16 November 2016 was the day of the first meeting of the current EHF Executive Committee; one day after it had been elected by the EHF Congress in St. Wolfgang, Austria.

On 22 April 2021, on the eve of the EHF Congress 2021 in Vienna, the EXEC’s final meeting of this electoral period took place.

In between 21 additional EXEC meetings took place in which the future and current state of European handball was discussed, decided upon and shaped.

Thursday’s meeting was an emotional one, in particular for outgoing Methods Commission chairman, Jerzy Eliasz, and outgoing Beach Handball Commission chairman, Ole R. Jorstad, who are not candidates anymore for the upcoming elections on Friday.

EHF President Michael Wiederer thanked both for their work and achievements as well for the management of their commissions and of the topics that arose over the past five years.

While the very final preparations for EHF Congress 2021 formed part of the meeting, the EXEC was also updated on the most recent developments within the EHF’s club and national team competitions.

For the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 in Denmark, the final accounting has been completed. For the upcoming Men’s EHF EURO 2022, with the final Qualifiers being played next week and the final tournament draw set for 6 May, the preparations are on track.

The same goes for the final tournaments in the club competitions, the EHF FINALS Women in Baia Mare (8/9 May), the EHF FINALS Men in Mannheim (22/23 May), DELO EHF FINAL4 in Budapest (29/30 May) and the EHF FINAL4 Men in Cologne (12/13 June) – for all, preparations as well as the close coordination with the hosting clubs and local organisers are in full swing.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact handball though, and the EXEC very much regretted the announcement that the Partille Cup and subsequently also the Men’s 17 European had been cancelled.

The EXEC also took note of the technical commissions’ reports. All three of them gathered for the last time in this current electoral period and will reconvene – then with its new members – on Saturday for the first meeting of the new period, 2021 to 2025.

Photos: Uros Hocevar / Kolektiff Images