The European Handball Federation (EHF) has announced that the final weekend of the EHF Champions League Women season will continue to be played at Budapest’s MVM Dome arena until 2027.
The EHF Final4 Women will remain in the Hungarian capital after the EHF agreed a new three-year deal with the Hungarian Handball Federation (HHF) and the Hungarian National Event Management Agency (NEMA).
Budapest has hosted the event since 2014, initially at the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna before it moved to the new MVM Dome in 2022. The MVM Dome opened earlier in 2022 ahead of the Men’s EHF Euro national team tournament, which Hungary hosted alongside Slovakia.
Last year’s EHF Final4 Women set a world record attendance for women’s handball matches as 20,022 fans attended the semi-finals and final.
This year’s event took place at the weekend, with Hungarian side Györi ETO KC lifting the trophy after defeating Germany’s SG BBM Bietigheim in the final.
EHF president Michael Wiederer said: “The new joint agreement until 2027 is an important step for the further development of women’s handball. Since 2014 we have elevated the sport to new heights and have given it the platform and exposure it deserves.
“Staying in Budapest and at the MVM Dome for three more years now provides the opportunity for the EHF and EHF Marketing and its trusted partner at the HHF and NEMA to develop it further and cement the event’s status as the European ‘must-visit-event’ for women’s indoor sports.”
Ferenc Ilyés, HHF president, added: “We are very happy that the event will again take place in Hungary in the future. Right from the beginning, the HHF tried to redound to that just like for the men, the final games of the European women’s club handball’s premium competition should take place in an environment like this, and our federation was the first to apply for the organisation of the EHF Final4.
“Together with the European Handball Federation, EHF Marketing, the National Event Management Agency and with the support of the Hungarian state, we are able to organise this elite event at an elite level, and we work to be worthy of the trust that our partners and the European handball family provide.”
