Comparison of Fair Play and Final Team Rankings in the Men's Handball World Championships From 2007 to 2023

Analyzing competitive activity is particularly crucial in team sports like handball. Fair play in the world of sports is seen as a combination of respecting others and the rules of the game. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between fair play and the final classification of the men’s teams in the World Handball Championships between 2007 and 2023. The results were retrieved from the official website of the International Handball Federation (IHF). The following data were recorded: Blue card, disqualification with report, red cards, 2-Minute Suspensions, yellow cards, matches played, average per game, and total points. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess differences among variables based on the final ranking of the teams. The Bonferroni post hoc test was used to conduct between-group comparisons (p < 0.05). The teams classified in the first group (1st to 4th) receive a better ranking in fair play than the rest of the teams. The variance analysis revealed substantial variation in the total variable of fair play points (TP) between the first and second groups, with higher mean scores than in the third and fourth groups (F = 14.984, p < 0.001). In the analysis of nine editions of the World Championships, a decrease in the average number of disciplinary sanctions imposed by teams was observed from the 2007 event to the 2023 event.