The EHF Executive Committee has come together in Vienna on Friday for its March meeting.

It was the body’s first meeting in 2021, but at the same time also its second to last gathering before a new Executive Committee will be elected at the upcoming EHF Congress which takes place on 23 and 24 April.

The Executive Committee approved the notes of its previous meeting in December in Herning, Denmark including the circular decisions, i.e. the implementation of the Men's 19 EHF EURO, which were reached and published in the meantime. Furthermore, it was provided with information, reports and updates from various EHF bodies and stakeholder groups.

With regards to reports, the EXEC took note of the final accounting for 2020 and confirmed the reports of the federation’s comptrollers and the external auditors.

It took note of the legal management’s and EHF Marketing’s report and was provided with a marketing update of the European handball competitions in the partnership with Infront and DAZN Group.

The situation of the European Anti-doping Unit was discussed and the possibility of a common IHF/EHF approach towards the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was approved.

The most recent decisions of International Handball Federation’s Council, including a positive review of the World Championship in Egypt, were brought to the EXEC’s attentions.

Inputs from stakeholder groups such as the Nations Board, the European Handball League Board, the Professional Handball Board, the Women’s Handball Board as well as from Forum Club Handball were discussed in detail.

Several motions had come out of the most recent meetings of the Technical Commissions and were submitted, as the EXEC reached key decisions for European club and national team handball.

One of them was that the EXEC agreed that the EHF would approach the International Handball Federation for an adaptation of regulations for player agents.

2021 IHF/EHF Trophy to be played in Tbilisi, Georgia

Following an initiative of the European Handball Federation and a subsequent approval by the International Handball Federation, an IHF/EHF Trophy tournament is foreseen to be played in Tbilisi, Georgia from 15 to 21 June 2021.

The teams of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Great Britain, Georgia, Ireland, Moldova and Malta are entitled to participate at the IHF/EHF Trophy.

The tournament replaces the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship which was scheduled for April 2021 but cancelled. It also replaces the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 Phase 1 Qualifiers which initially featured a tournament including Georgia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Great Britain.

With this, the IHF/EHF Trophy forms an integral part of the qualification to the Men’s EHF EURO 2024. The trophy’s three best teams will qualify for the so-called relegation round in which they have the chance to gain their place in the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers.

Additional information will be released by the EHF once the exact number of participants is determined.

The IHF/EHF Trophy completes the EHF’s event summer with no less than 12 indoor events foreseen to be played.

• Men’s 17 European Open from 5 to 9 July in Sweden
• Women’s 19 EHF EURO from 8 to 18 July in Slovenia
• Women’s 19 EHF Championships from 10 to 18 July in Italy and North Macedonia
• Women’s 17 EHF EURO from 5 to 15 August in Montenegro
• Women’s 17 EHF Championships from 7 to 15 August in Georgia and Lithuania
• Men’s 19 EHF EURO from 12 to 22 August in Croatia
• Men’s 19 EHF Championships from 15 to 22 August in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Latvia

The EXEC also took note of the cancellation of the European Universities Games, which would have included an indoor as well as a beach handball tournament. The event was scheduled by EUSA from 14 to 27 July.

Optional wild card for the EHF European League Men

The Executive Committee confirmed a motion coming from the Competitions Commission for the option of a wild card in the EHF European League Men as of the 2021/22 season.

Following the commission’s approach, one club can be awarded with a wild card to the group phase and does not have to play the qualification rounds.

It was underlined that this wild card can only go to one team of a federation that does not already have a guaranteed place in order to keep the philosophy of awarding 12 different federations with a place in the group phase.

The awarding will be done by the Executive Committee.

20 players can be nominated for EHF EUROs

Several topics related to national team competitions were on the agenda, including the final report of EHF EURO 2020 and the corresponding accounting with Denmark, respectively Norway.

With the analysis at hand and looking ahead to the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia, the EXEC approved adaptations to the EHF EURO 2022 regulations.

As of the upcoming January event, 20 players – instead of 16 – can be nominated at the technical meeting and out of the official squad list of 35 players. One hour prior to a match, four players will then be crossed off the start list.

This change is deemed to reduce the burden for players at the final tournament.

Looking at the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the EHF EURO Hygiene Concept has become an integrated part of the regulations. Furthermore, it was confirmed by the EXEC that teams shall arrive two days prior to their first matches.

Following an information on the most recent rounds of Men’s EHF EURO 2022 Qualifiers and taking note of the EHF’s as well as the respective federations’ efforts to find and schedule playing dates for matches which could not be played, the EXEC underlined that no more qualification matches shall be played after 2 May 2021 in order to safeguard a proper calculation of the four best third-ranked teams.

This date marks the end of the qualification period. The final tournament draw is scheduled for 6 May in Budapest.

Beyond the next men’s event, the EXEC confirmed the playing schedules for the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro as well as for the Men’s EHF EURO 2024. Both schedules will be published following consultations with the respective organisers.

Ranking list for transfer education compensation

In 2019, the IHF decided to implement a ranking system to rate the education compensation in international transfers. Upon an IHF Council decision, each continent, for the purpose of continental transfers only, had the possibility to decide on its own ranking system.

The EXEC approved the solution which had been elaborated by a dedicated working group including all stakeholder groups.

The transfer ranking will be created by merging the ranking of the national team competitions and the club competitions over a time of three years, with a separate ranking for men and women in place.

These ranking lists are always created in uneven years in spring, based on the results of the last two EHF EUROs, one World Championship and 3 concluded club seasons.

The following classification in Top Nation, Developed Nation and Emerging Nation shall be valid:

Men:
Top National Federation 1 - 8
Developed National Federation 9 - 24
Emerging National Federation 25 - 50

Women:
Top National Federation 1 - 8
Developed National Federation* 9 - 16
Emerging National Federation 17 - 50

*From 2024 onwards, it shall also apply for the women’s ranking list that ‘Developed National Federations’ are from 9 - 24 as also the EHF EURO will consist of 24 participating teams.

SMART programme updates

Approving motions from the Methods Commission, a SMART programme with Moldova was approved, while it was agreed to postpone the start of phase 2 of the current programme with the Scottish Handball Federation and also adapt the current SMART programme with the Belgian Handball Federation.

EHF Congress

The meeting concluded with a detailed update on the upcoming EHF Congress including the current status of the organisation, its timetable, programme and agenda.

Overall, 53 positions will be filled at this electoral EHF Congress and with more than 139 nominations from 38 National Federations in total, the interest for the top positions in European handball is high.

>> Click here for the overview of who is running for the positions within the Executive Committee.

A detailed overview on the elections as well as on the motions submitted to Congress will be provided by the EHF over the coming weeks

The current EXEC’s final meeting will take place on 22 April on the eve of the Congress.