Ahead of EHF Congress, high interest for European handball top positions

21 candidates have been nominated for nine positions at stake when a new Executive Committee will be elected at the EHF Congress in April

Three months out of its election congress on 23 and 24 April 2021 in Luxembourg, the European Handball Federation has released the list of candidates nominated for positions within the EHF Executive Committee, the body which oversees the activities of the EHF.

The announcement follows the end of the nomination period on 23 January and a subsequent check of all candidates nominated.

Nine positions are open within the Executive Committee and for those 21 candidates have been nominated by their respective federations for the new electoral period which runs from 2021 to 2025.

Overall, 53 positions will be filled at the EHF Congress and with 135 candidates – 36 of them being female – from 38 National Federations in total, the interest for the top positions in European handball is high.

For the EHF Executive Committee, President Michael Wiederer (AUT) runs for four more years in office, and no second candidate has been nominated.

For the position of the 1st Vice President, the current office-holder Predrag Boskovic (MNE) is challenged by Tjark de Lange (NED). For the position of the Vice President Finances only Henrik La Cour (DEN), who has been in this position since 2016, has been nominated.

The chairpersons of the EHF’s three main commissions form also part of the EHF EXEC, and Bozidar Djurkovic (SRB) runs for a second term as chair of the Competitions Commission. For this position, also Thierry Wagner (LUX) has been nominated. Jerzy Eliasz’s (POL) time at the helm of the Methods Commission will come to an end; the only candidate for the chairperson position is current MC member Pedro Sequeira (POR). The Beach Handball Commission will also see a change of leadership. Current EXEC and former BH commission member Gabriella Horvath (HUN) and Marek Goralczyk (POL), who currently sits on the Nations Board, have been nominated to follow Ole R. Jorstad (NOR), who has been the commission’s chair since 2012.

For the three Executive Committee Member positions, 12 candidates have been nominated. In alphabetical order based on the nominating federation, these 12 candidates are: Francisco V. Blazquez Garcia (ESP), Jerome Fernandez (FRA), Bob Hanning (GER), Gabriella Horvath (current EXEC member; HUN), Eugen Saracini (KOS), Anrijs Brencans (current EXEC member; LAT), Tjark de Lange (NED), Bente Aksnes (NOR), Alexandru Mihai Dedu (ROU), Sergey Shishkarev (RUS), Franjo Bobinac (SLO) and Stefan Lövgren (current EXEC member; SWE).

The Executive Committee is completed by the representatives of the Professional Handball Board, the Women’s Handball Board and the Nations Board. All three will be nominated once these three boards have constituted themselves following the congress.

The full list of nominations for all positions will be released on 23 February together with the additional congress documentation including the motions submitted.

The EHF Congress 2021 takes place in Luxembourg on 23 and 24 April. The previous election congress was held in St. Wolfgang, Austria, in 2016.

In 2018, the EHF Congress in Glasgow decided that the upcoming edition would be moved from its original date in late autumn 2020, shortly before the Women’s EHF EURO 2020, to April 2021.

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