Rules & regulations

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All matches are played under the IHF Rules of the Game as adopted by the EHF.

• Two halves of 30 minutes with a 10-minute half-time interval.
• A drawn match in the group stage stands as a draw — one point each.
• In the final window, knockout matches that are level after full time go to extra time, and to a shootout if still level.
• Match officials are appointed by the Regional Handball League for every tournament window.

• Open to players born in 2010 and 2011 (U16).
• Players must be eligible to represent the national federation entering them, under EHF and IHF regulations.
• Each federation enters one boys team and one girls team.

Every participating federation hosts exactly one group-stage tournament.

• The host provides an approved indoor venue, match officials’ facilities and accommodation for the visiting delegations.
• All three teams of the group play at the host venue across the three match days of the window.
• The host federation is responsible for local transport, medical provision and results reporting to the Regional Handball League office.

• Twelve teams per category, drawn into four groups of three.
• Each team plays six group matches across three tournament windows.
• The final window decides all placements from 1 to 12 in three parallel mini-tournaments.
• Semi-final pairings use cross-group seeding: A against D, B against C.