portes 20150319

On June 11, 2013, he took over from

Olivier Krumbholz Olivier Krumbholz (born 12 September 1958) is a French handball coach of German descent who was the head coach for the French women's national team in two periods from 1998-2013 and again from 2016-2024. He is considered one of the most success ...

at the head of the French women's team. With a team under reconstruction, he made an excellent start to the 2013 World Championship before losing in the quarterfinals against the Polish team. Subsequently, the French women stumble twice at the gates of the semi-final, either at Euro 2014 (5th place) or at the 2015 World Championship (7th place). In July 2017, he signed a 3-year contract as a coach with the

Grand Besançon Doubs Handball Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

. However, he put an end to it at the end of the 2017–2018 season primarily for personal reasons (his family stayed in the Gard) and not because of the poor results of the club. In December 2018, Alain Portes sets sail for the Arab world by signing until the end of the 2018–2019 season for the Qatari club

Al-Duhail SC Al-Duhail Sports Club (), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city of Doha and plays its home games at Abdulla ...

, defending champion and qualified for the

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

that he won. In May 2019, he was named coach of the Algerian national men's team. He managed to qualify for the 2021 world championship after obtaining the bronze medal at the 2020 African championship hosted by

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Player Honours

National Team Honours

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: ** ''Bronze Medal'':

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Club Honours

French League The French League (: "French League for Purge, purging, mutual aid (politics), mutual aid and European integration, European collaboration") was a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist French movement founded by Pier ...

: ** ''Winners'': 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993 *

French Cup The Coupe de France (), also known in English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is ...

: ** ''Winners'': 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993

Coach Honours

National Team Honours

: ** ''Quarter-finals'':

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

African Men's Handball Championship The African Handball Nations Championship is the official competition for senior national handball teams of Africa, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the African champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournam ...

: ** ''Winners'':

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

** ''Third Place'':

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

World Women's Handball Championship The IHF Women's Handball World Championship has been organized by the International Handball Federation since 1957. European teams have won every time except 1995 where South Korea won as the first team outside Europe and 2013 where Brazil won ...

: ** ''Quarter-finals'':

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Club Honours

Women's EHF Challenge Cup The Women's EHF European Cup is an annual team handball competition for women's clubs of Europe. It was known as the EHF City Cup until the 1999–2000 season and the EHF Challenge Cup until the 2019–20 season. It is currently the third-tier co ...

: ** ''Winners'': 2001 *

: ** ''Winners'':

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual Honours

* Elected in 2002 the best French left winger of all time by the FFHB * Selected in the "Europe team" in January 1993

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portes, Alain 1961 births Living people French male handball players French handball coaches Olympic handball players for France Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in handball Sportspeople from Béziers Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball coaches of international teams USAM Nîmes Gard players Expatriate handball coaches French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in Algeria French expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia 20th-century French sportsmen Occitan sportspeople