Lisbon welcomes EHF leadership

The members of the EHF’s Executive Committee and federation staff were in Lisbon on Thursday, 28 September for the body’s first meeting of the new season.

Ahead of the meeting, the Executive Committee met with officials from the Portuguese government and city of Lisbon as well as representatives from the event’s hosts, the Portuguese Handball Federation.

Representatives included João Paulo Rebelo, Secretary of State of Sports and Youth; Jorge Máximo, Councillor of the Municipality of Lisbon; Miguel Laranjeiro, President, Portuguese Handball Federation and also the federation’s international relations director, Leonor Mallozzi.

Pictured with the EHF Presisdent, Michael Wiederer (l-r): Jorge Máxim, Councillor of the Municipality of Lisbon; João Paulo Rebelo, Secretary of State of Sports and Youth and Miguel Laranjeiro, President, Portuguese Handball Federation

MoU agreed with Forum Club Handball

Following a presentation of the terms of a new MoU with Forum Club Handball, agreed at a meeting in Vienna on 18/19 September 2017, the signing of a new agreement with the body representing Europe’s top clubs was approved.

The MoU is scheduled to be signed at FCH’s annual Board Meeting on the Spanish island of Mallorca on 16 October 2017 when a joint announcement will be made with further details.

Tender process 2020-2030

Following the release on 18 September 2017 of the tender documentation for the EHF’s audio-visual and marketing rights for the period 2020-2030, the topic has had a high profile in the international media.

The EHF President, Michael Wiederer, provided an update on progress with the process.

He confirmed strong market interest in the rights with a pre-tender briefing having been held in Vienna in early September by the EHF and the media consultancy appointed to manage the process, SN1 Consulting.

Deadline for submissions has been set for 15 November 2017.

Broadcast and sponsorship rights available include all of the federation’s club competitions (EHF Champions League, EHF Cup and Challenge Cup), national team competitions (EHF EURO and youth events) as well as beach handball EURO final tournaments.

The EHF has developed a number of different rights packages across its club and national team competitions, which are being offered on a modular basis.

Update to rules of procedure

An update to the federation’s rules of procedure was confirmed, dealing with the work of both the Executive Committee and the federation’s professional staff.

The changes reflect the federation’s professional structure following the election of a president in the new role of chief executive officer, appointment of a new secretary general as chief operating officer as well as the role of the chief financial officer.

At the same time, the tasks and responsibilities of the Finance Delegation as a preparatory body for the Executive Committee have been defined.

The composition of the body was also confirmed: EHF president, vice president, treasurer, secretary general and chief financial officer.

National federations will be provided with information on the revised rules of procedure.

Changes to EHF structure

The EHF Executive Committee agreed to a pro-active approach to the further development of the EHF structure in the future.

It was confirmed that a working group would be set-up to examine changes to the EHF structure for the next electoral period 2020-2024.

The working group will be chaired by the former EHF President, Jean Brihault, who played a pro-active role during his time in office in integrating various stakeholders into the EHF structure.

The working group will be made up of representatives of the nations, nominated from Nations Board and Women’s Handball Board, as well as from the Executive Committee and external experts. The first meeting of the working group will be held on 19 October 2017.

A presentation of initial proposals and exchange of information is foreseen at the Conference of Presidents, scheduled for the 27 January 2018 in Zagreb during the final weekend of the Men’s EHF EURO 2018.

The relevant motions will then be prepared for the EHF Congress taking place in Glasgow, Scotland on 18/19 June 2018.

Legal issues

Information was provided on the status of on-going legal cases involving three Russian youth players, who provided positive tests at the Women’s 19 EHF EURO played in Slovenia over the summer.

The work of the federation’s independent anti-doping body, the EHF Anti-Doping Unit, which operates a complete programme of testing across all levels within the European game, was highlighted.

Reports from technical commissions

The meeting was updated on the progress with the development of the ‘iBall’ project first unveiled at the Handball Goes Tech event in Cologne in June 2017.

Information on upcoming events organised under the remit of the Methods, Competitions and Methods Commissions was also provided:

- Champions Cup (26-29 October 2017 in Gran Canaria) – Preparations for the next big event in the beach handball calendar were presented.

- EHF Scientific Conference (17/18 November 2017 in Vienna) – The main topic for the event being the ‘Scientific approach to the player's environment - from participation to the top’. The conference will bring together professional and scientific experts together to discuss aspects including health and training perspectives as well as the use of technology.

- Men’s EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia (12-28 January 2018) - A report was also given on the intensive preparations for the event.

- Men’s EHF EURO 2020 - Plans for the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 draw in Trondheim on 13 April 2018 were discussed. Parallel to the draw, a workshop for the teams participating in qualification as well as a digital/social media workshop for national federations will take place.

It was confirmed that the regulations for the EHF EURO 2020 qualification would be updated given the further development of the competition from 2020, with three nations hosting and 24 teams competing in the final tournament, 48 teams playing in qualification and the new qualification system with eight groups of four teams each.

- A decision on the awarding of the 2018 EHF Masters Championship – scheduled for summer 2018 - was deferred pending further clarification from bidding cities. Four nations have submitted bids for the event, including Austria (Innsbruck), Hungary (Györ), Italy (Montesilvano) and Sweden (Malmö).

Politics and sport

A new initiative was approved to conduct an analysis of how best to deal with geo-political situations, where there is potential for issues to affect the playing of EHF competitions and international relations on a sporting level.

The review will also include an examination of how other sports and federations have approached similar issues. A report will be presented at the meeting in December with proposals for further measures in the future.

Women’s Handball Board

On the fringes of its next scheduled meeting on 10 October 2017, the Women’s Handball Board will organise a workshop under the title of ‘Strengthening Women’s Handball Network’.

50 participants and invited experts will attend the workshop, which will focus on issues in the women’s game including promotion and development. Best practice case studies will be presented by the Norwegian and Netherlands Handball Federations.

Finances

The report from the Finance Delegation, which took place in Montenegro on 8 September, was received.

A status report on the 2017 budget was presented, as were the timelines for the 2018, 2019/20 budgets.

Additional financial support for the federation’s younger age category events was approved in order to motivate more nations to take part in the youngest age events.

EHF Marketing GmbH report

In the presence of the EHFM Managing Director, David Szlezak, a report on the meeting of the Advisory Board was provided.

The financial report of the EHFM for the past year was presented and its was confirmed that in a next step the books will be inspected by representatives of the clubs and the Comptrollers Council before final presentation at the EHFM General Assembly on 15 December 2017.

Preparations for IHF Congress

Information on the previous IHF Council meeting was exchanged, as were preparations for the IHF Congress, which will take place in Antalya, Turkey on 11-12 November 2017.

Next meeting

The EHF Executive Committee will next meet in December 2017 during the final weekend of the Women’s World Championship in Hamburg, Germany.