Reykjavik hosts EHF Executive Committee

At the invitation of the Icelandic Handball Federation, members of the EHF Executive Committee were in Reykjavik on Friday, 16 September for their 113th meeting and the last before the EHF Congress, which takes place on 17/18 November 2016 in St.Wolfgang, Austria.

Ahead of the meeting, members of the the Executive Committee were received by the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson (pictured right (l-r): Jean Brihault, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Michael Wiederer and Gudmundur B. Ólafsson, President of the Icelandic Handball Federation).

A keen follower of handball, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson was himself a player in his youth and student days. His brother Patrekur is also a former Icelandic international handball player and now coach of the Austrian national men’s team.

Executive meeting

Split between ordinary business and preparation for the EHF Congress, the meeting opened with the approval of minutes from the last meeting of the Executive, the federation’s technical commissions, Finance Delegation and the EHFM Advisory Board.

The meeting dealt with the reports of the Secretary General and Finance Delegation, confirming that the final contract with Salming, the new official outfitter of the EHF and EHF Marketing GmbH, had been agreed.

The contracts with both the EHF and EHF Marketing with the Swedish company are for a four-year period and will run until the end of the 2019/20 season.

The EHF’s referees have already been supplied with new kits and shoes in preparation for the new season.

Legal amendments

The EHF Executive Committee confirmed an amendment to the EHF Code of Conduct, which has been updated to include guidelines for the use of social media by staff and officials.

Competition matters

A review of the summer’s competitions looked ahead to the 2017 Younger Age Category events, which will take place in Michalovce/Slovakia (EHF W17 EURO), Klaipeda/ Lithuania and Skopje/FYR Macedonia (EHF W17 Championships) and Celje/Slovenia (EHF W19 EURO).

The organisers of the events will be in Vienna on 26/27 September for a workshop where all organisational details will be discussed.

2017 will see the first roll-out of the new playing system in the women’s Younger Age Category events with the W17 competitions played with two EHF W17 Championship tournaments and the EHF W17 EURO.

With the Women’s EHF EURO 2016 in Sweden just around the corner, the Executive was informed about the preparations which include the Referee and Delegate Seminar held in Vienna 2-4 September and also the Heads of Delegation conference taking place in Malmö on 20-22 September.

It was confirmed that a seminar for new delegates will take place in December 2016 in Sweden.

Preparations for the organisation of the Men's EHF EURO 2020 event have also continued with the federations of Sweden, Austria and Norway to meet for a further workshop at the end of September.

Wheelchair handball

The EHF Executive agreed the rules and regulations proposed for the upcoming European Wheelchair Handball Nations Tournament to be played 7/8 December 2016 in Sölvesborg, Sweden.

A call for participation has now been issued with federations invited to enter teams. A maximum of six teams can take part in the event.

Masters handball

The EHF Executive Committee confirmed that the 2017 edition of the European Masters Championship will be awarded to Portugal and the city of Gondomar near Porto.

The event will be played in the categories: Women 33+ / Women 43+ / Men 35+ / Men 45+ / Men 50+. The championship is scheduled to take place 8-11 June 2017.

Changes to the European Open

A revision to the European Open was agreed. The event is organised annually in Gothenburg, Sweden parallel to and in cooperation with the Partille Cup.

Due to the increase in the number of European teams playing in the World Championships, it was agreed that the age levels of the competitions should be reduced and the competitions be played at similar ages to the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).

From 2017 the European Open will be played at M17 (2017) and W16 (2018) and then continue in alternate years.

Women’s EHF EURO 2018 in France

Following extensive inspections, the proposed arena concept for the Women’s EHF EURO 2018 was presented to the EHF Executive.

The event will be held in arenas in Nantes (PR/MR), Nancy (PR/MR), Montbeliard (PR), Brest (PR) and Paris Bercy, where the final weekend will be played.

Women’s EHF FINAL4 to remain in Budapest

The EHF Executive Committee approved the prolongation of an agreement with the Hungarian Handball Federation to organise the Women's EHF FINAL4 in Budapest for a further three years, subject to final contract negotiations with the EHF and EHF Marketing GmbH.

One change for the current season was agreed with the date for the event to be brought forward by one week due to the availability of the Papp László Sportaréna. The final weekend will now be played 6/7 May 2017.

Cross Border Leagues

The SEHA League was approved by the EHF and it was agreed that a further initiative would be started regarding other cross-border leagues within Europe.

Beach handball

The regulations for the European Beach Tour in 2016/17 were confirmed as were changes to the organisation of the 2017 EHF European Beach Handball Championships taking place in Croatia in 2017. The event will be moved from Umag to Zagreb and will take place 16-18 June 2017 (YAC event) and 20-25 June 2017 (senior championships).

The change has been made for organisational reasons and the fact that the final tournament draw for the Men’s EHF EURO 2018 will be made on the final weekend of the championship.

National federations

An initiative from the Hungarian Handball Federation proposing the creation of a database of professional handball players and also an adaptation of transfer fees according to foreign exchange rates was approved.

The EHF Executive Committee also approved the creation of a Foster Project between Scotland and Albania.

Stakeholder groups

In a review of upcoming meetings, it was noted that the next scheduled meetings of the Nations Board, Professional Handball Board and the Women’s Handball Board will take place on 10/11 October 2016 at the EHF Office in Vienna.

The Executive Committee was reminded that the representatives of these commissions would be nominated/elected as part of the upcoming election process around the EHF Congress in November.

The Executive was informed that a meeting has been held with the Men’s Forum Club Handball representing the clubs and was told that it was the intention to prolong the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which is currently in place from 2014 to 2018.

A mandate was given to finalise the agreement, which will take the MoU between the two bodies to 2022.

The MoU will serve to safeguard the structure of the highest level of competition. It relates to the release of players by clubs for national team events as well as the involvement and participation of representatives in the EHF structure.

Also important for the further development of the VELUX Champions League is a proposal that external partners be involved in the structure of EHF Marketing GmbH in the future.

European Union relations

Jean Brihault, the EHF President, gave a report on his involvement in the European Union’s Expert Group on High Level Governance as well as the group dealing with grassroots sport in Europe.

The Executive Committee confirmed that the EHF will support a common commitment to promote and improve good governance principles in the field of sport within Europe.

EHF Congress

The meeting was informed of the on-going organisational matters surrounding the EHF Congress taking place on 17/18 November 2016 in St. Wolfgang, Austria.

The event timetable, rundown and agenda have all been confirmed. The final list of nominations was noted and will be distributed to member federations and commission members on Monday, 19 September.

Two nations, Poland and Scotland/Great Britain, have applied to host the next EHF Congress scheduled to take place on 21/22 June 2018. The nations have proposed Warsaw and Edinburgh as the hosting cities.

Congress motions

The EHF Executive noted that four motions from the EHF have been put forward. Three dealing with changes to the federation’s legal structure and a further motion which would allow for additional regional/performance level representatives to be nominated by and to the EHF Executive Committee should regions and/or performance levels not be represented.

Additionally, two motions have been received from federations. Austria and Norway have re-submitted revised motions relating to age limit and gender equality.