The International Handball Federation (IHF) has announced an "IHF Beach Handball Showcase" in Paris to highlight this exciting sport and its culture, taking advantage of the global sporting spotlight on the French capital from 26 July.

The Showcase will feature three men's and three women's all-star teams made up of athletes from around the world, as well as the French men's and women's national teams. The matches will take place over three days, from Saturday 27 July to Monday 29 July 2024, at the FFHB headquarters, the Maison du Handball, in Créteil, just 20 km from the Olympic Stadium.

The international all-star teams will be coached by world-renowned coaches, including medallists such as Leticia Brunati (Argentina), gold medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Mladen Paradzik (Croatia), Khaled Hassan (Qatar), Maria Karantoni (Greece), Tamas Neukum (Hungary) and Alexander Novakovic (Germany).

A total of 64 of the world's best beach handball players (32 men, 32 women) from 18 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Islamic Republic of Iran, Netherlands, Norway, China, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, United States and Uruguay will participate.

Three of the teams in each gender competition will be of mixed nationality, while the fourth team in each competition will represent the host nation, France. The "IHF Beach Handball Showcase" is a joint project of the IHF, the Organising Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP2024), the French Handball Federation (FFHB) and the International Olympic Committee.

The "IHF Beach Handball Showcase" is part of a wider series of celebrations in Créteil, in the Val-de-Marne region of France, which will host the Olympic torch on its global tour.

During the Olympic Games, from 26 July to 11 August, a wide range of free events will take place, including a fan zone for 2,000 people with live broadcasts, exhibitions, food, drinks and concerts. 

Giampiero Masi, President of the IHF Beach Handball Task Group, said: "The IHF Beach Handball Showcase will go down in the history of beach handball. After its debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018, this is another step towards its presence in the Olympic Games as an official sport in the future".

Kit McConnell, Sport Director of the International Olympic Committee, said at the XXXIX Ordinary IHF Congress in 2023: "Beach Handball already plays a very important role within the Olympic Movement. It is a great sport, a great discipline. It is easy to organise and has a very strong and growing popularity among young people.

Commenting on the future of the discipline, McConnell said: "It has a very bright future. We have recognised its success by including beach handball directly in the Youth Olympic Games, starting in Buenos Aires in 2018 and already confirmed for Dakar 2026, as well as supporting what we are sure will be a great showcase opportunity in Paris".

Differences from traditional handball:

Beach handball teams consist of four players (instead of seven), including the goalkeeper. The game is played in two sets of 10 minutes, each set starting with a throw-in at the centre of the court. In the event of a draw, the match is decided by six-metre penalty kicks ("shoot-outs"). As bouncing the ball on the sand is prohibited, players must throw, pass or roll the ball on the sand.

Goals are generally worth one point, although they can be worth two points depending on the type of goal (if scored by the goalkeeper in the opponents' half, from a penalty kick, or in a creative and/or spectacular manner such as a 360-degree spin or "fly").