Men’s EHF CL Round Table

The European Handball Federation and its daughter company, EHF Marketing, put great emphasis on close cooperation with the stakeholders of European handball with the objective to take the flagship club competition, EHF Champions League, to the next level.

The leaders of the EHF Champions League clubs and of the European handball leagues arrived in Vienna, Austria, on 9 March 2009 for the Men’s EHF Champions League Round Table. The meeting took place before the CL Quarterfinal Draw and it was an occasion to discuss the future of the competition on a broad basis.

Positive trends

The guests arriving to the Round Table meeting heard a report on the current Men’s EHF Champions League season. The report was based on feedback coming from TV and advertising partners and it confirmed a positive trend experienced in the 2008/09 CL season.

The backbone of the agenda was given by a number of items concerning the future of the competition, such as TV and marketing questions. However, two major topics concerning competition format were elaborated also in detail.

Competition matters

The application of an adjusted playing system – reducing the number of teams from the current 32 to 24 – was presented. The consequences of such an adjustment on the club calendar, including an additional Last 16 phase in the competition, were also discussed.

The other major project outlined was a possible introduction of a Final Four tournament to conclude the Champions League season. In this case, semi-finals and final of the competition would be played on neutral court over one weekend, and it would give the national leagues a free period at the end of the season.

Conclusion

The Round Table, which was a consultative body called together to guarantee an effective flow of information and exchange of ideas, ended with an open discussion. The club representatives had the floor to voice their opinion and give their inputs.

The overall opinion was that based on the quick progress seen in recent years, time has arrived to introduce a new concept for the Champions League that can guarantee the further development of the competition.

The EHF Marketing Board, including club representatives, continued to debate the topics raised at the meeting immediately after the Men’s CL Round Table.

Final decisions on the future of the competition can be taken by the Executive Committee of the European Handball Federation at their meeting in Moscow on 28 March.