Technical details
Handball is played on a court measuring 40m x 20m. The court is divided by a
centre line and the nets at each end are 3m wide and 2m high. There are
semi-circular goal area lines in front of each goal as well as a free throw line
marked in the semi-circle.
The handball has a circumference of 56cm and is made of leather or synthetic
materials.
Matches are played in two 30-minute halves (25 minutes for women) with a
10-minute interval at half-time.
Play begins on the referee's whistle, with a throw-off from centre court. Each
side has 12 players, with only seven allowed on the court at any time and one of
which is the goalkeeper.
Goalkeepers can touch the ball with any part of the body in defence when
inside the goal area.
Other players can throw, catch, stop, push or hit the ball using hands, arms,
head, torso, thigh and knees. Players cannot kick the ball. They can hold the
ball for a maximum of three seconds and take a maximum of three steps when in
possession as well as bouncing the ball or rolling it with one hand.
A goal is scored when the whole of the ball crosses the goal-line between the
uprights of the goal.
Five facts
1) Although the modern game of handball was developed in Germany, records of a
game resembling handball appear on a tombstone in Athens dated 600BC.
2) The first matches of the modern era are reported to have taken place in
Berlin in 1917.
3) Handball first appeared at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. It then
disappeared, reappearing in 1972 in Munich.
4) Women's handball appeared at the 1976 Games in Montreal, Canada.
5) Croatia beat Sweden in the men's final in Sydney with Denmark carrying off
the women's gold medal after defeating Hungary.
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