Member federations gather in Vienna for CoP and EHF Congress

The Conference of Presidents opened with an overall report by EHF President Michael Wiederer, looking back and ahead at the same time.

"The year 2024 has been excellent for European handball. Our sport has been recognised in corners of the world where we were usually not visible. It has been a signal that we are growing,” said Wiederer.

"We are a traditional sport with all its advantages and its disadvantages. While we must preserve the DNA of our sport, in order to have a future we cannot simply stay where we are. We can’t ignore the rest of the world, but we need to analyse where markets including our competitors are going.

"For this, we need the best possible coordination, on the continental level and with the International Handball Federation.

"This is the challenge we need to take on in order to grow, and we are ready for this."

Afterwards, EHF Secretary General Martin Hausleitner introduced the EHF’s Master Plan activities with a focus on the new Grassroots Charter and the initiatives by the EHF’s Sustainability Board.

The charter, with the mission to create a wider handball community, expand the sport’s fan base and the potential handball workforce, was first presented at the Conference for Secretaries General in Copenhagen earlier this year and its introduction confirmed by the EXEC in September.

It is the charter’s purpose to develop grassroots handball which serves as a foundation of the sport. It also aims at monitoring, measuring and eventually rewarding the member federations who commit to the development of grassroots handball and show outstanding results.

The CoP continued with an overview of the EHF EUROs played in 2024, an outlook to the EHF EUROs in 2026 and 2028 and a preview of the EHF’s activities in 2025.

Two dates were emphasised by EHF President Michael Wiederer. The EHF Competitions Conference for men’s competitions on 9-10 April 2025 and for women’s competitions on 12-13 May 2025.

"We will speak about the future of club competitions as well as analyse the current situation around the national team activities. This is not about finalising the process on that occasion but establishing a common starting point," Michael Wiederer said.

The CoP closed with celebrations and a special moment. Jörgen Holmqvist, Per Otto Furuseth, Andrzej Krasnicki, and Miguel Roca Mas were named EHF Honorary Members.

A fifth award was posthumously given to Morten Stig Christensen who passed away in November. To honour the work of the Danish Handball Association’s president in this field, the new Grassroots Charter will be named ‘Christensen Grassroots Charter’.

Extraordinary Congress awards EHF EUROs in 2030 and 2032

At the Extraordinary Congress, ten motions related to the EHF Statutes were tabled; an additional four related to changes to the EHF Legal Regulations.

Topics touched by these motions included among others the division of responsibilities within the EHF Statutes, the suspension of membership rights, the competence for the catalogue of administrative sanctions and the recognition of the European Handball Court of Arbitration and its decisions.

On the legal side, the motions tabled dealt with, among others, amending the conditions for damage compensation claims and the possible omission of the hearing obligation on hearing obligations in legal proceedings. All motions tabled received the required majority by the Congress.

Following the vote on motions, the Congress used the power it has to shape the future of European handball by awarding three EHF EUROs for 2030 and 2032.

The first flagship events in the coming decade will be played in:

• Men’s EHF EURO 2030: Czechia/Poland/Denmark (10-27 January 2030)
• Men’s EHF EURO 2032: Germany/France (15 January-1 February 2032)
• Women’s EHF EURO 2032: Germany/Denmark/Poland (1-19 December 2032

No applications were admitted for the Women’s EHF EURO 2030. Therefore, the right to award the event will revert to the EHF Executive Committee.

The Extraordinary Congress closed with the signing of new Master Plan agreements for Czechia, Serbia, Faroe Islands and Israel.