Media Committee - Saudi Arabia
The 16th World Club Handball Championship “Super Globe” will begin at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, at the Ministry of Sport Hall in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The championship is being held in Saudi Arabia for the fourth time in a row, with the participation of 12 clubs, and will continue during the period from 07 to 12 November.
“The host team” Al-Khaleej will launch its first match in the tournament against the “defending champion” Magdeburg in the match that will start at 7:30 p.m., as part of Group C, while the other Saudi team “Al-Noor” will face its Egyptian competitor, “Al-Ahly”, at 4 p.m., as part of Group A.
The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., and will include visual laser shows, a number of different shows, in addition to the entry of the 12 teams participating in the tournament.
The first matches of the tournament will begin with a match between the Bahraini team and Asian Champion "Al-Najma, and the European representative “Kielce”, in Group D. Immediately afterwards, the “Arab champion” Kuwait, will play against the Argentinian team, San Fernando, “South and Central American champion,” at 1:45 pm in Group B.
Tournament format
The participating teams were divided into four groups, each group containing 3 teams. The first group includes Barcelona (ESP), Al-Noor (KSA), Al-Ahly (EGY), while the second group includes Al-Kuwait (KUW), San Fernando (ARG), Fuchse Berlin (GER). The third group includes the Magdeburg (GER), Al Khaleej (KSA), and University of Queensland (AUS). The fourth group includes the Kielce (POL), Al Najma club (BRN), and CalHeat (USA). The winners of the four groups qualify for the semi-finals, and the winner of them qualifies for the final match to compete for the title.
What does "Super Globe" mean?
It is a special tournament for handball clubs, to which the champions of all continents of the world qualify, in addition to the host country’s team, and the holder of the title of the previous edition of the same tournament, while 3 teams chosen by the International Handball Federation are nominated, in addition to the Arab champion, who will participate for the second time in the history of the tournament. The tournament became official, as the Arab Championship became a qualifier for the “Super Globe” tournament.
12 clubs participate in the tournament
12 teams are participating in the championship for the second time in a row. The German team Magdeburg is leading the participating teams, as the European champion and holder of the last title of Super Globe in addition to IHF candidate “Barcelona (ESP), the team that has the record for winning the title the most (five times), and next to them are: Al-Khaleej (KSA) “the host team”, Kielce (POL) “runner-up in European champions”, Al Najma Club (BRN) “Asian champion”, Al-Ahly (EGY) “African champion”, San Fernando (ARG) “South and Central American champion”, Cal Heat (USA) “North American and Caribbean champion”. University of Queensland (AUS) "Oceania Champion", Al-Noor (KSA) "Host Country Team", Fuchse Berlin is "IHF Candidate", and Kuwait (KUW) "Arab Champion".
Super Globe: a 26-year-old tournament
The Super Globe tournament started in 1997, when it was hosted by "Australia" with the participation of 8 clubs from all continents of the world, and the Spanish team "Cantabria Santander" won the title. As “IHF” officially approved holding the Championship every 5 years, Doha organized the Super Globe in 2002, only 5 clubs participated in it, and the Qatari team “Al-Sadd” achieved first place. Then, the tournament moved to the Egyptian capital, “Cairo” in June 2007, and the Spanish Real Ciudad won the title.
After the conclusion of the tournament in Egypt, the “IHF” decided to hold the tournament every year, provided that the hosting country is selected based on a voting by the members of the IHF General Assembly, and the tournament rests on the file of the country that wins the vote for 4 consecutive years. This is what brought the tournament back to Qatar, which hosted 9 consecutive editions from 2010 until 2018. These editions were won by: Real Ciudad (ESP), Kiel (GER), Atletico Madrid (formerly Real Ciudad), Barcelona (two titles in a row), Fuchse Berlin (GER). “Two titles in a row,” and Barcelona (ESP), “two titles in a row.”
On the twenty-seventh of November 2018, the “IHF” announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had won the right to host the “Super Globe” for four years. Barcelona succeeded in achieving the title in 2019 in the tournament held in Dammam, “eastern Saudi Arabia.” While Magdeburg (GER) succeeded in achieving the past two editions, which were held in Jeddah 2021 and Dammam 2022.
Spanish control of the Super Globe titles
All the clubs participating in the "Super Globe" championship are the strongest in the world, but the Spanish clubs are dominant in the Super Globe title with 9 titles out of 15 editions. The five-time champion "Barcelona" is one of the teams always nominated to win the title, as it achieved more than 162 titles for various Spanish and Continental championship. In addition to the presence of high-level players in the team.
