15th Ordinary EHF Congress
At the European Handball Convention in September, EHF President Michael Wiederer outlined the timeline for the forthcoming year which included information regarding the 15th Ordinary EHF Congress.
The congress is scheduled to take place in Luxembourg on 23 and 24 April 2021 and will play a significant part in shaping the medium-term future of the federation with elections taking place for a variety of commissions and bodies within the EHF.
At the European Handball Convention, the President told attendees that between 55 and 60 positions will be up for election. Relevant information regarding what the process will involve, who will manage it and how it will be managed was sent out in October, six months before the Ordinary EHF Congress. The information included current position holders and those in the running to be elected.
Also included in the information was a list of statutes, with Wiederer confirming the 23 January deadline for registrations for positions.
The President told the audience at the convention that the Ordinary EHF Congress will see a number of important elections to the Nations’ Committees
Furthermore, particular emphasis will be placed on the Women’s Handball Board, with the focus on developing work in women’s handball.
What is important is that many people representing different fields need to understand a group of 50 nations and their needs and wishes. It is not for an individual nation to clearly define what is important. We need to work together.
Wiederer emphasised the importance of an event such as the EHF Congress – as it always has been since the EHF began in the 1990s.
It was with this in mind that the awarding of the EHF EUROs in 2026 and 2028 would therefore be named at a special event to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the EHF in November 2021.
The EHF EUROs are our core business and we felt it was best not to create any conflicts of interest and therefore chose to reveal the hosts at a special event to mark 30 years of the EHF
30 years of EHF and awarding of future EHF EURO events
Next November, the European Handball Federation will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a very special event at the EHF Extraordinary Congress.
The event will not form part of the election congress – the important part of that will take place at the Ordinary Congress and therefore, the focus will be on celebrating the latest milestone in the ever-evolving history of the EHF.
Hundreds of guests will be invited to the celebration, which will see past and present members of the federation pay homage to European handball and look ahead to the bright and exciting future of the sport.
The event will also be the platform to announce four particularly important decisions: who will host the Men’s and Women’s EHF EURO events in 2026 and 2028. The commitment to hosting these EHF EURO events has reached new heights, with 14 national federations expressing their interest – or a joint interest – in organising the four tournaments
This is the highest amount of interest we have received from federations showing an intent to host our flagship national team tournaments. These numbers once again prove that this event remains the most highly sought-after national team event in our sport and shows that the development of handball continues.
Following similarly significant interest in the bidding process for the EHF Men’s EURO 2024, that will be hosted in Germany, and the EHF Women’s EURO 2024, which will be played in Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, we are now excited to look ahead towards the following stage in the process for 2026 and 2028
The success of the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 in January – which saw a record 500,000 spectators watch inside arenas and millions more on television and online – further highlighted the importance of hosting an EHF EURO.
That impact has seen the EHF receive no less than eight letters of intent, covering 10 countries, for the Men’s EHF EURO 2028 alone. For the Men’s EHF EURO 2026, the EHF received letters of intent from six interested parties, including a joint intention from Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.
After having received the official bids, evaluation will take place evaluations of the bids will take place in May and June 2021, with site inspections in June and September before the big reveal at the Extraordinary Congress.