Entitled ‘European Handball Forward’, the Conference of Presidents serves the information exchange between the EHF and its member federations which leads to activities and is also the start of formal steps for the implementation of such activities.
Six main areas will be addressed in Luxembourg by the European Handball Federation.
An outlook will be given to the upcoming top events in European handball, including the EHF EUROs 2024 in Germany for men (10-28 January 2024) and in Hungary , Switzerland and Austria for women (28 November to 15 December 2024) as well as the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2023 (24-28 May) in Portugal.
Already at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, an inaugural Women’s Handball Conference will take place at the final weekend (19-20 November). This conference is the next milestone on the EHF’s path to further raise the level of European women’s handball.
The future of the EHF’s younger age category events, as the platform for developing top players, will be presented including an envisioned enlargement of the EHF EUROs from 16 to 24 teams. Tribute will also be paid to the growing interest in beach handball, and the EHF’s future activities in this area will be presented.
Presented for the first time will be the EHF’s take on the ‘Circle of a Handball Life’. The approach and corresponding manual combines activities and gives support for the implementation on the national level on how handball can become a lifelong sport and activity which involves all age groups.
Additional information will also be given on the ‘Player of the Year’ campaign which was launched at the beginning of the 2022/23 season and is set to culminate in a gala event in Vienna on 26 June 2023.
Congress to follow the conference
The 15th Extraordinary EHF Congress follows the Conference of Presidents and will see several motions related to the EHF Statutes as well as to statutes of the European Handball Court Arbitration (ECA) and to the legal regulations of the EHF being tabled.
Related to the EHF Statutes, the EHF aims to order to unambiguously include the principle of non-discrimination relating to gender and gender orientation.
Furthermore, a motion is tabled to recognise English as the sole official language of the European Handball Federation and another one to establish an evaluation group which shall in the future assess the fulfillment of the necessary language competencies of candidates applying for functions within the EHF.
The next EHF Congress is scheduled to take place in 2023 in Basel, Switzerland.