European Handball Federation

The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded in November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and one associated member (Kosovo), and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Its current Secretary General is Michael Wiederer.

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 the subsequent years, the number of member countries has expanded from the initial 29 to its current number of 50, after Andorra have been granted a full membership on 29 May 2011.^[1] The EHF represents its members in the development of the sport both in terms of grass-roots 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, handball at school and wheelchair handball expand the attraction of the sport.

Tournaments

European Championships

• European Men's Handball Championship
• European Women's Handball Championship
• U20 European Men's Handball Championship
• U19 European Women's Handball Championship
• U18 European Men's Handball Championship
• U17 European Women's Handball Championship

Club Men's Competitions

• EHF Champions League
• EHF Cup Winners' Cup
• EHF Cup
• EHF Challenge Cup (former EHF City Cup)

Club Women's Competitions

• Women's EHF Champions League
• Women's EHF Cup Winner's Cup
• Women's EHF Cup
• Women's EHF Challenge Cup (former EHF City Cup)

European Championships

The Men’s and Women’s European Championships have been carried out a total of 15 times (incl. 2008 Men’s European Handball Championship), in host countries all over Europe. Sixteen of the best national teams in the world take part in each of these events and they continue to reach new heights. Recently published figures show a continuous upwards spiral, with a cumulative audience in the 2008 men’s event of over one billion views and more than 1000 hours of programming.

EHF Champions League

The EHF Champions League has changed considerably over the past 15 years. The EHF is particularly proud of the product’s pro-active, new branding strategy, which was launched by the EHF sister company, EHF Marketing GmbH. The market has been presented with a "clean" and attractive package, which has taken EHF Champions League handball into a new dimension. On 29 June 2007, the start of the 15th EHF Champions League season was celebrated with a Champions League Gala on the occasion of the men’s and women’s draw for the group phase. A special edition compendium of the EHF Champions League History was published under the title "Celebrate the Passion".

EHF European Cup Competitions

Over 250 clubs take part in the EHF European Cup competitions, which include EHF Cup, EHF Cup Winners' Cup and EHF Challenge Cup. 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 50 member federations are active within the organisation, which speaks for itself.

Development work

A considerable part of EHF business revolves around the further development of the sport itself and handball within the European Handball Family. Events and projects of 2006, which proved to be catalysts for this development, included the EHF Youth Handball Convention, a variety of referee and delegate courses, coaches’ course and, for example, the EHF Foster Project, where the "big brothers" of the European handball world guide and give a helping hand to developing handball nations.

Handball management

Professional handball management has become a business like any other. Ever since the foundation of the EHF, the organisation has placed huge importance on its open and pro-active communication strategy and the exchange of information. The EHF is the voice of Europe on handball matters and is in permanent consultation with all its partners. Each year, many meetings, workshops, conferences, congresses and events take place to ensure that this communication process falls into place and that the key link between all handball protagonists from all fields of the sport is strengthened even further.

Members

References

External links

• European Handball Federation Official site

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