To mark the 30th season of its club competitions, the EHF has announced a new project which puts the players’ performances throughout the season in the spotlight and sees the European handball family select their best performers.
The 'Player of the Year' award will honour the best goalkeeper, left wing, left back, centre back, right back, right wing, line player, best defender and rookie of the season.
Out of the players named in the standard playing positions, plus the best defender, the season’s MVP will be chosen. The EHF will also mark the occasion by introducing a ‘Hall of Fame’ of European handball to which the first legendary players will be inducted at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Both male and female players will be recognised, and there will be a separate award for beach handball.
The awards will culminate in a gala event with the first edition held in Vienna town hall on 26 June 2023.
Selection
One key element of the new awards is that a player’s performance across the entire season has a decisive impact on the nomination.
In the EHF Champions League Women and Machineseeker EHF Champions League, a 'Team of the Round' is named at the end of every week in which matches are played. The top three players in each position, who by the end of the quarter-finals have received the most nominations, will make the candidate list for the Player of the Year.
The same procedure applies for the EHF EUROs. Every member of the championship’s All-star Team is a Player of the Year candidate. To cover both genders every season, this also holds true for the European players nominated to the All-star Teams of IHF World Championships.
One player per position will be nominated from the EHF European League, with a maximum of three players per position nominated from EHF EURO qualifiers and other national team matches played throughout the season.
There is also the possibility of one wildcard entry in each position, but the maximum number of candidates per position is nine.
How the vote works
Once the list of candidates has been finalised, four stakeholder groups will be able to vote: players and coaches registered in the EHF’s club competitions; selected journalists representing the current media landscape in European handball; and for sure, fans..
Each group’s votes count for 25 per cent of the overall vote. Fan vote will be public via the EHF’s Home of Handball app.
An expert group nominated by the EHF Executive Committee will select the season’s MVP and best rookie as well as the legends of European handball who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Beach handball
The best male and female beach handball players will also be recognised at the gala event on 26 June 2023 in Vienna. The players eventually nominated for the season’s beach handball MVP award will be selected based on the All-star Teams at the EHF Champions Cup 2022, the ebt Finals 2023 and the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2023.
Player, coaches, media and fans can participate in the vote which will start once the EHF Beach Handball EURO (24 to 28 May 2023) has been played.
Selection criteria
- Nominations will take into account performances across the season
- Performances in the EHF Champions League, EHF European League, EHF EUROs, and other national team competitions will be taken into account
- Maximum nine shortlisted players per position
Voting
- Players, coaches, selected journalists and fans will all have a vote
- Each stakeholder group’s votes count for 25 per cent of the vote
- The MVP, best rookie and Hall of Fame legends will be selected by an expert group
Timeline
- Shortlists will be finalised after the EHF Champions League quarter-finals
- Voting runs for two weeks after the quarter-finals are played.
- Europe’s first “Players of the Year” will be presented at the gala in June
