After the final presentations performed by all bidding nations today, the IHF Council voted for the hosts of the 2013 World Championships by secret ballot. IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa announced the outcome of the awarding after the Council Meeting in Herzogenaurach:

The 2013 Men’s World Championship will be taking place in Spain, the 2013 Women’s World Championship in Serbia.

For both nations it’s the first time ever to host a Senior World Championship. Spain had hosted the Men’s European Championship in 1996, Serbia will host the Men’s EURO 2012 one year before the Women’s WCh. The women’s world title contests 1973 took place in former Yugoslavia.

In the end, Spain remained the sole applicant to host the Men’s WCh 2013. Initially, Korea, Norway and Denmark had submitted their bid but withdrew before the Council Meeting. Nevertheless, the Spanish presentation was impressive – it was presented by the Vice Sports Minister, the President of the Spanish Handball Federation and former goalkeeping legend David Barrufet. Serbia’s rival when campaigning to host the 2013 Women’s WCh was Korea.

The Men’s World Championship 2013 will take place in January 2013. The successful Spanish bid featured the following venues (including playing hall capacity): Barcelona (Palau Sant Jordi, 16,500), Ciudad Real (Quichote Arena, 5,963), Granollers (Granollers Sport Complex, 5,685), Madrid (Madrid Arena, 9,894), Madrid (Community of Madrid Sport Complex, 14,500), Malaga (Martin Carpena Sport Complex, 12,000), Seville (San Pablo Sport Complex, 9,500), Valladolid (Pisuerga Sport Pavilion, 6,500), Zaragoza (Principe Felipe Pavilion, 11,000).

The 2013 Women’s World Championships will be carried out in December 2013, the final will be staged at imposing Belgrade Arena, one of the biggest multi-purpose arenas in Europe. The successful Serbian bid featured the following venues (including playing hall capacity): Belgrade (Beogradska Arena, 19,892), Belgrade (Pionir, 6,200), Nis (Car Constantin, 5,800), Novi Sad (Sportski Centar Vojvodina, 8,000), Vrsac (Millenium, 4,960).

The coming Senior World Championships in 2011 will take place in Sweden (men: 13 - 30 January) and Brazil (women, 3 - 18 December).

IHF President Dr. Hassan Moustafa thanked all nations for their high rate of professional behaviour during the bidding process, especially for the final presentations in Herzogenaurach. The election of the 2013 WCh hosts completed the IHF Council Meeting, which had started on Friday.

Please click here to see the announcement.