ISP and Foster development agreements signed

On the occasion of the EHF Congress in Dublin, a number of development projects were signed between the EHF, member federations and also the European Handball Players' Union.

Infrastructure Support Programme

Introduced in 2010, the Infrastructure Support Programme or ISP supports the building of capacity in member federations. The idea is the part funding (together with national authorities) of salaries of full-time or part-time staff members, mainly development officers, hired by the national federation for the management of grassroots and development projects.

Ireland - an extended three-year agreement with the Irish Olympic Handball Federation will see the federation work to enlarge its membership, develop events and also look for additional funding sources to support its activities. With part-funding from the Irish Sports Council. The agreement was signed by the IOHA President, Fintan Lyons (pictured below with EHF President, Jean Brihault).

Malta - the Maltese Handball Association will continue its work in the developing the sport on the island with a new three-year agreement with matching funding from the Maltese government. The Association will focus on developing its marketing activities, club-school links and coaching.

European Handball Players' Union - a new agreement, will see the EHF support the further development of the EHPU, an organisation founded in 2008 representing the interests of all players in Europe in regard to their wages, working hours and working conditions. The Union currently represents professional players in Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Spain.The financial support from the EHF will allow the Union to develop its infrastructure and back office functions, promote new projects and attract more nations. The agreement was signed by Marcus Rominger, EHPU President.

Foster Programme

Launched in 2007, the Foster Project aims to establish cooperation between nations where handball is established and emerging nations.

The EHF tries to encourage the more developed handball federations to adopt an emerging handball nation. These federations then received support and assistance, also from the EHF, based on a mutual agreement, and for a certain period of time.

Agreements were signed between the Czech Republic and Armenia as well as Iceland and EHF associated federation, Scotland (Photo above: Presidents of the Icelandic Handball Federation, Guðmundur B Ólafsson, and Scottish Handball Association, Chris McManus sign the agreement).