A number of notable events for the European Handball Federation were held on the fringe of the final weekend of the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 in Stockholm. IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa was present at the final weekend, where Spain won their second consecutive title in front of more than 17,000 spectators in Tele2 Arena – usually a football stadium, which was converted into a handball arena. 

Dr Moustafa had the opportunity not only to enjoy the outstanding matches over the weekend, but to talk with representatives of European Federations in attendance. It was Dr Moustafa’s second visit to the EHF EURO 2020 after he was invited to Vienna – the heart of European handball as the home of the EHF – where preliminary and main round matches were held. 

Throughout the EHF EURO 2020, the IHF was represented by IHF Council and Executive Committee member Frantisek Taborsky.

Looking ahead to future EHF EUROs

The EHF Extraordinary Congress convened on Saturday, with one of the most significant items on the agenda the determining of the hosting rights for the 2024 Women’s EHF EURO. 

After the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 saw the men’s championship expanded from 16 to 24 teams for the first time, the 2024 edition of the Women’s EHF EURO will be the first with the greater number of teams. Based on a vote from the member federations, the event was awarded to the joint-bid of Hungary, Switzerland and Austria – the latter of whom were one of the co-hosts for the Men’s EURO concluded on Sunday. 

Hungary is the only one of the 2024 hosts to have organised the Women’s EHF EURO before, holding the event in 2004 and then again together with Croatia in 2014. Also bidding for the 2024 event were Russia and, together in one bid, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. 

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 will begin on 28 November and finish on 15 December, 2024. The preliminary round matches will be held in Innsbruck, Austria; Debrecen, Hungary and Basel, Switzerland – the home of the IHF headquarters. Budapest and Debrecen will host the main round, and the finals are set to take place in a new 20,000-capacity venue in Budapest. 

Looking ahead to the Men’s EHF EURO 2022, Saturday also saw the handover of the EHF flag from the current organisers to their successors – Hungary and Slovakia. The logo for the event, which features the national colours of both host nations (red, white, green and blue), was presented. The tagline for the EURO 2022 will be “Watch games, see more.” 

The EHF EURO 2022 will take place in five venues from 13 to 30 January, 2022. In Slovakia, Bratislava will host preliminary and main round matches, while Kosice will host preliminary round games. In Hungary, Debrecen and Szeged will host preliminary round matches, and Budapest will host preliminary and main round games, as well as the final weekend, in the new Arena Budapest. 

“We want to show the fans from all over Europe more than just a traditional sport event – we hope for a giant festival,” said head of the Hungarian organising committee Szabolcs Biro.

Conference of Presidents approves European Handball Master Plan

In addition to the Extraordinary Congress and the events surrounding the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, the Conference of Presidents was held. There, the member federations formally approved the European Handball Master Plan, with the next steps to begin in April at the Secretaries General Conference.  

The Conference of Presidents also included presentations on the 2018 accounting, the 2019 accounting update and the budget for 2020. In addition, the new budgets for 2021 and 2022 were presented. 

More information on the activities of the European Handball Federation can be found on the official website.

PHOTO: AXEL HEIMKEN / KOLEKTIFFIMAGES