Electronic team timeout premieres at Women’s EHF FINAL4

For the first time in its competition history, the European Handball Federation will give teams the opportunity to request a team timeout by hitting a buzzer on an electronic device instead of putting the well-known green card on the officials’ table.

The electronic team timeout will premiere at the Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest on 12 and 13 May 2018 and will subsequently be introduced at the Ottostadt Magdeburg EHF Cup Finals on 19 and 20 May in Magdeburg and the VELUX EHF FINAL4 on 26 and 27 May in Cologne.

The electronic device is connected to the official scoreboard and hitting its buzzer will directly stop the time. Additionally, an audio signal will make all parties aware that a timeout has been requested.

The general rules for the number of timeouts per team remain unchanged, and a timeout can only be requested if ball possession is not changing.

If the opposing team is in possession of the ball and a timeout is requested by the other team, the following punishments apply

• Progressive punishment for the official who requested the timeout
• 7-metre throw for the team which was in possession
• The team that caused the wrong timeout request will lose one team timeout

In case the interruption occurs during a clear chance of scoring for the opposing team, the following applies

• Red and blue card for the official who requested the team timeout
• 7-metre throw for the team which was in possession of the ball
• The team that caused the wrong timeout request will lose one team timeout

Further information can be found in the regulations for the EHF FINAL4 events, i.e. the Women's EHF FINAL4 (p13f)

http://ebook.eurohandball.com/2017-regulations-WCL/2018_WF4_Regulations.pdf (the same regulations apply for the Ottostadt Magdeburg EHF Cup Finals and the VELUX EHF FINAL4)