The EXEC meeting itself was preceded by meetings of the Technical Commissions, i.e. the Competitions Commission, the Methods Commission and the Beach Handball Commission, as well as by meetings of the Finance Delegation and the EHF Marketing Advisory Board which took place in late August.
The notes and inputs of these meetings, including subsequent motions to the EXEC, formed a key part of the Executive Committee’s eventual decision-making processes in Andau.
Awarding of EHF EUROs 2030/32
As a final step ahead of the submission for awarding by the EHF Extraordinary Congress in December, the EXEC evaluated all bids received for the Men’s and Women’s EHF EUROs in 2030 and 2032.
Several site visits took place over summer and the application documents were examined in detail and matched against the requirements provided in the initial bid documents.
With the results of this process at hand, the EXEC took the following decision:
The bid of Croatia and the bid of Czechia/Poland/Denmark for the Men’s EHF EURO 2030 have been approved.
The same holds true for the bids of Croatia and of Germany/France for the Men’s EHF EURO 2032 as well as for the bid of Germany/Denmark/Poland for the Women’s EHF EURO 2032.
For the Women’s EHF EURO 2030, the Executive Committee will propose to the EHF Congress that according to the statutes the EXEC shall be mandated to find an amended procedure to define a host or hosts for this championship.
The awarding of the EHF EUROs for 2030 and 2032 takes place on 14 December 2024 when the EHF Extraordinary Congress will assemble in Vienna at the final weekend of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024.
As part of the overall event report, the EXEC was also informed on the ticketing, promotion and preparation status of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 which takes place in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland from 28 November to 15 December.
Business Activities: Master Plan, Respect Your Talent, Quality Programme
The EXEC received an update on a variety of running business activities by the European Handball Federation.
For the EHF Master Plan, which supports the growth of grassroots handball across the EHF’s Member Federation’s, there are currently 16 active programme which are partially or fully funded by the EHF.
Three new applications – from Serbia, Israel and the Faroe Islands – have been received and were approved by the EXEC.
The Executive Committee took note of the successful organisation of the younger age category events over the summer which displayed top-level handball underlining the immense quality of the next generation of handball players.
At all tournaments combined, more than 500 players were selected as ‘Player of the Match’; 360 of those participated at the ‘Player of the Match’ workshops which were organised as part of the ‘Respect Your Talent’ (RYT) programme. The next RYT camp, to which 30 All-star Team players of the Men’s 18 EHF EURO and the corresponding EHF Championships will be invited, will take place in January in Vienna.
Following a proposal by the EHF’s Business Development department, the EXEC confirmed that next steps can be taken to establish a partnership with UK-based company, Sports Labs, for the development of an ‘EHF Quality Programme’. Once in place, Sports Labs will support the EHF in the development of the programme incl. drafting of testing standards, creation of documentation, pricing strategy and additional technical support for sports equipment.
The EXEC also took note of the positive development of the EHF’s digital figures. Total community size of the EHF channels stands at 3.2 million with 120,000 followers added in the second quarter of 2024.
Coverage of the EHF club competitions on digital channels reached 1170 million fans in 2023/24, a plus of 34% compared to the previous season.
Positively noted was also the updated style guide as a measure to further harmomise the handball coverage across Europe.
Legal Management: Ad-hoc bodies, integrity topics
With the legal report at hand, the EXEC received an overview of running and recently closed cases within the EHF’s legal system as well as an update on additional legal activities.
It was acknowledged that the implementation of ad-hoc bodies for the summer’s younger age category events in 2024 was carried out in a smooth and efficient way.
The case of the Serbian referees, Pandzic/Mosorinski, was highlighted. While the case has been closed by the Court of Handball, the EHF had made a proposal to the EXEC to relieve the referees from their international duties and discontinue their participation in EHF competitions due to their lack of cooperation, as demonstrated by their denial to appear for a hearing with the EHF. This proposal was confirmed.
In the case against Dragan Nachevski, no further appeal has been filed, and the suspension is imposed until 2026. As the election period will last only until September 2025, the position of the member refereeing in the Competition Commission will not be replaced.
The positions of Izet Gjinovci from Kosovo, who passed away in August, in the Court of Appeal and of Ingo Meckes, who became sports director at the German federation, in the Nations Committee will not be substituted either.
Technical Commissions: Competitions, Methods and Beach Handball
The EHF Executive Committee was provided with the notes of the Technical Commissions’ meetings which took place at the end of August. It was furthermore updated by the commissions’ chairpersons.
The Competitions Commission in its meeting had debriefed in detail the summer’s younger age category events. As a result of the analysis, a new playing system for the 24-nation YAC EHF EUROs was motioned which would see all first- and second-ranked teams in the preliminary round qualify to the main round, forming three groups of four teams each. The motion was confirmed.
A new national team ranking was confirmed, too. Following a motion by the competitions department, the new ranking will cover four years (currently three) and therefore always include two EHF EURO events and two IHF World Championships. This four-year period will be introduced for future rankings on the senior and the younger age category level.
As additional information coming from the competitions department, the EXEC received the list of referees and delegates active in the 2024/25 season. In total, there are 128 referee pairs (106 male and 22 female) as well as 141 delegates (114 male and 27 female) officiating in EHF competitions.
Furthermore, the EXEC awarded the 2025 European Masters Handball Championships to Sevilla. The event is scheduled to take place from 19 to 22 June 2025.
The EXEC also approved three cross-border leagues according to the EHF’s statutes. The leagues approved are:
- SUPER League Handball (NED/BEL): 12 men’s teams
- Baltic League (EST/LAT/LTU): 9 men’s teams
- MOL Liga (CZE/SVK): 12 women’s teams
The Methods Commission had discussed the preparation of the Grassroots Charter and the adaptation of the ‘RINCK’ Convention at its meeting in August and both topics were presented to the EXEC.
For the ‘RINCK’ Convention a revision is currently underway which will see the coaches’ education under the umbrella of the convention focus more on competencies and introduce fast lanes for elite players and established coaches.
The EHF Grassroots Charter shall be used as a tool by the Member Federations to implement grassroots programmes, activities and to commit to grassroots development as one core task. Once in place, the charter describes the rights, duties and responsibilities of EHF and the Member Federations which are signatories.
The topics will be presented in detail at the 16th Extraordinary EHF Congress on 14 December.
The Beach Handball Commission submitted a motion to introduce a ‘Candidate Programme’ for the sport. The programme’s aim is to raise the standard of refereeing, involve emerging nations in European beach handball and increase the number of female referees. The motion was confirmed.
The EXEC was also provided with an update on the numbers of active EHF Beach Handball Officials. Currently there are 74 delegates (20 women and 54 men) from 29 federations and 108 referees (41 women and 67 men) from 25 federations.
Furthermore, and following the IOC's decision not to include Beach Handball in the Olympic Games programme in 2028, the EXEC was informed on current measures to ensure the future of the sport.
The EHF deems additional initiatives necessary to ensure the sport's continued development and will hold a beach handball summit with various stakeholders in January 2025. A political approach shall be pursued, in collaboration with the IHF, to integrate beach handball into international and European competitions. Additionally, initiatives for grassroots programmes and new competition formats shall be explored.
International affairs: IHF and EOC
The EXEC was informed of the latest decisions and developments in international handball.
A report was also given on the latest meeting with the European Olympic Committee (EOC). As part of the meeting, the EHF had emphasised that beach handball’s inclusion in the European Games was a great success and expressed a strong interest in continuing this in the 2027 European Games. For this matter, the EHF will officially approach the EOC.
At the same time, the EOC expressed its interest in exploring the possibility of including indoor handball in the Games.
Both the EHF and the EOC acknowledged the positive development of the EYOF events, which serve as an excellent platform for developing young talents. Handball will be part of the EYOF programme in 2025 and 2027.
EHF Excellence Awards
The Executive Committee was informed about the EHF’s move to release a short list for the MVP vote of the EHF Excellence Awards 2023/24. Three male and three female players have been shortlisted for the season’s highest accolade.
Furthermore, the EHF decided to introduce an ‘European Olympic Excellence Award’ to honour European players for their performance at the Games. The first recipients are also already known.
More information: “EHF Excellence Awards 2024 short list for season MVP confirmed”
The awards gala, which will reveal the 2023/24 MVPs, will take place on 14 December 2024 at the final weekend of the Women's EHF EURO 2024.
European Handball House
An update was given on the building process for the European Handball House, the new headquarters of the EHF.
All planning is on track and the process has reached its final stages with the keys to the new office being handed over to the federation at the end of October.
The European Handball House will be officially opened on 15 December at the final weekend of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024. More than 500 guests are expected.
Preview: Final weekend of Women’s EHF EURO 2024 & 2025
The EXEC meeting closed with an outlook to the final weekend of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 and its activities as well as by running through the 2025 meeting calendar which culminates in the 17th Ordinary EHF Congress in September next year.
The upcoming final weekend of Women’s EHF EURO 2024 features not only the championship’s highlight matches but also the EHF Conference of Presidents and the 16th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 14 December.
The EXEC was provided with the latest status update on the agenda for both events as well as with an update to the motions submitted for decision to the Extraordinary Congress.
The 2025 meeting calendar was presented in detail and confirmed. It will be published together with the EXEC minutes.
The current status of preparations and the timeline towards the 2025 EHF Congress were discussed, and the EXEC was informed that profiles and task distribution overviews for positions to be elected have been composed.
With full support of the EXEC members, the profiles were confirmed and will be delivered to the Member Federations to have a more detailed description of the functions and positions up for nomination and election at the 2025 Congress.
The next steps will follow according to the regular timeline leading up to the 2025 Congress which is scheduled to take place exactly in one year, on 19/20 September 2025.
