Key decisions made on IHF events at IHF Council meeting

22 Feb. 2021

Key decisions made on IHF events at IHF Council meeting

Last Friday, 19 February, the IHF Council convened for their 10th meeting in the 2017-2021 electoral period, while the IHF Executive Committee met for the 13th time. Both meetings were held virtually due to the ongoing restrictions related to COVID-19, with a number of issues and topics discussed.

The main items on the agenda were a comprehensive evaluation of the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship from different perspectives, such as competitions, the implementation of the Egypt 2021 COVID-19 Medical Precaution Plan, marketing and media, on the one hand, as well as postponed 2020 and upcoming 2021 IHF events on the other.

Despite all the challenges posed, the successful hosting of the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt has clearly shown that handball can be played in a safe and secure environment as we all learn to live with the virus. For the enormous efforts that were put into the organisation of the event and their continuous support throughout the preparation and during the event, the IHF Council unanimously agreed to send a letter of appreciation to the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Ashraf Sobhy. 

In particular with regards to the situation of postponed or upcoming IHF events, we would like to emphasise that the IHF has continuously been monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on handball worldwide and we fully understand the difficulties faced by federations, leagues, clubs and players with regards to events.

These difficulties also include restrictive measures imposed by countries, preventing teams from preparing for the events as planned, as well as travel restrictions in place resulting in difficulties in travelling to events.

The IHF reiterates its commitment to the health and safety of everyone involved in handball competitions with all decisions made in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including the Continental Confederations.

UPDATE ON IHF EVENTS

Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 – Women’s Tournaments
Originally scheduled to be held in Spain, Hungary and Montenegro from 20-22 March 2020, rescheduled to 19-21 March 2021

Tournament 1 (Spain): Spain (ESP), Sweden (SWE), Argentina (ARG), Senegal (SEN)
Tournament 2 (Hungary): Russia (RUS), Serbia (SRB), Kazakhstan (KAZ), Hungary (HUN)
Tournament 3 (Montenegro): Norway (NOR), Montenegro (MNE), Romania (ROU), tbd

Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 – Men’s Tournaments
Originally scheduled to be held in Norway, France and Germany from 17-19 April 2020, rescheduled to 12-14 March 2021

Tournament 1 (Norway): Norway (NOR), Brazil (BRA), Chile (CHI), Republic of Korea (KOR)
Norway had to be removed as host nation due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IHF Executive Committee will decide on the new host in due course.

Tournament 2 (France): France (FRA), Croatia (CRO), Tunisia (TUN), Portugal (POR)
Tournament 3 (Germany): Germany (GER), Sweden (SWE), Slovenia (SLO), Algeria (ALG)
 
2020 IHF Women's Junior (U20) World Championship
Originally scheduled to be held in Romania from 1-13 July 2020, rescheduled to 2-13 December 2020
Cancelled
 
2020 IHF Women's Youth (U18) World Championship
Originally scheduled to be held in PR of China, then Croatia from 18-30 August 2020, rescheduled to 29 September - 11 October 2020 
Cancelled

2020 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships
Originally scheduled to be held from 30 June to 5 July 2020 in Italy
Cancelled

2021 IHF Men's Junior (U21) World Championship
Hungary, 22 June – 4 July 2021
Cancelled
 
2021 IHF Men's Youth (U19) World Championship
Originally scheduled to be held in Greece from 2-15 August 2021, then postponed to 18-29 August 2021 due to the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Cancelled

2021 IHF Men’s and Women’s U17 Beach Handball World Championships
Portugal
Postponed to 2022

2021 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship
Postponed until further notice

2021 IHF Women’s World Championship
Spain, to be organised in the period of 1 to 19 December 2021

The IHF would like to thank all National Federations for their help and understanding with these events.