IHF wins 11th Creative Sports Award

It was announced earlier this week that the International Handball Federation (IHF) is among the winners of the 11th edition of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award. In the category of the best initiative of the Summer Olympic International Federations (IFs), ASOIF member federations were asked to apply with impactful projects in the sports field addressing topics such as tolerance, knowledge management, empowering communities and overcoming world challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

IHF was recognised for its innovative way of staging the 27th IHF men’s Handball World Championships which took place in January 2021 in Cairo, Egypt. This major sports event was delivered under the extremely challenging early circumstances of the global COVID-19 pandemic and required new health and medical protocols to be in place to protect the 640 athletes and all other participants numbering up to 5,000. Paving the way for future events, more than 30,000 PCR and 1,500 rapid antigen tests were conducted, and a “bubble” principle was implemented successfully. The pioneering measures applied for these championships gave clear direction and a first reference for many other sports in how a safe and secure major sports event might be delivered in the most difficult circumstances.

Click here to read the full press release by the award organisers.

About the award

Since 2013, Summer Olympic IFs have been invited to participate in the Creative Sports Award. It is designed to celebrate and encourage initiatives, projects and programmes that demonstrate outstanding creativity and contribute to the enrichment of sport.

Each year ASOIF members can submit one entry for the award, with each submission examined in relation to the award criteria by a group of referees appointed by the Award’s Board of Trustees. The winning IF is presented with a US$250,000 prize for use in its development activities.