IHF Shocks Handball World Again: Hungary Furious Over Wild Cards for Türkiye and Saudi Arabia
The IHF Council has once again shocked handball fans around the world. The decision to award Türkiye and Saudi Arabia special invitations for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship — ahead of national teams such as Hungary, Switzerland, Austria and Montenegro — has angered the handball community in those countries and once again raised questions about the transparency of the entire process, as well as what it actually takes to earn a place this way.
“Of course, we are very disappointed with the IHF’s decision, even though the right to play at the World Championship should first and foremost have been earned on the court — and unfortunately, we failed to do that,” said Hungarian Handball Federation president Ferenc Ilyés for Nemzeti Sport.
“Unfortunately, it is clear that this was not a sporting decision… If we look only at the fact that, at the last three World Championships, the last two European Championships and the Olympic Games in Paris, the Hungarian national team was the highest-ranked team among those that failed to qualify for the World Championship, then we had every reason to hope that, in the case of a professional sporting decision, we could have been favoured,” Ilyés said.
The president of the Hungarian Handball Federation also criticised the fact that the IHF does not have a publicly announced and clearly defined system of criteria for awarding wild cards. He added that the Hungarian federation had been in constant contact with the international governing body in recent weeks, but found out about the decision through the IHF website — just like the general public.
According to Ilyés, Hungary also had strong arguments when it came to the criterion that the international federation particularly emphasises — the global development of handball. He pointed to the major international competitions Hungary has organised in recent years, as well as the fact that the country will host the 2027 Women’s World Championship. In addition, the Hungarian federation is carrying out professional cooperation projects on several continents, linked to IHF programmes and aimed at supporting developing handball nations.
“There is nothing left for us but to focus on the qualifications for the 2028 European Championship and, by reaching the continental championship, try to earn a place at the Olympic qualification tournament, because we will not have that opportunity at the 2027 World Championship,” concluded Ferenc Ilyés.
Better Chance for Olympic Qualification
The 2027 World Championship will also play a role in the race for places in the Olympic qualification tournaments for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. To get there, teams will need to finish in the top nine.
The selection of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia has weakened the competition in Pot 4 and made the fight for a high ranking easier for European national teams — including Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and North Macedonia. A group featuring Argentina, Chile and Türkiye as possible opponents certainly sounds very attractive…
The draw begins at 18:00 in Munich.
