The International Handball Federation (IHF) has announced an ‘IHF Beach Handball Showcase’ in Paris to highlight the spectacular sport and its culture, as the eyes of the world look towards the French capital, hosts of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.

Three men’s and three women’s All-star Teams, plus the French men’s and women’s national teams will play Beach Handball games across three days – Saturday 27, Sunday 28 and Monday 29 July 2024 – at the headquarters of the FFHB, the ‘Maison du Handball’, based in Créteil, just 20km from the Olympic Stadium.

Guiding the All-star Teams will be six world-renowned, medal-laden coaches including 2018 Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner Leticia BRUNATI (Argentina) along with Mladen PARADZIK (Croatia), Khaled HASSAN (Qatar), Maria KARANTONI (Greece), Tamas NEUKUM (Hungary) and Alexander NOVAKOVIC (Germany).

In total, 64 (32 men, 32 women) of the world’s best Beach Handball players from 18 countries will feature, including players from Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Islamic Republic of Iran, Netherlands, Norway, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, United States of America and Uruguay. 

Three of the teams in each the men’s and the women’s competitions will consist of mixed nationalities, while the fourth team in each of these competitions will be France, the hosts.

The IHF Beach Handball Showcase is a collaborative effort between the IHF, Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP2024), French Handball Federation (FFHB) and International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The ‘IHF Beach Handball Showcase’ is part of a wider series of celebrations in Créteil, based in the Val-de-Marne region of France, which will receive the Olympic Flame on its global tour.

For the duration of the Olympic Games – July 26 to August 11 – a variety of free events will take place, including a fan zone for up to 2,000 people featuring live broadcasts, exhibitions, food, drink and concerts. 

Giampiero MASI, Chair – IHF Beach Handball Working Group said:
“The IHF Beach Handball Showcase will go down in the history of Beach Handball. After its debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, this is another step towards its presence at the Olympic Games as an official sport in the future. Who would have imagined it 30 years ago when we started playing on a small Italian island?”

Kit MCCONNELL, Sports Director – International Olympic Committee said:
speaking at the XXXIX Ordinary IHF Congress 2023

“Beach Handball has a really strong role within the Olympic movement already, within the Youth Olympic Games and within our wider development and promotion efforts that we make.

“It is a great format of sport, a great discipline. It's easy to organise and has a very strong and growing popularity with the youth. It has a very bright future.

“We've recognised [its] success by directly including Beach Handball into the Youth Olympic Games, starting in Buenos Aires in 2018 and already confirming for Dakar 2026, and also the support for what we’re sure will be a great showcasing opportunity in Paris.”

List of players competing in the All-star Teams

Women

• Magdalini KEPESIDOU (Greece)
• Elisabeth HAMMERSTAD (Norway)
• Line KRISTENSEN (Denmark)
• Patricia SCHEPPA (Brazil)
• Gisella BONOMI (Argentina)
• Renata CSIKI (Hungary)
• Rianne MOL (Netherlands)
• Jimena LAGUNA (Spain)
• Patricia ENCINAS (Spain)
• Ji Juan DU (People’s Republic of China)
• Fiorella CORIMBERTO (Argentina)
• Meike KRUIJER (Netherlands)
• Isabel KATTNER (Germany)
• Carolina PIRES MILITAO (Brazil)
• Renata DA SILVA SANTIAGO (Brazil)
• Cristiana MORGADO (Portugal)
• Ana Maria URSU (Portugal)
• Lucie Marie KRETZSCHMAR (Germany)
• Nathalie SOUZA GUEDES DE SENA (Brazil)
• Christine MANSOUR (United States of America)
• Asuncion BATISTA (Spain) 
• Lina LARSEN (Denmark)
• Emese TOTH (Hungary)
• Isabel BARNARD (Netherlands)

Men

• Mohsen AL YAFAEI (Qatar)
• Peter HAJDU (Hungary)
• Mohammed ZAKY HASSAN (Qatar)
• Jesus LUIZ DOMINGO (Spain)
• Gil Vicente DE PAES PIRES (Brazil)
• Santiago RODRIGUEZ (Uruguay)
• Severin HENRICH (Germany)
• Ivan DUMENCIC (Croatia)
• Moritz EBERT (Germany)
• Ivan JURIC (Croatia) 
• Ebiye UDO-UDOMA (United States of America)
• Hani KAKHI (Qatar)
• Attila KUN (Hungary)
• Bruno CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA (Brazil)
• Elhji TOURE JABBY (Spain)
• Nahuel PEREZ (Argentina)
• Laszlo NAHAJ (Hungary)
• Lukasz NIEDZIELAK (Poland)
• Diogo FERREIRA (Portugal)
• Lucian BURA (Croatia)
• Andrew (Drew) DONLIN (United States of America)
• Martin VILSTRUP ANDERSEN (Denmark)
• Thiago DE OLIVEIRA BARCELLOS (Brazil)
• Ali HEIDARIAN (Islamic Republic of Iran)