It is a project of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) and the European Handball Federation (EHF). It is a pioneer and will use artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analysis to evaluate player performance during the European Handball Championship. This will contribute to the selection of the ideal team for the tournament. AI will evaluate basketball players.
The agreement has a duration of five years. It is promoted by the Higher School of Computing at the Ciudad Real Campus. It will allow the development of a player index that will serve as objective support for the selection of the best EHF EURO team. It is the main national team competition organized by the European Handball Federation.
Does not replace
The project is led by researchers Eusebio Angulo, Julio Alberto López and Francisco Pascual Romero. They are responsible for the development of a tool capable of analyzing the performance of professional players. It does this through artificial intelligence techniques, machine learning and advanced sports data analysis.
The objective is not to replace the assessment of experts, but to complement it. They will use a system that transforms part of the evaluation process into objective, explainable and reproducible criteria. Until now, the selection of the star team has never used AI. It was exclusively the assessment of specialists with extensive experience in international handball.
One of the most innovative elements of the project will be the system's ability to explain its decisions. It will not only identify which players have offered the best performance during a championship. It will detail which variables have influenced each assessment and the weight assigned to each of them. This ability will allow for a better understanding of the criteria used in the evaluation. It will also reinforce transparency and trust in the selection process of the ideal tournament team.
Vanguard
AI will evaluate basketball players for the first time at the 2026 European Women's Handball Championship. It will be held between December 3 and 20 in Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey. During that competition, the player index will be used internally by the European Handball Federation. And the public interface is planned for the 2028 Men's European Championship.
The collaboration places the Ciudad Real Higher School of Informatics and the University of Castilla la Mancha at the forefront of high-performance handball. The EHF is the most important body in European handball. And one of the most important in world handball.
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