Contract signed with Cologne until 2020

The future of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 was confirmed during the 2015 VELUX EHF FINAL4 draw event in Cologne as the EHF, EHF Marketing GmbH, the City of Cologne and the LANXESS arena put pen to paper and signed a contract that will see the VELUX EHF FINAL4 remain in Cologne until 2020, a four-year extension on the existing agreement that expires in 2016.

Michael Wiederer, EHF Secretary General, said: “Having established the VELUX EHF FINAL4 as the No. 1 event in club handball over the past five years, we’re ready to look to the future and are confident that Cologne is the right city to continue to host the event. Europe’s handball fans clearly agree with us as they return each and every year to Cologne in their tens of thousands.”

Already at its March meeting in Valencia, Spain the EHF Executive Committee reached the decision to award the organisation of the event to the City of Cologne and the LANXESS arena for additional four years.

With the existing agreement with the City of Cologne due to expire after the 2016 event, the new agreement will cover the period 2017 to 2020.

Following negotiations by the EHF and EHF Marketing GmbH, the EHF’s marketing subsidiary and the event organiser, the new agreement also includes an additional clause that allows the two-day sport and entertainment event to move to a new city for a one-off event in 2018, 2019 or 2020, if desired.

Jürgen Roters, Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne, said: “It’s a tremendous compliment to the Cologne sports community, with its enthusiastic and fair spectators, and also to the organisation in Cologne, that the European Handball Federation has decided to continue to play the Champions League finals in Cologne until 2020.

" This is also the result of the excellent cooperation between all those involved. We have been successful in the competition with other handball-cities - a special vote of confidence. We can be really proud of this achievement.”

Stefan Löcher, Managing Director of the LANXESS arena, said: “In 2010 when the first VELUX EHF FINAL4 was held in the LANXESS arena, we couldn’t have dreamed that, despite fierce competition, we would secure this top-class international event until 2020. This is a great accolade for the sports city Cologne and the LANXESS arena.

"Working together over the last few years, we have been successful in establishing this top-class tournament event as a mega-event and we would like to thank the EHF for the trust they have placed in us.”