EHF EXEC takes key decisions for 2023/24 club handball season
NEWS: The Executive Committee of the European Handball Federation has gathered in Istanbul, with key changes to the club handball environment being high on the agenda
The EHF Executive Committee has come together in Istanbul on Friday for its March meeting. The gathering followed and build upon a series of meetings of the EHF’s technical commissions, the Nations Board, the Professional Handball Board and the Women’s Handball Board as well as of EHF Marketing’s boards which took place earlier this month.
The topics discussed in those meetings made up the framework for the EXEC, and with the March session traditionally being the one that prepares the upcoming seasons, key decisions were taken for European handball as of 2023/24.
The meeting was attended by several representatives of the Turkish Handball Federation, with the federation’s president, Uğur Kiliç, signing a Master Plan agreement with the EHF on the occasion.
Wild card, video replay introduced for EHF Champions League
The EXEC confirmed a motion that as of next season the European Handball Federation has the option (but not the duty) to award one place in the men’s and women’s EHF Champions League with a wild card instead of via the existing criteria catalogue.
Awarding of the wild card is to be proposed by the evaluation group and must be confirmed by the EHF Executive Committee. Only clubs which via their federations have requested an upgrade to the EHF Champions League can receive a wild card.
With a focus on only the EHF Champions League Women only, it was also decided that federations have the possibility to request two upgrades for their clubs.
Furthermore, a motion passed the EXEC that the video replay and the automatic team timeout buzzer shall be introduced for all matches in the men’s and women’s EHF Champions League as of next season. To date video replay and electronic buzzer had only been in use at the EHF FINAL4s and the EHF Finals.
At the same time, the Coach’s Challenge, for which the EXEC had given the green light in its January session, is also set to be introduced with the next season. As the option was confirmed, a high-level test will take place at the EHF EURO Cup match, Germany vs Spain, on 30 April, and a first implementation may happen at the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne in June.
‘Full venue’ initiative to be launched
The EXEC discussed the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the clubs’ environment, i.e. when it comes to spectator numbers. In the light of this as well as a result of consultations in the stakeholder meetings it was decided to postpone the initially envisioned raise of minimum arena capacities for two more seasons (23/24 and 24/25).
However, the EXEC launched a ‘full venue’ initiative with clubs being requested as of next season to present and implement activities to raise the number of fans at their matches.
In a different point, the club competitions’ regulations will be amended in order to increase the responsibility of the teams for the behaviour of the spectators, in particular of the away team for the behaviour of its supporters. This motion was submitted after incidents had occurred in the European club competitions earlier this season.
Next season’s regulations will also be amended with regards to match timings. The EXEC confirmed a motion that Saturday, 20:00 hrs (CET/CEST) as well as Sunday, 18:00 hrs (CET/CEST) will be added as official throw-off times to the EHF Champions League Women and the EHF European League Women. Tuesday, 17:00 hrs will be added as official throw-off time for the EHF European League Men.
Furthermore, under special circumstances it will be possible as of next season to have single EHF Champions League Men matches played on the weekend, instead of the regular playing days Wednesday and Thursday. This possibility is only to be considered in case a major benefit can be identified either from a spectator or TV perspective.
Professionalisation of officiating continues
The EHF Executive Committee discussed in detail the further professionalisation of officiating within the European Handball Federation. In the light of the development of the sport, this is regarded as a core subject. It was underlined that the topic covers several areas including nominations, education, training and conditioning, technological innovations, administrative procedures, digitalisation, evaluation and equipment selection.
The EXEC agreed that – following also a motion submitted by the Hungarian Handball Federation at the 2021 EHF Congress – at the upcoming Congress in September a change of the Competitions Commission in its configuration will be proposed and implemented as of 2025. The CC in the future shall consist of a chairman and four members (like the other Commissions) with competition tasks – National Teams Men and Women, Club Teams Men and Women, and therefore without the position Member Refereeing.
At the same time, the existing professional structures in the EHF Office will be continuously developed with a clearly identified responsibility of a professional for nomination of referees, as it is the case in other sports as well.
Younger age category EHF EUROs for 2024 awarded
With approximately 16 months to go, the EXEC received the applications for Men’s 20 and Men’s 18 EHF EURO events in 2024. Both events will be the first of its kind which will be played with 24 teams.
With the overview and evaluation of the bids at hand, the EXEC awarded the Men’s 20 EHF EURO to Slovenia, with the tournament being played in Celje, and the Men’s 18 EHF EURO to Montenegro.
Additionally on the topic of national teams, the EXEC formally and upon proposal of the organising committees confirmed the shift in organisational responsibilities for the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. Within the new structure Austria’s capital Vienna will host one main round group and the final weekend and thus replaces Budapest. The tournament’s playing schedule (28 November to 15 December 2024) was also approved and will be released in due time.
The Executive Committee took note of the most recent recommendations released by the International Olympic Committee on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport international competitions.
With reference to the information included in the statement that teams cannot be considered, the situation in European handball remains unchanged.
Looking ahead to the season’s business end and beyond
As part of the session, the Executive Committee took note of several status updates including those for the building process of the European Handball House and the Master Plan.
EHF President Michael Wiederer (above, left) and Uğur Kiliç, President of the Turkish Handball Federation, put pen to paper and signed an agreement between the two federations. Overall, this is the sixth Master Plan project, with agreements with Georgia, Latvia, Malta, Croatia and Scotland already in place.
Applications have been received from England, Luxembourg, Great Britain and Serbia.
Additional reports received by the EXEC included those of the Anti-doping Unit as well as the 8th edition of the legal journal which provided comprehensive statistics of the legal decisions reached by the EHF's Legal Bodies during the 2021/22 season.
An overview was given to the current preparations for the 2023 EHF Congress. This included an update on the topics which are listed regarding a potential review of the EHF Statutes.
While several amendments are foreseen, it is planned to insert a whole new article into the statutes focusing on ethical standards and good governance including the integrity of the sport.
The meeting closed with an outlook to the business end of the club handball season which features the EHF Finals for women and men in Graz and Flensburg, the EHF FINAL4 events in Budapest and Cologne and the EHF Excellence Awards, the EHF’s first award gala for the season’s most outstanding players, which takes place on 26 June 2023 in Vienna together with the next meeting of the EHF Executive Committee.
