The International Handball Federation (IHF) is proud to announce it has won ‘The International Organisation Award’ as part of the esteemed 11th Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award.

The IHF is recognised for “…its innovative way of staging the 27th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship which took place in January 2021 in Cairo, Egypt. This major sports event was delivered under the extremely challenging early circumstances of the global COVID-19 pandemic and required new health and medical protocols to be in place to protect the 640 athletes and all other participants numbering up to 5,000,” according to a media release from the award organisers. 

The release went on to say about the global handball event in Egypt: “Paving the way for future events, more than 30,000 PCR and 1,500 rapid antigen tests were conducted [for Egypt 2021] and a ‘bubble’ principle was implemented successfully. The pioneering measures applied for these championships gave clear direction and a first reference for many other sports in how a safe and secure major sports event might be delivered in the most difficult circumstances.”

Egypt 2021 was the first-ever IHF World Championship to feature 32 teams, with more than 100 games split across four venues.

At the closing ceremony for the event, won by Denmark, IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa praised everyone involved with the organisation of the event, exclaiming “we made it”, while International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Dr Thomas Bach congratulated the IHF and Dr Moustafa on the hosting of the championship.

“The IHF performed to its best and have really set an example for the organisation of a great sporting event during this pandemic,” he said. “This can give us all confidence in the entire Olympic Movement.”

نبارك لـ الاتحاد الدولي لكرة اليد فوزه بجائزة المؤسسة العالمية في الدورة الحادية عشرة لجائزة محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم للإبداع الرياضي. pic.twitter.com/CwoE5L9VGV

— MBR Awards (@MBRaward) November 23, 2021

The award invited ‘Association of Summer Olympic International Federations’ (ASOIF) member federations to apply, using the criteria of “impactful projects in the sports field addressing topics such as tolerance, knowledge management, empowering communities and overcoming world challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” all of which were themes of the 2021 awards.

Since 2013, ASOIF members have been invited to participate in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards which are designed in general to celebrate and encourage initiatives, projects and programmes that demonstrate outstanding creativity and contribute to the enrichment of sport.

ASOIF members can submit one entry for the award each year, with each submission examined in relation to the award criteria by a group of referees appointed by the Award’s Board of Trustees. 

The winning International Federation is presented with a US$250,000 prize for use in its development activities, with the IHF using the prize money in its variety of developmental programmes around the world.

IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa has been invited by the organisers to attend the awards ceremony scheduled to take place in Dubai on 9 January.

On behalf of the international handball family, Dr Moustafa would like to once again thank everyone involved in the organisation, planning and realisation of Egypt 2021, including the Egyptian government under the auspices of His Excellency President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who made all government resources available to the IHF to organise this event during these unprecedented times, the Organising Committee, participating Member Federations, players, coaches, referees, officials and media.

For more information about the awards, click here.