The clubs’ feedback to the event’s premiere edition has been positive, and with a very initial evaluation at hand, the EXEC decided that as of next year a Youth Club Trophy for women’s club teams shall be held in Budapest, parallel to the EHF FINAL4 Women at the beginning of June 2026. Details on format and participation will be worked out over the coming months.
At the same time, the decision was taken that the Youth Club Trophy for men’s teams shall continue alongside the EHF FINAL4 Men in Cologne also in 2026.
Additional EXEC decisions
The decision to hold a Youth Club Trophy for women’s team was included in wider feedback deriving from the men’s and women’s competitions conferences which were held in Vienna in April and May respectively.
As part of the conferences’ follow-up the EXEC was informed that alternative options for and possible adaptations of competition systems on the club and nation team level are currently being discussed and evaluated by the EHF and its stakeholders, respectively coordinated with its marketing partners.
Therefore, the publication of the place distribution for the EHF Champions League and the EHF European League for the 2026/27 season is foreseen to be published later as the number of teams in a competition is strongly linked to the playing system.
The topic will be further dealt with and eventually closed after the17th Ordinary EHF Congress by the then newly elected EHF Executive Committee in its first session on 21 October 2025.
Furthermore, the EXEC confirmed that during the 2025 EHF European Wheelchair Handball Championship in Vilnius, Lithuania (26 to 30 November), a classifier course shall be held. This course is deemed to be a first step to further professionalise the structures of wheelchair handball within the EHF as well as in the countries of its participants. The full implementation of the classification system is also a requirement by the International Paralympic Committee aiming to become part of the Paralympic Games’ programme.
Business and event reports
The Executive Committee received an update on several EHF business activities taking place since the last meeting.
This included a summary of the Emerging Nations Round Table which took place in Budapest at the beginning of June.
The meeting’s objective was the foundation of a forum for knowledge sharing, facilitating the exchange of experiences, best practices and innovative concepts among the participating emerging handball nations and with the European Handball Federation.
As part of the meeting, EHF Master Plan agreements for financial support of grassroots handball projects were signed with the federations of Andorra and Albania.
This brought the total of agreements signed with different federations to 23, with the EHF having supported the projects submitted already with € 1.7 million.
The EXEC also received the extensive legal report, which listed recently closed and currently open cases across the legal instances, with the EXEC taking note of the most recent decision in the AEK Athens/HC Alkaloid case. With HC Alkaloid being declared the winners of the EHF European Cup Men 2024/25 without the second match taking place, it was noted that a trophy handover will take place at a later occasion.
Further to a summary of the meeting of the Sustainability Board, which took place on Friday, and the latest anti-doping report, the EXEC received the minutes of the EHF Marketing Advisory Board which had met in Budapest at the beginning of June, with the meeting focussing on the current as well as the 2025/26 season.
As part of the meeting, different perspectives of exploiting the club competitions’ media and marketing rights within the existing contractual framework and for the period as of 2030 were discussed.
The EXEC also took note of the latest event report and the very positive development of ticket sales for the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 in Denmark, Sweden and Norway next January.
Furthermore, the minutes of the general assembly of the EHF Services & Infrastructure, which finalised its business year, were provided to the EXEC.
Closing this point and with an overview of recent activities at hand, it was positively noted by the EXEC that the ‘European Handball House’, the new EHF headquarter in Vienna, has ‘very much come to life’ since its opening in December, with several meetings of EHF partners and stakeholder bodies taking place over the past months.
Finances
The EXEC took note of the external auditors’ report and the report of the EHF Comptrollers related to the EHF’s budget and accounting for the 2023/24 period. With all accounts for that business period closed, it will be presented to Congress for final approval – together with an update on the current budget for the ongoing period, 2025/26.
The EXEC also confirmed the first budget proposal for the 2027/28 period which will be tabled at the Congress.
International institutions
The Executive Committee was informed about the latest Council meeting of the International Handball Federation which took place at the beginning of June.
The EHF had submitted two motions to the Council, with both being accepted.
The first one related to the signing of new contracts, requesting to delete the limitation period of 12 months within which new contracts shall be signed, as this deadline is not in use and does not reflect the practice of athletes and clubs.
The second motion requested to add a clause to the respective regulations which assigns the right to receive the respective education compensation by the relating national federation in case of a club’s bankruptcy.
17th Ordinary EHF Congress in September 2025
The meeting closed with an outlook to the 17th Ordinary EHF Congress on 19 and 20 September in Andau, Austria. The programme including all commission meetings and the agenda was confirmed.
As the deadline to submit motions to Congress has passed, the EXEC was informed that the European Handball Federation will submit three motions: One related to the election of further member/gender representatives to EHF bodies with more than five members, one related to the delegation of decision-making authority from Congress to the EHF EXEC and one related to the initiation of recognition proceedings.
As for the further timeline, the deadline for nominations for EHF functions is 19 June 2025. The full list of nominations will be published on 19 July, and all relevant documents for the Congress will be transmitted to the National Federations on the same date.
After the end of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4, the season 2025/26 will close with next season’s EHF Champions League group phase draw taking place on 27 June in Vienna.
The season 2025/26 starts on 1 July with the under-17 and the senior Beach Handball EURO in Antalya (3-13 July) as well as the Women’s 19 EHF EURO in Montenegro (9-20 July) being already its first confirmed milestones.
