The reform of the Handball Champions League is imminent. The plans of the European Handball Federation EHF provide for a restructured European league in which the top teams will compete against each other from 2020.
This was announced by the EHF on Friday. The winner will then be determined in play-off matches after a regular round-robin season.
The new concept, which has yet to be ratified by the clubs and is probably only a matter of form, provides for a single-track relay with initially twelve teams, for which the champions of the international top leagues and four other teams will in principle qualify.
At the end of the regular season, the best eight teams in the knockout system will then play the title – the quarter-finals will be followed by the Final Four in Cologne, which remains untouched in its current form. Later the league could be expanded to 16 participants.
“We fundamentally agree with a competition reform, in which there should also be fixed match dates,”said Frank Bohmann, Managing Director of the Handball Bundesliga (HBL), to SID.
At the same time, however, he criticized the growing strain on the already highly stressed players who, according to current plans, would have to play six more games:”The number of games is currently difficult to reproduce. We have to go into the ring with the EHF and enter the discussion quickly,”said Bohmann.
In addition, the EHF Cup will also be restructured. Under the name “European Handball League”, the 24 participants will compete in four groups of six teams each, according to the plans published on Friday. Later, the game will continue with knockout games.
The cause of the far-reaching reforms are seven new rights packages of the EHF, which, in addition to audio-visual licenses and marketing rights for the European club competitions of the ten seasons between 2020 and 2030, also include the European Championships from 2022 to 2030. The invitation to tender is valid until 15. November.
“This is the first time that the EHF has bundled its rights and entered into a tendering process. The great interest of the market is a clear sign of how attractive the European handball product is,”said EHF President Michael Wiederer. According to EHF bids, 25 media groups and agencies are to consider the new rights packages.
The plans for the European League had already been leaked in September. But it was only after the conclusion of the new Memorandum of Understanding, the agreement between EHF and top clubs, that the plans became official.