Second half throw-off for EHF Champions League

Vienna, 5 November 2008 – This evening, the teams will throw-off for the second half of the Men’s EHF Champions League Group Phase.  On 5th November at 19:00 the teams will resume their quest for a place in the main round of the 2008/2009 Men’s EHF Champions League. After three rounds and 87 TV broadcasts, plus over 150 hours of coverage, everything is still possible for the remaining match days but some teams are already confident about securing one of the prestigious places in the Main Round.

The New Playing System and how it works

The playing system of the 2008/09 EHF Men’s Champions League has a new and exciting change to it compared to last season. The first phase remains unchanged with 32 teams in 8 groups of 4 teams each. The teams play a normal group system with home and away matches providing a total of 6 matches per team.

The first two teams of each group qualify for the second phase (Main Round) and proceed together to the same group and will take with them the results of their two matches from the first phase. Consequently they will only play against two teams qualifying from another group making a total of 4 matches per team in the second phase. The first and second ranked team of each group in the Main Round go further to the quarterfinals. These quarterfinals, as well as semifinals and finals, are played in the traditional k.o. system with home and away matches. This change has been widely welcomed as the Uwe schwenker, Chairman of the Men’s EHF Marketing Board recently announced to the sporting press, “this makes the Champions League extremely exciting and has increased the value of the product!”

Main Round Draw

The location for the Main Round Draw has already been announced, it will take place on 25th November 2008 at 11:00 at Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf in Vienna. The Main Round will commence in February 2009.

EHF Marketing intensifies partnership with adidas

The EHF and its competitions have been connected to adidas since the very outset. As of match day 4, there will be increased presence of adidas on the EHF Champions League “lagoon” courts around Europe. There will be an over-dimensional official Champions League ball placed on the centre circle and additional advertising near the goal area. adidas will partner the EHF Champions League in all 94 matches right up to and including the final. Peter Vargo, EHF Marketing Managing Director underlines the importance of long term, high-profile partnerships, “the EHF competitions have been connected to adidas for over 15 years, we have always placed importance on partnership rather than sponsorship and such partnerships form the foundation for the future development of the EHF Champions League product.”

EHF Champions League Show

The EHF Champions League show, produced in cooperation with Eurosport/Eurosport 2, which is shown weekly with a round-up of the highlights and news from in and around the Men’s EHF Champions League has seen success in its first weeks on the market. The next edition will be on Sunday with over 12 TV channels broadcasting the show, including Russian, Brazilian and North African channels.

ehfTV.com

ehfTV continues to bring the EHF Champions League to a wide audience across the globe. With live matches, replay and highlights the handball fan has every thing he needs online at ehfTV.com now with a refreshed, user-friendly look.