The WBS beach handball tournament to be held from 30 August to 1 September in Fortaleza, Brazil is not an event sanctioned by either the International Handball Federation (IHF) or the Brazilian Handball Federation (CBHb). The WBS and this event have no affiliation with the IHF, the National Federation and the South and Central America Handball Confederation, nor were given authorisation by these entities to organise and label a tournament as a ‘world championship’ as required. 

Therefore, this competition is in direct violation of provisions in Article 19 of the IHF Statutes (‘International Events’), most notably, that events cannot be labelled as a ‘world championship’ without IHF approval. 

The IHF has contacted the event organisers about these compliance failures and is currently examining the proper course of action.

Beach handball fans can look forward to the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar in October and the 2020 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Italy.