EHF Executive Committee meets in Glasgow ahead of EHF Congress

One day before the start of the EHF Congress, the EHF Executive Committee gathered in Glasgow for its latest scheduled meeting.

Alongside reports from technical commissions, the Finance Delegation and the federation’s stakeholder boards, the main focus of the meeting was on decisions on EHF Champions League participation in the next season and preparations for the EHF Congress.

Opening the meeting was the EHF President, Michael Wiederer, who invited the COO of the Scottish Handball Association, Stevie Neilson, to address the committee and welcome delegates to Glasgow on behalf of the federation.

Following the signing of a new long-term media and marketing contract with Infront and Perform at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne, the Executive was given with an update on progress with the new agreement. It was also confirmed that member federations will be provided with further information during the EHF Congress, to include a presentation on the project from representatives of both Infront and Perform.

Competition motions confirmed

The Executive agreed two motions presented by the Competitions Commission.

The first decision relates to the Men´s EHF EURO 2022 Qualification/Men´s World Championship Qualification Europe.

Following a decision of the EHF Executive in March relating to the pathway to the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, the qualification route for 2022 was discussed.

It was agreed that the four (maximum, depending on the number of registrations for qualification phase 1) lowest ranked of the fourth ranked teams of the EURO 2020 should receive a second chance through the implementation of a 'relegation round' between these four teams and the winners of the EHF EURO 2022 qualification phase 1 as well as the winner of the Emerging Nations Championship. All eight teams will be known at the end of June 2019.

The second motion related to the VELUX EHF Champions League and Women’s EHF Champions League. Due to issues during the past season in the Last 16 knock-out phase, it was requested and agreed that the EHF will have the right to change the home right in knock-out phases.

Women’s EHF Champions League

It was confirmed that 14 teams will be given direct places in the group phase of the Women’s EHF Champions League with eight teams to play qualification for the remaining two places. A complete overview is available on ehfCL.com.

VELUX EHF Champions League

There will be no qualification tournaments played in next season’s VELUX EHF Champions League competition with the EHF Executive Committee confirming all 16 teams in groups A and B and all 12 side for groups C and D. Complete details can be found on ehfCL.com.

The EHF Executive discussed issues in the past season, particularly those in the Last 16 of the VELUX EHF Champions League involving Rhein-Neckar Löwen, and agreed that a review of the catalogue of criteria will be required to ensure that all requirements are met and that only clubs fully committed to the competition participate in the future.

Beach handball events

The EHF Executive Committee followed the Beach Handball Commission’s recommendation and awarded the Beach EURO 2019 to Stare Jablonki in Poland. The awarding follows the successful hosting of the ebt Finals in 2018. The EHF’s beach handball flagship event will be preceded by the Men’s and Women’s 17 Beach EURO in the same location. Playing dates are 27 to 30 June 2019 for the under 17 championship and 2 to 7 July for the senior event.

The location of this year’s EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup was also confirmed and will take place from 25 to 28 October 2018 in Catania on the island of Sicily. The event was awarded for three years (2018, 2019 and 2020) subject to finalisation of the contract.

Boards and stakeholders

It was reported that a new long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been negotiated with the Women’s Forum Club Handball. The MoU will be signed at the EHF Champions League draw event on 29 June in Vienna.

The meeting was informed about the inaugural meeting of the European Handball League Board, also taking place on the fringes of the draw event in Austria. The new body will represent all of Europe’s handball leagues within the EHF structure.

It was also highlighted that the MoU was signed with the European Handball Players Union at this season’s VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne.

Preparations for EHF Congress

The Executive confirmed task distribution and rundown for the Congress, which will begin at 9:00 hrs on Tuesday, 19 June with bid presentations and voting scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 20 June from 9:00 hrs.

Complete coverage of the event, including live results from the EHF EURO 2022/24 event awarding will be available on the EHF Twitter channel and eurohandball.com.