First meetings of year for boards

The first scheduled meetings for the Nations Board, Professional Handball Board and Women’s Handball Board have taken place in the EHF office in Vienna.

Nations Board

Chaired by Morten Stig Christiansen, Secretary General of the Danish Handball Federation, the Nations Board represents the interests of the federations on issues relating to men’s national team competitions.

The EHF President, Michael Wiederer, and Vice President, Predrag Boskovic were also in attendance at both the Nations and Professional Handball Board as were members of the EHF office.

Central topics included the EHF EURO and qualification for 2020 and the EHF's younger age category events. TV rights were also discussed, both the issues facing federations at all levels and also the awarding of the rights for both the Men's and Women's EHF EURO events post 2020.

Members of the Nations Board:

Chairman - Morten Stig Christensen / DEN
Deputy - Chairman Philippe Bana / FRA
Member - Mark Schober / GER
Member - Marek Goralczyk / POL
Member - Ingo Meckes / SUI
Member - Stephen Neilson / GBR

Professional Handball Board

Xavier O'Callaghan, Manager of FC Barcelona Lassa and President of Forum Club Handball, chaired the meeting, which brings together representatives of the EHF’s stakeholder groups including the clubs, leagues and players looking at a range of issues relating to the professional game.

Issues raised at this first scheduled meeting included the EHF EURO competitions and also EHF Champions League in the future.

The desire of the EHF and all stakeholders to achieve a coordinated approach in the interests of the whole of handball was underlined during the meeting.

Members of the Professional Handball Board:

Chairman - Xavier O'Callaghan / Men’s Forum Club Handball / ESP
Member - Frank Bohmann / European Professional Handball Leagues Association / GER
Member - Marcus Rominger / European Handball Players Union / GER
Member - Morten Stig Christensen / Nations Board / DEN
Member - Philippe Bana / Nations Board / FRA
Member - Peter Gentzel / European Professional Handball League Association / SWE
Member - Gerd Butzeck / Men’s Forum Club Handball / GER
Member - Michael Sahl Hansen / European handball Players Union / DEN

Women´s Handball Board 

Narcisa Lecusanu, the former international top player from Romania, chaired the meeting. She will hold the chair’s position through to 2018 from which point Nodjialem Myaro from France will take over until 2020.

Also in attendance were Henrik La Cour, the EHF treasurer, Gabriella Horvarth, member of the EHF Executive Committee, and Alenka Cuderman, WHB Coordinator.

Looking ahead to the next four years, the WHB agreed to work on a number of areas including improving the image of women’s handball, increasing the amount of media coverage and working to further improve the top competitions in women's handball including the EHF Champions League and EHF EURO.

Part of the WHB Action Plan will also see a focus on supporting and developing youth players aged 15-19 through training and mentoring in cooperation with the member federations.

Members:

Chair - Narcisa Lecusanu / ROU (to 2018)
Member Nodjialem Myaro / FRA (re-elected member)
Member Leonor Mallozzi / POR (new member)
Member Pirje Orasson / EST (re-elected)
Deja Ivanovic / SLO (new member)
Narcisa Lecusanu / ROU (nominated)
Liudmila Bodnieva / RUS (nominated)

An overview of the results of all the elections and nominations as a result of the 13th Ordinary EHF Congress held in November 2016 is available for download>>