The age limit was the interesting issue of Extraordinary Congress, held by EHF last weekend in Bukarest. After long discussions the Congress did not change the according statutes. This means that the current president Jean Brihault can not be reelected in 2016! At the end of the congress the first candidate for the succession of Brihault announced his candidacy. It was – EHF Secretary General M. Wiederer!
During the common board Meeting in Spain, the presidents of Men’s Forum Club Handball Joan Marin and Women’s Forum Club Handball Ernö Kelecsenyi prolonged the cooperation of the two organisations until June 2018.
On 23rd September German weekly sports magazine ‘SportBild’ reported on confidential plans to set up a world league in Handball. According to SportBild the former Manager of TBV Lemgo and SG Flensburg Fynn Holpert is one of the protagonists to run the project. A second person to support the project is Wolfgang Gütschow as the representative of a group of sport investors.
Further details will be announced at a later stage.
With the support of FCH, 17 Bundesliga-Clubs won the 1st instance of the court case against German Handball Federation (DHB) and International Handball Federation (IHF) and lost the 2nd instance at the high court OLG Düsseldorf.
After the positive decision of the 1st instance, the Council of the IHF changed 4 points of the ‘Regulations for International Transfers’ in favor of the clubs:
- The overall release period was limited to 60 days per year (plus Olympic Games).
- The overall period for Championships (including preparation period) was limited to 29 days.
- The IHF obliged itself to play compensation to the clubs for the release of players to the World Championships.
- The IHF obliged itself to provide an insurance of player salaries in favor of the clubs.
These changes are positive for the clubs, but:
- The amount of compensation, paid to the clubs, is not negotiated or even defined.
- The insurance services are limited to 3 months, which is not sufficient in case of severe injury.
- All regulations can be changed in the next Council meeting without any influence of the clubs.
IHF always has the possibility to change the regulations again, once the trial is over.
The court of the 2nd instance (the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf) decided that
- The case is not admissible due to a lack of legal interest.
- IHF has changed the regulations effectively.
- The statutes of IHF are not a violation of European competition law.
- The regulations of the IHF are not harming the competitiveness of the clubs.
- The behavior of the IHF is not an abuse of dominant position.
- The case is not of general importance.
- An appeal against the decision is not permitted.
Anyhow it is possible to appeal to the 3rd instance against the decision of the 2nd instance that an appeal is not permitted. In case of a positive decision, the 3rd instance will deal with the case immediately.
The board of FCH will deal with the case during the next ordinary board meeting on 19/20th October and decide whether to proceed with the Trial or not. GB
During the last weekend the EHF-Executive Committee (ExeC) decided upon the participation in the upcoming CL-season/qualification. According to the new playing system, starting next season, EHF split the participation for the season 15/16 in two groups. Group A and B (left half) contain 8 clubs each, group B and C (right half) contain 6 teams each.
Team are allocated according the European Cup system and due to a ‘Catalogue of Criteria’, which is filled out by EHF/M in order to achieve a ranking between the participating teams.
According to the information, given by Markus Glaser during the last FCH-General Assembly, the ‘Catalogue of Criteria’ is a tool to improve the decision taking process. The catalogue is not binding for the Executive Committee.
Before the EHF Executive Committee takes a decision, a proposal is drafted by the EHF Competition department. This proposal is discussed by a ‘Consultation Group’, consisting out of the Chairman of the EHF Competition Commission, the Head of the EHF Competition Department, a EHFM representative and a FCH representative (men’s Clubs only). The ‘Consultation Group’ forwards a final proposal to the ExeC. The ExeC takes the final decision. This may vary from the proposal of the ‘Consultation Group’.
The clubs receive the result of the evaluation of their ‘Catalogue of Criteria’ in order to improve their situation for the future.
FIFA and UEFA prolonged their agreements with the European Club Association (ECA) until 2022. This was announced during the ordinary ECA General Assembly in Stockholm. The Clubs will receive a compensation of 209 Mio USD for the participation in the 2018 and 2002 World Cups. ‘A symbolic figure’, as highlighted FIFA Sec General Jerome Valcke. ‘FIFA wants to show that clubs and federations are of the same importance for FIFA. Every of the 209 member Federation receives 1 mio USD Support from FIFA within 4 years.’ Clubs will be represented in the various bodies of FIFA and UEFA in the future. ECA will delegate 2 representatives into the UEFA Executive Committee. FIFA signed an insurance which covers player salaries in case of injuries during National Team appearances.
The International Handball Federation (IHF) still refuses any type of contact with the European Club Organisatin FORUM CLUB HANDBALL.
On 1. April 2015 the lawyers of 17 Bundesliga-Clubs on the one side and International Handball Federation and the German Handball Federation on the other side met for a hearing at the court of Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf. In the first instance the court Landgericht Dortmund had decided that the plaintiffs do not have to release their foreign national team players to the respective National teams, as the statutes of the International Handball Federation are not in accordance with European Competition law. The judge Prof Kühnen criticized the decision of the 1st instance partly and raised questions which the parties will have to answer during the next 10 weeks. The next hearing in court is scheduled for 24th June 2015. GB
Vienna, 4 February 2014. The EHF and the German Sport University Cologne have announced a cooperation that will see the introduction of a tailor‐made education course for European Handball managers from the beginning of the 2015/16 season.
With the ever‐growing demands on Europe’s top clubs both in sporting and economic terms, the EHF has recognised the need for professional clubs, federations and leagues to develop not only an effective structure and solid financial basis but also professional staff with the requisite Expertise and knowledge. Initially the new ‘European Handball Manager Programme’ will be open to a maximum of 20 participants. Alongside modules covering financial management, participants will also study aspects such as sports law, psychology and communication.
The programme will be offered in German and English in alternating years in order to ensure that handball managers from all European handball nations have the opportunity to take part. The initiative’s progress has been supported by the EHF’s Professional Handball Board, and Forum Club Handball, the organisation representing professional handball top clubs within Europe.
EHF President, Jean Brihault, praised the new development: “Modern handball is about much more than simply playing the game. Our top clubs, federations and leagues have become businesses and as such require professional staff with the skills and knowledge to run them. The German Sport University Cologne is one of Europe’s top sports universities and I am confident that the new programme will offer a valuable educational experience to those handball Managers taking part.”
Responsibility for the academic content of the course rests with the German Sport University Cologne. An advisory board made up additionally of the EHF, Forum Club Handball and two external academics will further support and advise on the further development of the programme. The EHF and the German Sport University Cologne plan to sign a cooperation agreement in the coming weeks when they will also release further details on both the course programme and registration programme. Details will be published on the EHF website: eurohandball.com and on FCH website: forumclubhandball.com. Please contact Office@forumclubhandball.com
Die Europäische Handball Föderation (EHF) und die Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln wollen zukünftig stärker zusammenarbeiten. Ziel der Kooperation ist die Einführung eines maßgeschneiderten Aus- und Weiterbildungsangebots für europäische Handballmanager/innen.
In den letzten Jahren sind nicht nur die sportlichen sondern vor allem die wirtschaftlichen Anforderungen an die professionellen Handballvereine, -verbände sowie -ligaorganisationen enorm gestiegen. Ohne eine solide wirtschaftliche Basis, adäquate Strukturen und hervorragend ausgebildete handelnde Personen auch im Management ist die Zukunft des professionellen Handballs gefährdet.
Während für Handballtrainer teilweise seit mehreren Jahrzehnten entsprechende Mindestqualifikationskriterien festgelegt sind und die nationalen Handballverbände eigene Qualifizierungs- und Weiterbildungsprogramme für die Trainerinnen und Trainer im Handballhochleistungssport erfolgreich etabliert haben, fehlt etwas Vergleichbares auf nationaler wie internationaler Ebene für die wirtschaftliche Führung von Handballvereinen und in weiterer Folge auch für Verbände. Daher wollen EHF und die Kölner Sportuniversität kooperieren und die europäischen Handballmanagerinnen und -manager in einem maßgeschneiderten Programm aus- und weiterbilden. Eine entsprechende Absichtserklärung haben beide Organisationen bereits unterzeichnet. Forum Club Handball, die europäische Vereinigung der Spitzenhandballclubs, begrüßt die Zusammenarbeit beider Organisationen und unterstützt die Initiative ausdrücklich.
Mit Beginn der Saison 2015/16 soll das Zertifikatsstudium erstmalig mit maximal 20 Teilnehmer/innen starten und neben ökonomischen Inhalten auch sportrechtliche, psychologische und kommunikative Aspekte umfassen. Es ist geplant, den Studiengang von Jahr zu Jahr alternierend in deutscher und englischer Sprache anzubieten, um das Programm allen europäischen Handballnationen zugänglich zu machen. Die inhaltliche Verantwortung für das Zertifikatsstudium liegt bei der Deutschen Sporthochschule Köln. Ein wissenschaftlicher Beirat, in dem neben der Hochschule auch EHF, Forum Club Handball und zwei externe renommierte Wissenschaftler/innen vertreten sind, fungiert beratend und unterstützend. In Kürze wollen die Europäische Handball Föderation und Deutsche Sporthochschule einen Kooperationsvertrag unterzeichnen sowie weitere Details zum Zertifikatsstudium bekanntgeben. Kontakt: Office@forumclubhandball.com
25 Clubs from 16 different countries met on the fringes of the EHF Euro 2014 in Budapest/Hungary. Under the leadership of Ernö Kelecsenyi/Györ they listened to the reports of the WFCH representatives in the various EHF and EHFM bodies. Two Club representatives were elected as deputy board members: Thomas Hylle from Team Esbjerg/DEN and Torbjorn Balstad from Byasen/NOR. In the second part of the meeting, the Club representatives welcomed as guest the 1. Vice-President of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Miguel Roca. The IHF representative underlined the importance of the Clubs for the World Federation and mentioned that IHF tried to implement Clubs as stakeholders in the statutes – but failed to reach the needed 2/3 majority. The Clubs expressed the wish to base the relation between Clubs and IHF on a Memorandum of Understanding. Roca promised to inform the IHF President about the wish of the Women Clubs.