The first meeting of the newly instated Wheelchair Handball Working Group was held at the IHF headquarters in Basel on Saturday, 26 October. The working group includes Chairman Frantisek Taborsky and three members: Jerzy Eliasz, Flavio Anderson Pedrosa de Melo and Nicole Rabenseifner. The meeting was also attended by the IHF General Director.

The agenda for this first meeting included presentations on the current status of wheelchair handball in different locations and discussions on a number of key topics. Presentations from participants were from Japan, presented by Minoru Kino; Brazil, presented by Flavio de Melo; and Europe and the European Handball Federation, presented by Nicole Rabenseifner and Jerzy Eliasz. 

Other subjects discussed included the Rules of the Game, the classification of athletes, the creation of promotional materials, activation of national federations and the organisation of international competitions. The group also addressed ways wheelchair handball can be incorporated into the IHF Regulations. 

Additionally, Chairman Taborsky presented a report on the recent VISTA Conference, which took place in Amsterdam from 4 to 7 September. The conference, which is hosted by the Amsterdam Institute of Sport Science, provides a platform where researchers, sport scientists and experts in the field of sport for athletes with impairments can come together to exchange ideas and advance their knowledge within the area. It was the ninth edition of the VISTA conference, with the theme this year ‘Healthy and Fit for Optimal Performance’.