EHF Executive Committee meets in Hamburg

The 12 members of the EHF Executive Committee, together with members of the EHF Office, were in Hamburg over the weekend of 16/17 December 2017 for their latest scheduled meeting.

The presidents of the International Handball Federation, Dr Hassan Moustafa, and the German Handball Federation, Andreas Michelmann, welcomed the officials to the final weekend of the Women’s IHF World Championship and opened the meeting.

Topics on the agenda included the awarding of the Men’s EHF Cup Finals 2018, reports on recent events as well as an update on the ongoing process for the federation’s long-term audio-visual and marketing rights.

Competitions

Awarding of EHF Cup Finals 2018

SC Magdeburg will host the sixth edition of the EHF Cup Finals after the hosting rights were awarded to the German club.

The awarding is subject to the club reaching a final agreement with the EHF's marketing subsidiary, EHF Marketing GmbH.

The tournament will take place on 19/20 May 2018 with the competitions' four best teams descending on the GETEC-Arena - Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, which has a capacity of 7,100.

VELUX EHF Champions League - no additional place for German teams in 2018/19

The issues faced this season in the scheduling the VELUX EHF Champions League matches involving German teams were discussed.

The Executive Committee agreed that despite the scheduling problems it would not reduce the number of starting places for German teams for the coming season.

It was, however, agreed that no additional places would be granted to the German Handball Federation.

This means that two German teams will be play in the VELUX EHF Champions League in the coming season thereby easing the scheduling problems faced this year.

World Championship qualification - regulations update

A motion from the Competitions Commission for a change to the competition regulations for player replacements in national team qualification tournaments was approved.

The change will mean that is will be possible for teams playing in qualification tournaments starting from January 2018 to make player replacements during weekend events.

Change of playing venue in Georgia

A request from the Georgia Handball Federation relating to a change in playing venue for the M18 EHF Championship to be played in the summer of 2018 was confirmed.

The event, previously scheduled for Tbilisi, will now be played in Telavi, 80 km to the east. The venue is currently under construction. The change does not affect the conditions for participating teams.

EHF EURO Cup

A motion dealing with the details of the playing of the EHF EURO Cup – a new competition involving the EHF EURO 2018 champions (the winning team qualifies directly for EHF EURO 2020 and therefore does not play in qualification) plus the three organising nations (Sweden, Austria and Norway) was confirmed.

The motion will see the competition played on a home and away basis rather than a tournament basis as was initially envisaged.

EHF Marketing GmbH

EHF Marketing GmbH held its General Assembly on Friday, 15 December, with the EHF Managing Director, David Szlezak, reporting positive results for the 2016/17 season.

The budget for the 2017/18 season was confirmed, with an increase in the payments to clubs and the EHF foreseen. The revised management structure of the EHF’s marketing subsidiary was presented.

The EHF Executive Committee made a point of praising the work of EHF Marketing GmbH and its staff, highlighting the positive development of the company.

Partners

Reports on the EHF and EHF Marketing GmbH partnerships were presented including those with Infront Sports & Media, Select, Salming, Sport Transfer, MP & Silva and Sportradar.

Sport Transfer

It was confirmed that a new contract had been signed with Sport Transfer, the federation’s official handball goal partner. The contract extension will run through to 2020.

Fraud detection

Following talks with Sportradar, the EHF is to examine the development of a fraud monitoring and detection system to safeguard the sport from betting related match-fixing and corruption. The initiative will also see further information and education measures.

Anti-doping Unit

The EHF Secretary General, Martin Hausleitner, gave a report on the working of the EHF Anti-doping Unit, confirming the number of tests conducted this year and those planned for the next season.

He also confirmed an increase in the budget for the Anti-doping Unit with an expanded information and education programme, focused particularly on youth competitions. The move follows the positive results during the summer at the Women’s 19 EHF EURO.

Beach Handball

ebt Finals awarded

A proposal from Ole R. Jorstad, Chairman Beach Handball Commission, for the awarding of the 2018 ebt Finals (1-3 June 2018) to the town of Stare Jablonky in Poland was confirmed.

EUSA cooperation

The recent meeting with the European University Sport Association was discussed. The cooperation with the EUSA could see the organisation of an EHF/EUSA Beach Handball Universities Championships in July 2019 and beach handball being added to the programme of the European Universities Championships (EUC) where beach handball would become the 20th sport.

Younger Age Category Beach Handball Championship

A total of 17 women’s teams and 15 men’s teams have registered to date for the event in Montenegro to be held in the summer of 2018.

It was confirmed that a final decision will be made on the final number of participating teams.

Development/methods/CAN

Jerzy Eliasz, the chairman of the Methods Commission highlighted the extensive work of the commission over recent months.

This has included the EHF Scientific Conference held in Vienna and more recently the awarding of MSc academic titles to EHF master coaches in a unique cooperation with the University of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria.

He also highlighted the SMART Programme in cooperation with Montenegro, the upcoming courses and lecturer nominations and also the EHF Master Coach Course in Porec, Croatia (11-18 January) during the Men’s EHF EURO, which will involve 600 coaches.

International activities

A report on the recent IHF Congress was provided, as was information on the two IHF Council meetings held before and after the Congress.

Also presented was a list of the most recent meetings, including the continued representation of Jean Brihault, EHF Honorary EHF President, on the EU high level group on sport diplomacy, as well as cooperation visits.

The recent calendar meeting between the IHF and EHF was also highlighted as an important cooperation between the two bodies.

Boards and Stakeholders

Nations Board

The EHF president provided a clarification on the role of the Nations Board, as a stakeholder group representing the interests of the national federations to the Professional Handball Board.

The last meeting  covered the tender process for the EHF’s audio-visual and marketing rights and competition issues including the EHF EURO Cup.

A report from the working group relating to EHF EURO qualification Phase 2 for EHF EURO 2020 will be presented to the EHF Executive Committee at the end of January 2018 in Zagreb.

Also, additional financial investment in the qualification for the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 was approved. This will include money for teams not taking part in qualification phase 2, an education programme including a workshop on social/digital media parallel to the EHF EURO 2020 draw in Trondheim, Norway 11-13 April 2018 as well as money to cover the cost of participating in qualification such as for referees and delegates and improving the quality of TV coverage.

Professional Handball Board

A new Memorandum of Understanding agreed by the Executive in September and signed by the EHF and Forum Club Handball for the period 2018-2030 was highlighted and it was reiterated that the agreement would provide security for the long-term development of the EHF’s club competitions from 2020.

Extension of SMART with EHPU agreed

It was agreed to further support the development of the European Handball Players Union (EPHU) with an extension to their SMART Programme support. The body represents professional handball players in Europe.

Memorandum of Understanding with EPHLA

The EHF confirmed that the Memorandum of Understanding with the European Professional Handball Leagues Association (EPHLA) would expire in June 2018.

It was agreed that because EPHLA membership was restricted to only a small number of professional leagues in Europe, the EHF would not extend the MoU but would start an initiative to create a new body, which would enable all leagues in Europe to join.

Women’s Handball Board

A report on the work of the Women’s Handball Board was presented by Narcisa Lecusanu which included the workshop to strengthen women’s handball network held in October.

Following Lecusanu’s election to the Executive Committee of the International Handball Federation, and with reference to the EHF statutes, the Executive agreed that she would continue in her role with the EHF Executive Committee until the next meeting of the Women’s Handball Board in March.

She will continue as a member of the WHB but will relinquish her position on the executive to Nodjialem Myaro (FRA) from the EHF Executive Committee meeting scheduled for the end of March 2018.

Rights process (2020-2030)

A significant part of the meeting was devoted to the current tender process for the EHF’s audio-visual and marketing rights for competitions including European Cup and EHF EURO competitions from 2020 through to 2030.

The Executive Committee members were informed that the process, which initially attracted seven offers, has now been reduced in a second round to four potential partners. Final offers are anticipated by 18 January.

The tender process, alongside proposals for changes to the EHF structure post-2020, will be on the agenda for the next meeting of the EHF Executive and the Conference of Presidents during the final weekend at EHF EURO 2018 in Zagreb.

The Conference of Presidents offers an opportunity for an exchange of information with and between national federations and the EHF as well as serving as preparation for the EHF Congress in Glasgow on 18/19 June 2018.

Finances

The EHF Treasurer, Henrik La Cour, reported on the current financial situation for the EHF, particularly the positive forecast for the 2017 financial year.

Additional business

An approach has been made to refresh the Women’s Regional Handball League for the support of the organisation of a league in South East Europe. More information is expected at the next meeting, which takes place in Zagreb on the final weekend of the Men’s EHF EURO 2018.