Voting for the 2023 IHF World Players of the Year is now open, with 12 nominees aiming to secure the coveted trophies.

In each of the four categories – the IHF Female World Player of the Year, the IHF Male Player of the Year, the IHF Young Female Player of the Year and the IHF Young Male Player of the Year – three nominees have been selected from a panel of top handball experts. 

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 who 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 that has the best percentage throughout the three categories.

Voting for all four awards will be open until 23:59 CET on Monday, 11 March. Registration on ihf.info is necessary to be able to vote.  

The performance displayed by players throughout 2023 should be the sole consideration, as the performances in early 2024 were not part of the nomination criteria for the 2023 IHF World Player of the Year awards and should not count when casting the votes.

Complete profiles on all nominees are available as follows: 

2023 IHF Female World Player of the Year – vote here
2023 IHF Male World Player of the Year – vote here
2023 IHF Young Female World Player of the Year – vote here
2023 IHF Young Male World Player of the Year – vote here

Fans are encouraged to share their voting choices on their own social media channels.