The coveted IHF World Player of the Year award has undergone a swift makeover, as the International Handball Federation (IHF) have decided to refresh the yearly award reserved for the best players in world handball.

2023 marks the return of the usual IHF Male World Player of the Year and IHF Female World Player of the Year awards, while two new trophies, which underline the penchant for identifying and nurturing new talents, have been introduced. 

Therefore, the return of the IHF World Player of the Year awards mark the introduction of the IHF Young Male World Player of the Year and the IHF Young Female Player of the Year, establishing a benchmark for excellence since a young age, with the best players aged 22 or less being rewarded.

Over the last months, the International Handball Federation have redesigned the structure of the trophy, which was previously decided by a fan vote, with the last editions seeing five players go head-to-head for the coveted prize in each category. 

The fans still have a say in the final standings of the IHF World Player of the Year awards, but the new formula sees an equal percentage of the final decision between three categories, for a better representation and a level-playing field for all the nominees. 

The fans will still have the power, as the votes casted will represent a third of the final standings. Another third will be reserved to the coaches which led their national teams at the IHF Men’s World Championship and the IHF Women’s World Championship. The IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM) will have the final third of the decision, with the awards being sealed by the player who has the best percentage throughout the three categories.

For all categories, three players have been shortlisted by the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM), based on their performances in 2023, having impressed throughout the last year on the courts. The nominated players will be presented on a category-by-category basis over the next days.

The voting will be open for the fans from Monday, 26 February, from 16:00 CET, to Monday, 11 March, at 23:59 CET, therefore two full weeks for the fans to vote for their favourites and help them win the prestigious award. 

All the votes will be casted on the IHF official website, with voting cards readily available in the awards section of the website after all the nominees for all the categories have been presented. After Monday, 11 March, at 23:59 CET, no votes will be available to be cast.

Voters are reminded that performance in 2023 should be the sole consideration, and that competitions or matches played in the early stages of 2024 do not form part of the decision for the 2023 awards.