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a say in the policies of the Advisory Board
of EHF Marketing, the organiser of the EHF
Champions Leagues. When these motions
were adopted in Lillehammer, EHF President
Lian emphasised the unity of the Federation:
“The very large support obtained
by these motions is a clear sign of Europe’s
national federations’ desire to preserve
the unity of handball in Europe, to recognise
the fundamental role of clubs in the
success of European handball and to keep
handball in the hands of those whose sole
motivation is the success and development
of sport.”
Ultimately, Lian said in the same year,
the new structural set-up reflected the vital
interests of the many stakeholders of
European handball, who could now safeguard
their interests through these mechanisms:
“The EHF works closely with all
its partners, whether it is the national federations,
leagues, clubs, players, media
or marketing partners. The strong link to
each and every member of these groups is
highly important. Of course, there are different
interests, differing perspectives and
expectations, but it is a necessity to find a
balance for the equation and react quickly
and professionally to changing trends
and demands.”
After a proposed structural change that
had initially been rejected by the Extraordinary
Congress 2009 in Cyprus, the
organisational structure of the EHF was
expanded two years later, at the 10th Ordinary
Congress in Copenhagen (DEN) in
September 2010, by adding representatives
of the European leagues and athletes.
The Congress resolved to establish a Professional
Handball Board (PHB) to replace
the Men’s Club Committee. This PHB has
since consisted of twelve members: the
EHF President and the Secretary General
plus two additional Executive Committee
members, and two representatives each
of the European Professional Handball
Leagues Association (EPHLA) and the European
Handball Players Union (EHPU),
the National Board for the national teams
(NB) and Forum Club Handball (FCH) on
behalf of the clubs. The Nations Board (six
members) for men‘s handball continued
to exist.
The Women’s Professional Board (WHB)
was structured similarly, but comprised
only ten members. Since the 11th Ordinary
EHF Congress 2012 in Monaco, the
chair persons of PHB and WHB have also
been ex officio members of the Executive
Committee, which was hence expanded
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