In the lead-up to the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, which will take place between 26 November and 14 December 2025 in Germany and the Netherlands, the International Handball Federation has received a request from the Danish Handball Federation, the Norwegian Handball Federation and the Swedish Handball Federation regarding the players’ equipment for the upcoming World Championship. 

According to the official Rules and Regulations for IHF Competitions, each participating team must register:

• one set of light-coloured shirts and shorts,
• one set of dark-coloured shirts and shorts
• one set of alternatively coloured shirts.

There is no specific regulation mandating the use of white shorts, as reported by several media outlets from Scandinavia. The primary goal for the current regulations is to ensure a clear visual distinction between the two teams, considering factors like colour contrast and accessibility for colour-blind spectators and officials.

The IHF respects every team’s traditional and preferred colours. Before each edition of the World Championship, federations indicate their national and traditional colours to aid match-day coordination and avoid potential colour clashes.

Already in 2023, the IHF dealt with such a case regarding the colour of the players’ shorts and a dedicated working group was created to address issues concerning light-coloured shorts, initially following an inquiry from the German Handball Federation (DHB). This working group consists exclusively of female handball leaders, former and actual players and former female coaches, underscoring the IHF’s commitment to women's representation in decisions affecting women’s sport. It was chaired by IHF Executive Committee Member Ms Narcisa Lecușanu, with members including IHF General Director Ms Amal Khalifa, former Chairwoman of the IHF Interim Athletes’ Commission Ms Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc, and Chairwoman of the EHF Women’s Handball Board Ms Marta Bon. 

The working group proposed allowing the use of black undershorts as an alternative. This update was shared with all federations; since then, no further feedback was received until very recently, only six weeks before the 2025 Women’s World Championship. At this late stage, it is not feasible to amend official regulations, but the IHF continues to accommodate team preferences as best as possible. Several teams, including Denmark, have registered multiple shorts colours - white, red, and black - and the IHF will try to prioritise dark options as far as possible considering scheduling and coordination constraints.

The IHF considers athletes’ comfort and preferences paramount. However, since the regulations were refined two years ago on this issue and no concerns were raised for a significant period of time, the recent surge in discussion came as a surprise, particularly given that some teams such as Norway adapted to the current regulations and have now submitted red and dark blue shorts for their uniforms. Moreover, the same uniform principles as in the IHF are applicable similarly in the Norwegian club competitions.

The initial communication between the IHF the Danish Handball Federation, the Swedish Handball Federation and the Norwegian Handball Federation was received by the IHF on 6 October 2025, with a prompt reply on 10 October 2025. Three days later, the Danish federation subsequently expressed appreciation for the pragmatic solution and excellent cooperation provided by the IHF on short notice.

“We greatly appreciate that you are taking this challenge seriously and that you are already prepared with a pragmatic solution ahead of the upcoming Women’s World Championship. Once again, thank you for the excellent cooperation on this matter,” said the Danish Handball Federation sports director, Morten Henriksen.

This situation highlights the IHF’s ongoing commitment to balancing respect for tradition with athlete comfort and maintaining uniform clarity and consistency across all competitions.