The second day of the EHF Congress 2021 left time for emotions as some of the longest standing members of the European handball family were elected as honorary members to the EHF.

First up was Panos Antoniou, the out-going President of the EHF Court of Handball. Antoniou had been working in various functions in the Cypriot as well as the European and International Handball Federation for almost 30 years, since 1993.

The EHF’s Senior Manager Legal Management, Monika Flixeder, praised Antoniou’s diplomatic skills, his competence and his crucial attributions to the federation’s legal framework. With seats at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Handball, Antoniou was part of the EHF’s legal system for 20 years.

"We have had some long nights, and sometimes we were tired, but it was never tiring with you," Flixeder said.

Out-going Methods Commission chairman Jerzy Eliasz was lauded by the EHF’s Senior Manager and EHF Competence Academy and Network (CAN) Coordinator Helmut Höritsch who praised Eliasz’s work in the development of the Methods Comission over the past eight years he served as the MC’s chairman.

The final membership was awarded to Ole R. Jorstad, the out-going chairman of the Beach Handball Commission.

Secretary General Martin Hausleitner praised the Norwegian’s work in developing beach handball.

"You have developed the sport and the work of the commission in an open-minded way, and at the same time you granted the people the space to develop themselves," Hausleitner said.

Special awards of honour went to Viktor Konopliastyi (UKR), Jacques Bettenfeld (FRA) and Janka Stasova (SVK).

'Top nation in European handball' awards went to France for 2018, to Denmark for 2019 and to Norway for 2020. Spain received the 'top nation in European beach handball' award for the years 2018 to 2020.

The Bulgarian Handball Federation, the Montenegrin Handball Federation and the Slovenian Handball Federation were recognised as ‘Top Organisers’ for having hosted three or more competitive EHF events.

The Dutch Handball Federation was recognised with a Fair Play Award – the first time such an award was handed out – for the way they cooperated and acted when the Netherlands’ match at the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 against Serbia had to be postponed and the team’s championship schedule subsequently changed.

The next Ordinary EHF Congress will take place in the Swiss city of Basel on 23 and 24 June 2023, forming a centre piece in the Swiss federation’s activation plan for the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 which they will co-host with Hungary and Austria.