Bucharest hosts EHF Executive Meeting

The 127th meeting of the EHF Executive Committee took place in the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest one day before the start of the EHF Conference of Presidents and EHF Extraordinary Congress.

The meeting was preceded by the General Assembly of EHF Marketing GmbH for the year 2014/15.

EHF President, Jean Brihault, welcomed the members of the EHF Executive as well as Michael Wiederer, EHF Secretary General, and other EHF office staff to the meeting before dealing with a number of reports from the Finance Delegation, Secretary General and an update on the latest legal cases.

EHF Conference of Presidents/EHF Extraordinary Congress

The meetings to be held on Saturday, 14 November were reviewed by the members of the Executive Committee. 

It was confirmed that all member federations were up to date with their finances and therefore eligible to vote in the motions at the Extraordinary Congress (see complete information).

The proposals for the qualification system to the EHF EURO 2020, where the event will expand to 24 teams and three hosting nations (Sweden, Austria and Norway) were discussed ahead of their presentation to the member federations, who will be asked for their inputs and views on the proposals in the meeting.

Competitions

The awarding of the 2016 edition of the IHF/EHF Women’s Challenge Trophy was confirmed. The Georgian Handball Federation will host the event, to take place 8-13 March 2016 in Tbilisi.

The organisational right for the Men’s EHF Cup Finals – final weekend of the Men’s EHF Cup 2015/16 and scheduled to be played 14 and 15 May 2016 - was raised. Following receipt of a number of bids, these will now be evaluated by the EHF Office ahead of a final decision by the EHF Executive in due course.

Nations Board and Professional Handball Board

The latest round of meetings from the Nations Board and Professional Handball Board were noted. 

The EHF Executive confirmed the replacement of Heiner Brand following his resignation from the Nations Board. He will be replaced by Aleksander Blagojevic from Serbia, who was the second candidate in the election held at the EHF Congress in Dublin in 2014.

Women’s Handball Board

A proposal from the Women’s Handball Board for the development of a new project to strengthen women’s youth handball was approved. The initiative will provide opportunities for the fostering of young players and the early introduction of handball to young female players.

EHF EURO 2016 in Poland

The positive cooperation between the EHF and the EHF EURO 2016 Organising Committee in Poland in the run-up to the event in January 2016 was highlighted as the meeting discussed the current organisational status of the event. 

Wheelchair Handball

The organisation of the European Wheelchair Handball Nations’ Tournament on 12 and 13 December in St. Pölten, Austria was discussed.

The national team selections of Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden will take part in the tournament. The Executive signalled their support for the further development of this form of the sport in the future.

Beach Handball

It was confirmed that the agreement for the organisation of the YAC Beach Handball Championship in Nazare, Portugal from 8-10 July 2016 will be signed with the Portuguese Handball Federation on the fringes of the EHF Conference of Presidents.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the EHF Executive Committee will take place on Saturday, 30 January 2016 in Krakow during the final weekend of the Men’s EHF EURO 2016.