EHF Ordinary Congress
EHF Ordinary Congress
The 9th EHF Congress will take place from 26 – 27 September 2008 in Vienna, Austria. All 49 EHF Member Federations will be represented, plus Kosovo as associated member of the EHF. The European Handball Federation will also welcome honorary guests, including representatives from the highest Austrian sport authorities, the International Handball Federation, UEFA and key EHF partners. Over 200 people are expected in Vienna for the weekend’s activities.
Wednesday 24th & Thursday 25th
Representatives from the European Handball Federation and members of the EHF and EHF Marketing bodies will be arriving on Wednesday for the meetings starting on Thursday. The EHF Bodies will hold their last meetings before the elections on Friday 26th, these will wrap-up the 4-year period of office for each of the bodies. In addition to this the EHF Marketing General Assembly will gather. Participants of the Congress will begin arriving on Thursday 25th.
Friday 26th September
Friday will see the first day of the Congress. Tor Lian, President of the EHF, will be chairing the two day event, supported by EHF Vice-president Jean Brihault. External representatives from sporting circles will also be in Vienna to address the Congress, including the IHF represented by Secretary General Peter Mühlmatter. There will be an additional presentation on a new initiative which comes under the title EHF Brand Drive. Representatives from UEFA will also go before the Congress to talk about the European sports model and the partnership and joint work of the European team sports federations.
Friday belongs to the reports and will see the elections (for the term of office 2008 – 2012) to the EHF bodies: Executive Committee, Competitions Commission, Methods Commission, the newly installed Beach Handball Commission, Comptrollers, Arbitration Tribunal, Council of the Court of Arbitration and nominations to the IHF Congress. The Chairmen of the Competitions Commission Men’s Club, Women’s Club and National Teams Committee will also be up for approval. Other major points on the agenda for this day are the Presidential Business Report, EHF Marketing GmbH Report, and Financial Report.
Saturday 27th September
On Saturday, two major areas will be dealt with; the first part of the day will see motions tabled by the EHF and Member Federations as the subject of discussion, which will then be voted on by the Member Federations. These include motions relating to the EHF statutes and financial set-ups and adjustments.
A major point on the agenda is the motion relating to national men’s team competitions, which is essentially a 5-pronged package, dealing with alignments to scheduling, finances and the awarding of events, the establishment of a EURO Advisory Delegation and the initiation of an evaluation process of the new qualification. The motion serves the purpose of being a crucial, initial, formal discussion platform on a matter which is important to all active nations, stakeholders, leagues, clubs and players and indeed the future of the sport of handball in general.
Saturday will also be taken up by the awarding of events. The applicants are as follows:
EHF EURO Events
2012 (2011*) Men’s European Championship FRA, GER, SRB
2012 Women’s European Championship GER, NED, SRB, UKR
Younger Age Category Events (YAC)
2010 Men’s 18 European Championship BUL, MNE
2010 Men’s 20 European Championship BUL. MNE, SVK
2011 Women’s 17 European Championship BUL, MNE
2011 Women’s 19 European Championship BUL, MNE, SVK
* event year is dependant on outcome of national team competition motion which may result in realignment of scheduling.
Conclusion
The Congress will come to a close with an award ceremony and final words by the President. The Member Federations will also be able to use this forum to bring up matters of their interest. EHF President, Tor Lian, is looking forward to a constructive and productive Congress; “We will see over 200 of the highest ranked representatives from European handball circles in Vienna this coming weekend. The discussions and decisions will play a considerable role in shaping the European handball model for the coming years. The work and results of the two-day event are of paramount importance.”
Congress Coverage
In line with the pro-active information strategy of the EHF and intensified online coverage of EHF events on the eurohandball.com, the EHF will have a web team covering the happenings of the Congress. The News Service will send out daily editions of EHF news at the close of each day and eurohandball.com will have intensive coverage, including all the news plus stories in order to keep you informed of developments in handball on the European continent.
