Two star players were missing for Senegal in their World Championship opener against Croatia. According to sources to GoHandball the International Handball Federation (IHF) made the decision to block Gnonsiane Niombla and Dounia Abdourahim from playing.
Senegal got the information from IHF before their World Championship premiere against Croatia.
The reason behind the IHF’s decision? Both players have previously represented France at national team level and although Niombla’s last international match was in 2019 and Abdourahim has not represented France since 2013, the IHF still decided that the players may not play in the World Cup for Senegal.
The sources told GoHandball that the decision from the IHF was based on the fact that Senegal can’t be counted as an IHF emerging nation and therefor can’t “recruit” new players. But the question is when the IHF let Senegal know of their decision?