Motions decided at EHF Extraordinary Congress

The 48 nations eligible to vote in the EHF Extraordinary Congress were asked to vote on a number of motions at the event held in Bucharest following the completion of the EHF Conference of Presidents.

The motions and decisions were as follows:

Motion 1: Age limit for elections

Tabled by the Austrian Handball Federation, the motion proposed to change the age limit for election to the EHF Executive Committee from the current limit of 68 years of age to 72.

The motion was presented by Gerhard Hofbauer, President of the Austrian Handball Federation, with additional comments from EHF Vice President, Arne Elovsson, who chaired the Task Force on Democratic Representation, which had revised the various motions following the EHF Congress in Dublin.

Following a number of comments from the floor, the motion failed to achieve the two thirds majority required by the Congress and the age limit for the next elections in 2016 will remain at 68 years of age.

Motion 2: Promoting gender equality in handball

Initially put forward by the Norwegian Handball Federation, this proposal dealt with the promotion of gender equality within European handball and specifically with regard to increasing the involvement of women in the sport and in EHF functions. The two-part motion was not accepted by the Congress and will not be introduced.

Motion 3: Rules for previous holders of top positions within the EHF

Put forward by the EHF, the motion proposesd the introduction of an ‘ascending principle’ for EHF office holders i.e. after having served three terms of office in a top function within the EHF (president, vice president, treasurer and/or chair of a technical commission) a person may only take up a position that is of equal or higher rank within the organisation. The Extraordinary Congress voted in favour of the motion.

Motion 4: Multiple candidacies for positions within EHF bodies

The Congress voted in favour and adopted motion number four relating to multiple candidacies for position within EHF bodies. National Federations will therefore be limited in the number of positions a candidate can be proposed for to a maximum of two functions.

Motion 5: Universality of rules regarding overlapping positions

The motion from the EHF relating to preventing the conflict of interests within the structure of the federation was passed by the Congress.

The change means that, unless otherwise provided for by the EHF Statutes, federation officials will not be permitted to hold multiple functions within the structure of the federation and EHF-owned entities.

Closing words

At the closing of the EHF Extraordinary Congress, the EHF Secretary General, Michael Wiederer, announced his intention to stand for election to the EHF President position at the next elections to be held in November 2016.