The European Handball Federation
WHO WE ARE
The European Handball Federation, founded on 17 November 1991, is the umbrella organisation for handball in Europe and has 50 member federations and two associated federations.
With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the EHF’s responsibilities include the organisation and management of the world’s most high-profile and competitive handball competitions, including the EHF Champions League and EHF EURO events.
The federation’s diverse range of duties also go beyond the arrangement of the biggest handball tournaments. Managing player transfers, assisting in grassroots development and education programmes, plus the promotion of additional forms of the game – including beach handball and wheelchair handball – are major parts of the EHF’s remit.
EHF STRUCTURE
The highest body of the federation, the EHF Congress, meets every two years.
The EHF Executive Committee is the executive body of the EHF and is responsible for decisions on key sports-political issues.
EHF Congress elects the members of the technical commissions - Competitions, Methods and Beach Handball Commissions - whose chairs sit on the EHF Executive Committee. It also elects the members of the various legal bodies including the Court of Handball, Court of Appeal and Court of Arbitration Council as well as the Comptrollers.
The interests of the sport's various stakeholders including players, clubs, leagues and federations are represented through bodies including the Professional Handball Board, Nations Board and Women's Handball Board.
The EHF office provides the administration for all of the federation's competitions and activities. Established in 1992 in Vienna, shortly after the formation of the EHF, the office now has a staff of more than 55 sports professionals from numerous European nations, working in areas which include event management, marketing, communications, IT, finances, education and development.
DEVELOPING THE SPORT
A key EHF task is developing handball and the people involved in delivering it whether they be coaches, officials or managers. The development work of the member federations is supported through a number of programmes including the SMART Project (time-limited, specific projects), Infrastructure Support Programme (financial and material support to build capacity and develop infrastructure) as well as the Foster Project (stronger handball countries supporting emerging nations).
Through the federation's Competence Academy and Network (CAN), the EHF also offers education programmes and initiatives including Young Coaches Workshops, EU projects ONSIDE and #BeActive funded through the Erasmus+ sport programme, mentoring coaches in women's youth handball and coach licensing. The programme is extended to courses for club managers and in 2015 the 'European Handball Manager' degree course was launched in conjunction with the German Sports University Cologne.
