Croatia to build a new venue for the 29th IHF Men's World Championship

As the curtain fell on the 2023 IHF Men's World Championship, with Denmark lifting the trophy for the third time straight, thoughts are already on the next men's world flagship handball competition.

The 29th IHF Men's World Championship will be jointly organised for the first time by three countries: Croatia, Denmark and Norway. From 15 January to 2 February 2025, 32 teams will fight for the title, as handball fans worldwide will make 11 venues their new favourite place to be.

At the IHF Council meeting in Cairo, Egypt, during the final weekend of the 2021 IHF Men's World Championship, the hosting countries presented their ideas, venues, cities and a strong desire to organise an important event.

Reigning champions Denmark will bring the action to Herning (Jyske Bank Boxen) and Kopenhagen (Royal Arena). Oslo (Telenor Arena), Drammen (New Drammen Arena), Trondheim (Trondheim Spektrum) and Stavanger (Stavanger Idrettshall) are the venues in Norway. At the same time, Croatia will use four venues from the 2009 Men's World Championship: Zagreb (Arena Zagreb), Split (Spaladium Arena), Varaždin (Varaždin Arena) and Poreč (Žatika Sport Centre), and build one new Arena in Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik City is one of the most famous cities in Croatia due to its city ramparts, rich history, diverse cultural content and locations of attractive serials and films like Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Robin Hood. One thing is missing: a multi-functional sports hall.

Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković signed a contract with the selected contractor for the design documentation of the future hall. The venue for the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship will become a part of the sports complex with the current Gospino Polje hall, which the local club currently uses.

"The new multi-functional sports hall in Dubrovnik will be completed by the start of the World Handball Championship in 2025, and with its construction we will also solve the problem of indoor sports in Dubrovnik for the next 50 years," said Mayor Franković about the new venue.

According to the city's website dubrovnik.hr, the new Arena in Dubrovnik will have a main handball court with 4,000 seats, with the possibility to be divided into six parts, a smaller court for warming up and 400 parking spaces in the underground garage.