The first Challenge Trophy was held in Belgium in the year 2000 with 6 participating teams (BIH, FIN, ISR, LTA, LUX, BEL). It was immediately followed by a women´s Challenge Trophy in Africa where KEN, TAN, UGA participated. Since the first experiments were a big success the number of Challenge Trophy tournaments increased, and now it is being staged on all continents. Challenge Trophies are tournaments being played between male and female teams of nations where handball is in a developing stage, and whose Federations are members of the IHF. The primary purpose of the challenge trophy is to promote handball and to allow less developed teams to meet and take part in real tournaments. Furthermore it allows countries to organize tournaments. The IHF launched a new form of the challenge trophy since 2008 where the IHF covers all the organization expenses as well as transportations. The IHF also organizes on the fringes of the tournament two courses for coaches and referees in order to