FISU homepage / SPORTS / World University Championships / Handball

Handball

The History of Handball in FISU

Handball is the first sport ever organised as a World University Championship in 1963 in the Swedish city of Lund. Since then the discipline has grown until it became one of the very important sports in the championship programme. In 1963, seven countries showed up, making it a good start. Then, in 1971, 1973 and 1987, 16 teams took part and this is still today's record. Originally from Germany, this sport is hugely popular in schools and universities. This is why the technical performance level has been high from the very first edition. The public also tends to be very present at these tournaments. The 1998 edition in Novi Sad, Serbia, as well as the 2006 one in Gdansk, Poland, were of a very top level. In Serbia the arena was sold out for the final. The former Yugoslavian team played before a public of 7,000 spectators, with live TV broadcasting. In Poland both men's and women's finals were sold out, both of them recording an attendance of 3,000 spectators. It was striking to see how friendly the atmosphere was throughout the matches, despite the high level of competitors – many of them from their national A team. In 1994, the sport was opened to women, with a first World University Championship staged in Bratislava. Notable for the presence of the Asian teams, this championship saw a victory of the local team. In 2006 in Gdansk, Poland, the World University Handball Championship included both men's and women’s tournaments. This was much more welcomed by the participating countries and it looks good for the future of the handball within FISU. The next edition to be held in Blumenau, Brazil, will be the first one to be staged away from the European continent.

FISU Regulations

The handball competition has its own FISU Regulations following the most recent rules of the International Handball Federation (IHF). The FISU Regulations are always set up on the recommendation of the FISU Technical Chair and the IHF Technical Delegate in close cooperation with the Committee for Sports Regulations, and approved by the FISU Executive Committee. In principle, the programme shall last eight (8) days and will include:

one (1) men’s tournament
one (1) women’s tournament

For each tournament, each country participating must present one (1) team of fourteen (14) players and five (5) officials.
The countries participating to the handball tournament must bring - regardless of participating with one or two teams (men and women) - with their delegation and at their own cost one referees couple (2 referees) with international qualification (IHF or Continental).

Minimum Requirements of Handball

The Organising Committee must provide, for exclusive use, suitable sports halls to accommodate the handball tournaments as approved by the handball CT. The IHF regulations must be followed.

Competition Facilities

Type of Venue	Number of Venues	Changing Room Competitors	Changing Room TOJR	Spectator Seating	Press and Media Seats
Competition Venue for Men Tournament	1	8	2+2	2,000	50
Competition Venue for Women Tournament	1	6	2+2	2,000	50
Training Venues	2	-	-	-	-

The following is required for each Competition Venue:

The playing field and the free zone (2m from side lines) together make up the playing area
A 3m wide free passageway around the free zone
Light intensity must be between 1,000 – 1,500 lux measured 1m from the floor
FISU- and IHF-approved synthetic floor covering
Electrical Scoreboards according to FISU requirements and IHF requirements

The following is required for each Training Facility:

each training court must be at a team’s exclusive disposal for the duration of each training session
the playing court and the free zone (2m from side lines) together make up the playing area
light intensity must be between 1,000 – 1,500 lux measured 1m from the floor
the minimum temperature must be lower than 16 °C (61°F) and maximum not higher than 25°C (77°F)
the floor of the playing area must be the same as the floor of the competition venue