The coveted IHF World Player of the Year award return in full fledge, with four categories ready to find out their winners, after a transparent process of voting by the fans, coaches and the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods members.

2023 marked the introduction of the IHF Young Male Player of the Year and the IHF Young Female Player of the Year, which underline the penchant for identifying and nurturing new talents. 

The fans have a say in the final standings of the IHF World Player of the Year awards, but the current formula sees an equal percentage of the final decision between three categories, for a better representation and a level-playing field for all the nominees. 

The fans will still have the power, as the votes casted will represent a third of the final standings. Another third will be reserved to the coaches who led their national teams at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM) will have the final third of the decision, with the awards being sealed by the player that has the best percentage throughout the three categories.

For all categories, three players have been shortlisted by the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM), based on their performances in 2024, having impressed throughout the last year on the courts. The nominated players will be presented on a category-by-category basis.

For the 2024 IHF Female World Player of the Year, the nominees are Norway’s back Henny Reistad and line player Kari Brattset Dale and France’s back Estelle Nze Minko.

The voting will be open for the fans from Friday, 7 March, from 12:00 CET, to Monday, 24 March at 23:59 CET, therefore more than two weeks for the fans to vote for their favourites and help them win the prestigious award. 

Henny Reistad (Norway)

Only a single player in history – Romania’s Cristina Neagu – has won back-to-back IHF Female Player of the Year awards. Only two players have been named the IHF Female Player of the Year at least twice – Neagu and Hungary’s Bojana Radulovics. Now, Reistad can enter the panthenon of greats, as she is the current trophy holder, being voted as the 2023 IHF Female Player of the Year.

The left back, who turned 26 years old in February, was absolutely fantastic at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she missed the first two matches, was ushered slowly into the team, but still finished 11th in the top goal scorer standings, with 28 goals in six matches, in a competition where she helped Norway clinch the gold medal.

At the EHF EURO 2024, Reistad was also excellent, being named the All-Star centre back, scoring 50 goals in the competition, while also clinching the gold medal. The Norway star was also the top goal scorer in the EHF Champions League Women for Team Esbjerg and has also scored 66 goals in the 2024/25 season in the last year, being the top scorer of the European premium competition.

Estelle Nze Minko (France)

The left back, France’s captain, is nominated for the second year in a row for the IHF Female Player of the Year award, narrowly missing out in the previous year to Henny Reistad. But Nze Minko continued to be an excellent player for club and country, delivering yet another vintage year.

Aged 33, Nze Minko was crucial in France’s performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the hosts won seven out of seven, before conceding a loss in the final against Norway, securing the silver medal. Nze Minko was the sixth top scorer, with 30 goals, adding 20 more assists, being named the All-Star left back of the competition.

The French star has also led France to the fourth place at the EHF EURO 2024 and was a key player in Gyori Audi ETO KC’s challenge for the EHF Champions League Women trophy, the first in her career for Nze Minko.

Kari Brattset Dale (Norway)

The MVP of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, Brattset Dale came back after giving birth in November 2022 and has been fantastic for Norway, a key ingredient for the success of the Scandinavian side, with a huge boost both in attack and in defence throughout 2024.

Brattset Dale, who turned 34 this February, was the All-Star line player at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where Norway secured the gold medal, scoring 29 goals, the most scored by a line player in the competition. She doubled down with an excellent performance at the EHF EURO 2024, where she clinched the gold medal, the seventh in major international competitions.

Moreover, she led Gyori Audi ETO KC to the EHF Champions League title, the second of her career, being pivotal in the team’s challenge for the trophy, the second in her career, with Brattset Dale winning every major international competition she played in 2024 for club and country.