On the fringes of the 22nd IHF World Championship, taking place currently in Sweden, the leading clubs of Europe from Gothenburg, Dublin, Hamburg, Istanbul, Minsk, Ciudad Real and others met in Copenhagen to discuss the situation of European Club Handball.
In the first part of the meeting EHF Secretary General M. Wiederer informed about the Professional Handball Board (PHB). EHF Head Competitions M. Glaser explained possible options for changes of the European Cups system.
The meeting participants discussed pros and cons of a merger of EHF Cup and Cup Winners Cup and the possibilities of and experiences with Cross Boarder Competitions.
In the second part of the meeting the relation between clubs and IHF was analysed. For the first time during the presidency of Hassan Moustafa club representatives had official contacts with IHF. IHF established an insurance for injured players in favor of the clubs and pays compensation to clubs, releasing players to the World Championship.
Nevertheless the communication between IHF was not regarded to be sufficient. The board of FCH was advised to establish a structural dialogue with IHF.
The relation between IHF and FCH will be one of the major topics of the next FCH meeting, taking place on 28th May 2011 in Cologne, Germany. GB