European Handball Federation

European Handball Federation
Abbreviation EHF
Formation 17 November 1991 (1991-11-17)
Type Continental Sports Federation
Headquarters Vienna, Austria
Region served
Europe
Membership
50 Full Members
2 Associate Members
Official language
English
President
 Michael Wiederer Austria
Vice-President
 Predrag Bošković Montenegro
Treasurer
 Henrik La Cour Denmark
Honorary President
 Jean Brihault France
Main organ
 EHF Congress
Parent organisation
 International Handball Federation
Website www.eurohandball.com

The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations (England and Scotland), and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The current EHF President is Michael Wiederer, who was elected on 17 November 2016 and will serve until 2020. The federation celebrated its 20th anniversary on 17 November 2011 at a gala event under the slogan 'HeartBeat Handball'.[1]

History of the EHF

EHF was founded on 17 November 1991 in Berlin, Germany, although the first EHF Congress convened on 5 June 1992 and assigned EHF's headquarters to Vienna, Austria from 1 September that year. In 2012 the EHF Office celebrated 20 years since it first opened its doors.[2] In the subsequent years, the number of member countries has expanded from the initial 29 to its current number of 50, after Kosovo was granted full membership at the EHF Congress in Dublin, Ireland in September 2014.[3] The EHF represents its members in the development of the sport both in terms of grassroots talent, as well as commercial growth. EHF-organised events such as the Men’s and Women’s European Handball Championships and the EHF Champions League represent major revenue contributors, while initiatives such as beach handball and handball at school expand the attraction of the sport.

EHF Presidents

S. No.NameCountryTenure
1.Mr. Staffan Holmqvist Sweden17 November 1991 - 18 December 2004
2.Mr. Tor Lian Norway18 December 2004 - 22 June 2012
3.Mr. Jean Brihault France22 June 2012 - 17 November 2016
4.Mr. Michael Wiederer Austria17 November 2016 - Till date

EHF Secretary Generals

S. No.NameCountryTenure
1.Mr. Michael Wiederer Austria1 September 1992 - 17 November 2016
Post vacant from 17 November 2016 to 1 August 2017
2.Mr. Martin Hausleitner Austria1 August 2017 - Till date

EHF Executive Committee

DesignationNameCountry
PresidentMr. Michael Wiederer Austria
Vice-PresidentMr. Predrag Bošković Montenegro
TreasurerMr. Henrik La Cour Laursen Denmark
Executive MembersMr. Stefan Lövgren Sweden
Ms. Gabriella Horváth Hungary
Mr. Anrijs Brencans Latvia
Chairman of Competitions CommissionMr. Božidar Đurković Serbia
Chairman of Methods CommissionMr. Jerzy Eliasz Poland
Chairman of Beach Handball CommissionMr. Ole R. Jørstad Norway
Chairman of Professional Handball BoardMr. Xavier O'Callaghan Spain
Chairperson of Women's Handball BoardMs. Narcisa Lecușanu Romania

EHF Commissions

CommissionChairman/ChairwomenCountry
EHF Beach Handball CommissionMr. Ole R. Jørstad Norway
EHF Competitions CommissionMr. Božidar Đurković Serbia
EHF Court of AppealMr. Markus Plazer Austria
EHF Court of Arbitration CouncilMr. Francesco Purromuto Italy
EHF Court of HandballMr. Panos Antoniou Cyprus
EHF Methods CommissionMr. Jerzy Eliasz Poland
EHF Nations BoardMr. Morten Stig Christensen Denmark
EHF Professional Handball BoardMr. Xavier O'Callaghan Spain
EHF Technical Refereeing CommitteeMr. Dragan Nachevski Macedonia
EHF Women's Handball BoardMs. Narcisa Lecușanu Romania

EHF Competitions

European Championships
Multi-Sports Events
Men's Club Competitions
Women's Club Competitions

Current Title Holders

Handball

Competitions Current Champion Title
European Men's Handball Championship  Spain (2018) 1st
European Women's Handball Championship  Norway (2016) 7th
European Men's Junior Handball Championship  Slovenia (2018) 1st
European Women's Junior Handball Championship  France (2017) 1st
European Men's Youth Handball Championship  France (2016) 2nd
European Women's Youth Handball Championship  Germany (2017) 1st
European Men's Open Handball Championship  Sweden (2017) 4th
European Women's Open Handball Championship  Sweden (2016) 1st
EHF Women's Challenge Trophy  Faroe Islands (2016) 1st
European Youth Olympic Festival (Men's Event)  Germany (2017) 1st
European Youth Olympic Festival (Women's Event)  Hungary (2017) 1st

Beach Handball

Competitions Current Champion Title
European Men's Beach Handball Championship  Spain (2017) 3rd
European Women's Beach Handball Championship  Norway (2017) 1st
European Men's Youth Beach Handball Championship  Russia (2015)
European Women's Youth Beach Handball Championship  Hungary (2015)


Wheelchair Handball

Competitions Current Champion Title
European Wheelchair Handball Nations’ Tournament  Netherlands (2017) 2nd

Club

Competitions Current Champion Title
EHF Champions League France Montpellier Handball (2018) 2nd
EHF Cup Germany Füchse Berlin (2018) 2nd
EHF Challenge Cup Romania AHC Potaissa Turda (2017) 1st
Women's EHF Champions League Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC (2018) 4th
Women's EHF Cup Romania SCM Craiova (2018) 1st
Women's EHF Challenge Cup Poland MKS Lublin (2018) 1st

Combined Medal Table

This table shows all medals by country, in all European Handball Federation (team handball) national competitions. This table does not include medals won at club level and Beach Handball.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Denmark24132360
2 Russia1516738
3 Norway1211831
4 Sweden127827
5 Germany107724
6 France92920
7 Spain713929
8 Hungary451019
9 Slovenia36312
10 Romania34310
11 Croatia25613
12 Serbia23510
13 Iceland2125
14 Portugal1315
15 Ukraine1203
16 Montenegro1001
17 Czech Republic0314
18 Austria0224
19 Netherlands0213
20 Lithuania0112
21 Belarus0101
22  Switzerland0011
Totals (22 nations)108107107322
  • data is accurate as of 19 August 2018

EHF Affiliated Members

EHF European Championships

The European Men's Handball Championship and European Women's Handball Championship are the flagship national team events of the European Handball Federation and rank amongst the leading indoor sports events on the international sports market. First played in 1994, the EHF EUROs have taken place in host nations across the continent on a biennial basis, with the men’s event held in January and the women’s in December.

The Men’s EHF EURO 2012, held in Serbia, attracted a cumulative global TV audience of 1.47 billion, and was transmitted by 75 broadcasters in more than 200 territories. A record 300,000 spectators also followed the event live in five venues across the countries.

The Men's EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark has set a new attendance record with 316,000 spectators.

The Women’s EHF EURO 2014 in Hungary and Croatia achieved a cumulative audience of 723 million, which is the highest ever result for the championship. The result marks not only a 90 per cent increase on the 2012 edition (380 million), but also significantly tops the previous record set in 2006 (461 million). In terms of broadcast hours, the results were equally remarkable. With 1,919 broadcast hours, the tournament further confirmed its upward trend through an impressive 65 per cent climb of 758 hours compared to 2012. Overall, the tournament was aired in 145 countries.

EHF Champions League

EHF Champions League Trophy

The EHF Champions League was launched in the 1993/94 season for both men's and women's teams. The competition has developed considerably over the years, with the introduction of a distinctive blue lagoon and black floor in the 2007/08 season, the creation of an 'EHF Champions League' ball as well as changes to the format of the competition, which saw the introduction of a new 'Last 16' and the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in the 2009/10 season. From the start of the 2011/12 season, the VELUX Group added their name to the men's competition as title sponsor, and the competition became the VELUX EHF Champions League. The 20th jubilee season (2012/13) saw the launch of a brand new corporate identity and logo. [5] The women's competition also introduced the final tournament for the first time in the 2013/14 season and added the quarter-final stage in the following edition.

EHF European Cup Competitions

Over 250 clubs take part in the EHF European Cup competitions, which include EHF Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and Challenge Cup. The 2012/13 season saw a change to the men's European Cup competitions with the amalgamation of the EHF Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup to become simply the 'EHF Cup'. The change was introduced in order to create a three-tier competition system with the VELUX EHF Champions League at the top, followed by the EHF Cup and then the Challenge Cup.[6] The same merging is planned for the 2016/17 season in the women's competitions. The EHF administers over 730 European club matches each year, which take place in all corners of the continent. The European Handball Federation is also proud of the fact that all of its member federations are active within the organisation.

Beach handball

Beach handball originated on the beaches of Italy in the 1990s and has established itself as a sport in its own right within the EHF with the organisation of the European Beach Tour and European Championships for men, women and younger age categories. The first European Beach Handball Championships were held in 2000 in Gaeta (Italy) and the most recent was held in Lloret de Mar (Spain) in the summer of 2015. Beach handball is a World Games sport, making its debut in 2009. It will also have its premiere at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

Development

The EHF has a number of projects and initiatives through which it supports the development of the sport generally and also in its member federations. These include:

  • Rinck Convention: named after the EHF Honorary Member, and former chairman of the EHF Methods Commission, Claude Rinck. Its aim is the mutual recognition of standards and certificates in the field of coaches' education in handball in Europe by preserving and safeguarding the regional and national characteristics of coaches' education, in order to facilitate the direct admission to work as a handball coach, in each signatory member federation.
  • SMART Projects: short term projects in member federations with specific aims and objectives; includes material support, coaching and technical support.
  • Foster Projects: cooperation agreements between federations; usually between top-ranking and emerging nations to support the progress of handball's development.
  • Infrastructure Support Programme (ISP): Longer term projects in partnership with member federations; offering part-funding of salaries of staff members, such as development officers to help build capacity in member federations.

EHF Awards

The EHF issues awards to organisations and individuals in recognition of their particular contribution to developing the sport of handball and the EHF.

These awards are:

  • EHF Honorary President and Honorary Member
  • EHF Special Award

Since January 2016, the EHF Players of the Month awards were awarded on a monthly basis to one male and female player, chosen by a panel of handball journalists.

EHF Sponsors

The EHF partners are an integral part of the future of European Handball. The EHF places great importance on the term “partnership” rather than “sponsorship” and strives to work with highly reputable global companies with a respected name on both the sporting and business markets. The emphasis is placed on long-term, deep- rooted, working relationships which power the sport of handball forward. The EHF would like to use this opportunity to thank its partners for their continued support and dedication to European Handball. EHF is proud to have our name linked to such professional companies.

References

  1. ↑ "EHF birthday". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ↑ "EHF Office celebrates 20 years in Vienna". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Kosovo becomes a full member of the European Handball Federation". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "New Men's EHF Cup starting"
  5. ↑ "New look for a new season". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "New Men's EHF Cup starting"
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