With an expansion of the EHF Champions League Men to 24 teams, a new system for the EHF European League Men – both to be introduced as of the 2026/27 season – as well as the introduction of ‘European Handball Games’ as new flagship event for national teams as of 2030, the EXEC took key decisions set to elevate the value and visibility of European handball over the years to come.
EHFCL Men with 24 teams, new format for EHFEL
The EHF Champions League will expand to 24 teams, while the EHF European League Men will be played with 32 teams, starting immediately with a group phase.
The new competition formats will be introduced with the start of the 2026/27 season. The international handball calendar will be respected, in the EHF Champions League the total number of matches remains the same.
The place distribution for both the new EHF Champions League and the new EHF European League will eventually be confirmed by the EXEC as part of its December session.
>> More information
‘European Handball Games’ as of 2030
Europe’s top eight men’s and women’s national teams will be participating in this new flagship event as of 2030, with – just like at the Olympics – alternating matchdays for the men’s and the women’s competition during a national team week.
The prize at stake is high: The EHF aims to award the fixed place allocated to Europe at the handball competitions of the Olympics via the ‘European Handball Games’.
Paving the way to the ‘European Handball Games’, which are planned to be played in September, will go hand in hand with establishing a different format for the IHF World Championship Qualification Europe.
>> More information
Composition of new boards
The session of the EHF Executive Committee was preceded by various stakeholder meetings, including those of the European handball leagues for men and women, the Nations Committes for men and women (NCW & NCM) as well as of the Women’s Handball Board (WHB) and the Professional Handball Board (PHB).
The NCW and the NCM nominated three members each to form the new Nations Board, while also the PHB and the WHB were confirmed in their composition for the new election period, 2025 – 2029.
The chairpersons for the PHB, respectively the WHB – announced after an internal nomination process – are Xavier O’Callaghan and Leonor Mallozzi.
EHF Nations Board
- Mark Schober (GER)
- Torsten Laen (DEN)
- Stephen Neilson (GBR)
- Elena Borras (ESP)
- Leonor Malozzi (POR)
- Pirje Orasson (EST)
Professional Handball Board
- Xavier O’Callaghan (ESP, chairperson, nominated by Forum Club Handball)
- Gregor Planteu (FRA, nominated by Forum Club Handball)
- Nikolas Larsson (SWE, nominated by the European Handball Leagues Board)
- Frank Bohmann (GER, nominated by the European Handball Leagues Board)
- Mark Schober (GER, nominated by the Nations Committee Men)
- Torsten Laen (DEN, nominated by the Nations Committee Men)
- Predrag Bošković (MNE, nominated by the EHF EXEC)
- Stefan Lövgren (SWE, nominated by the EHF EXEC)
The member representing the players will be nominated after clarification and a respective Memorandum of Understanding
Women’s Handball Board
- Kamilla Sundmoen (NOR, nominated by Women’s Forum Club Handball)
- Deja Ivanovic (SLO, nominated by Women’s Forum Club Handball)
- Christoph Wendt (GER, nominated by the Women’s European Handball League Board)
- Karolina Bryl-Prokop (POL, nominated by the Women’s European Handball League Board)
- Leonor Mallozzi (POR, chairperson, nominated by Nations Committee Women)
- Katalin Palinger (HUN, nominated by Nations Committee Women)
- Randi Gustad (NOR, nominated by the EHF EXEC)
- Tjark de Lange (NED, nominated by the EHF EXEC)
The member representing the players will be nominated after clarification and a respective Memorandum of Understanding.
To complete the EHF Executive Committee following the election at the EHF Congress in September, the Nations Board nominated Mark Schober, the PHB Xavier O’Callaghan and the WHB Leonor Mallozzi to the EHF’s top body with immediate effect.
>> Overview of all commissions and boards within the EHF
The EXEC took note of the final composition of the stakeholder boards and committees, and at the same time it aligned on its internal task distribution and delegation to the respective bodies as well as to external partners and bodies.
For the Technical Refereeing Committee it was decided that the body will remain in its current composition until after the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 in January; new members will be appointed by the EXEC afterwards and following a consultation process with the national federations.
Future events and tender process
With the events report at hand, the EXEC was informed on the current status of preparations for the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 in Denmark, Sweden and Norway in January next year. This included the overview on nominations and task assignments.
Information was also shared on the bidding process for the Women’s EHF EURO 2030 for which the EHF Congress had handed back the allocation rights to the EXEC. The current timeline foresees that the EXEC will award the Women’s EHF EURO 2030 as part of its spring session on 17 April 2026.
Over the past months, the bidding documents have been revised, including a new playing schedule that foresees the introduction of quarter-finals, and have now been provided to interested national federations.
Furthermore, the Executive Committee decided that the EHF will start the tender process for the next rights cycle for both the national teams (as of after the Women’s EHF EURO 2030) and the club handball rights (as of season 2030/31) during the calendar year 2026.
Next meeting
Over the coming two months, details related to the expansion of EHF Champions League, namely the strategy for the place distribution, as well as the European Handball Games will be further worked and shared with the Executive Meeting ahead of the next session which is scheduled to take place in Rotterdam on 13 December during the final weekend of the IHF Women’s World Championship 2025.
