Award details | |
---|---|
Sport | Handball |
Competition | International Handball |
Given for | Best Performance in International Handball Competitions |
History | |
First award | 1988 |
Most wins |
Nikola Karabatić (2007, 2014, 2016) Cristina Neagu (2010, 2015, 2016) |
Most recent | Men's - Nikola Karabatić (3rd Title) Women's - Cristina Neagu (3rd Title) |
The IHF World Player of the Year is a handball award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season, both at club and international competitions. It is awarded based on votes from experts, media and fans.
The award was awarded by IHF since 1988 in both Men's and Women's Category separately.
No award was awarded in the year 1991, 1992, 1993.
While the IHF has only reported awards since 1988, other players have been voted best players in the world before.
Thus, the Romanian Ștefan Birtalan was elected World Player of the Year in 1974, 1976 and 1977.
In 1992, Gheorghe Gruia of Romania was named Best Player of All Time by the International Handball Federation.
In 2000, the Swedish Magnus Wislander and the Ukrainian Zinaida Turchyna were elected Players of the 20th Century by the IHF.