The referees and technical delegates who will oversee the men’s and women’s beach handball competitions of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games have been revealed.

Five of the six IHF continental federations have representatives in Senegal, with Africa (CAHB), Asia (AHF), Europe (EHF), North America and the Caribbean (NACHC) and South and Central America (SCACH) all providing nominees.

Featuring beach handball, Dakar 2026 runs from 31 October to 13 November with the event marking the second time that beach handball will be part of the Olympic Games, following its debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A whistle-stop around the world for referees

While all referee pairs have extensive national and continental experience, for some Dakar 2026 is another IHF nomination and for others, it represents their debut on the global stage.

Lucas BRAZIL and Wictor SANTOS will be representing South America with the Brazilian pair coming from a successful The World Games 2025. They have also whistled on the 2024 and 2025 IHF Beach Handball Global Tours, which both visited the South American country.

Europe make up the majority of the referee pairs, with five of the nine couples coming from that continent.

From an IHF perspective, Czechia pair Adam HILL and Mateja OSKERA plus the Portuguese duo of Soraia LUSQUINOS FEITAIS and Rita MACHADO have whistled on the 2025 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour, while the French referees Dylan GAZEU and Julien BLANCO, whistled on the tour back in 2023, just like the Spanish pair of Beatris DEL VALLE-ENCUENTRA and Aida COSIO GONZALEZ.

The experience Italian pair of Stefano PIPITONE and Marilisa SARDISCO complete the European quintet and will know all the teams at Dakar 2026 having whistled at the 2025 IHF Men's and Women's Youth Beach Handball World Championships in Tunisia last year, just like the Puerto Rican pair of Kitsa ESCOBAR RODRIGUEZ and Nathaly CEBALLOS PIZARRO, who also whistled on the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour last year. CEBALLOS PIZARRO is also a national indoor player for Puerto Rico and is currently playing in the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic.

Dakar 2026 also features two pairs of IHF debutants, with Vietnamese pair Tram Tuan Thanh DUONG and Quang Huy NGUYENM from Vietnam are celebrating their first IHF nomination, just like the host nation pair of Mama ISSEU NIANG and Marie Therese COLY who will be loudly supported by the home fans.

Technical delegates include a wide range of vastly-experienced nominees from Europe, Asia, African and South America, while, in addition to the IHF Beach Handball Working Group members, Event Delegates and IHF Office members, Croatia men’s head coach Mladen PARADZIK will be joining Tamas NEUKUM as an IHF Event Analyst.

Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games – IHF Officials

Referees
Lucas BRAZIL/Wictor SANTOS (BRA)
Adam HILL/Matej OSKERA (CZE)
Beatris DEL VALLE-ENCUENTRA/Aida COSIO GONZALEZ (ESP)
Dylan GAZEU/Julien BLANCO (FRA)
Stefano PIPITONE/Marilisa SARDISCO (ITA)
Kitsa ESCOBAR RODRIGUEZ/Nathaly CEBALLOS PIZARRO (PUR)
Soraia LUSQUINOS FEITAIS/Rita MACHADO (POR)
Tram Tuan Thanh DUONG/Quang Huy NGUYENM (VIE)
Mama ISSEU NIANG/Marie Therese COLY (SEN)

Technical Delegates
Ioannis MEIRMARIDIS (GRE)
Jiri OPAVA (CZE)
Paola GONZALEZ CASALES (ESP)
Jerome ROLLAND (FRA)
Mutasem KHATATBEH (JOR)
Elena Georgiana Angelica DOANĂ (ROU)
Kamel BORGI (TUN)
Luiz MONICO OTTADO (URU)

Beach Handball at the Youth Olympic Games

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 31 October to 13 November 2026. It will feature 25 sports in the official competition programme, with 10 additional disciplines across 151 events, all with full gender balance: 72 events for women, 72 for men, and 7
mixed events.

Qualification for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games was based on a set of principles agreed by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), plus a precondition for teams to participate at the 2025 IHF Men's and Women's Youth (U17) Beach Handball World Championships, which took place in Hammamet, Tunisia in 2025.

National Olympic Committees (NOC’s) have to select their athletes (‘Sport Entries’) by September 2026.

Spain’s IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship winner, María Asunción Batista Portero – known in the handball world as Asun Batista – was announced as an ‘Athlete Role Model’ (ARM) for Dakar 2026 back in April.

Dakar 2026 will be the fourth edition of the YOG, following its debut in Singapore (2010), the second edition in Nanjing, China (2014) and 2018 edition, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Indoor/7-a-side handball featured at the 2010 and 2014 editions, before being replaced by Beach Handball at the 2018 edition, the debut event won by Argentina (women) and Spain (men).

The YOG is a major event which embodies the Olympic spirit, sporting excellence and the promotion of youth. The event has become a pillar of the Olympic Movement and is more than just sporting competitions. The YOG are part of an educational and cultural programme aimed at instilling the Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence in young people around the world.

The election of Dakar as the host city of the YOG 2026 marks a historic moment for Africa. The decision was taken at the 133rd IOC Session in October 2018, making Dakar the first African city to host the YOG.

Initially planned for 2022, Dakar was postponed to 2026 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has allowed for better planning of the event and ensured its success.