Belarusian Women's Handball Team Officially Invited to Nations Cup. This is the first time in five years
The Belarusian women's national handball team received an official invitation from the International Handball Federation (IHF) to participate in the IHF Nations Trophy tournament, also known as the Nations Cup. The competition will take place in Kranevo, Bulgaria, from November 25 to 29. The corresponding message from the IHF was received by the Belarusian Handball Federation on September 27.
Illustrative photo
For the Belarusian national team, this will be the first official tournament under the auspices of the IHF since 2021. The first training camp, led by Ihar Papruha, is scheduled for October 12-25. The team will hold another camp directly before departing for Bulgaria.
Previously, the IHF decided to lift restrictions on the participation of Belarusian teams in international competitions.
The last official match to date for the Belarusian women's national team in IHF-sanctioned tournaments was played in April 2021. At that time, the Belarusians competed in the second round of European qualification for a spot in the World Championship. Following two matches, they lost to the Montenegrin national team and did not advance to the final stage of the world championship. Subsequently, due to the complicity of Lukashenka's regime in the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the Belarusian national team, like most other sports teams from Belarus and Russia, was suspended from international competitions.
In October 2026, the Belarusian women's national team under 16 years old will also debut at the World Championship in Morocco under the auspices of the IHF.