The 2019–20

SEHA League South East Handball Association League or simply SEHA League is a regional men's club handball league in Southeast and East Europe, divided in two zones. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is also known as the Gazprom League (or Gazprom South ...

season was the ninth season of the SEHA (South East Handball Association) League and sixth under the sponsorship of the Russian oil and gas company

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

. Twelve teams from nine countries (

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

were participating in this year's competition. On 13 August the Executive Committee of the SEHA – Gazprom League has made a decision that because of the crucial disagreements over conditions regarding the participation in the 2019/20 season,

Tatabánya Tatabánya (; german: Totiserkolonie; sk, Banská Stará) is a City with county rights, city with county rights of 64,305 inhabitants in northwestern Hungary, in the Central Transdanubian region. It is the capital of Komárom-Esztergom County. L ...

will not participate in the SEHA – Gazprom League this season. Vardar 1961 were defending champions. Final four tournament was held at

Krešimir Ćosić Hall The Krešimir Ćosić Hall ( hr, Dvorana Krešimir Ćosić) is a multi-purpose indoor sports arena located in Zadar, Croatia. The arena is home to the KK Zadar basketball club and also hosts concerts, conventions and other sporting, business and ...

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, on 4 and September 2020.

Telekom Veszprém Telekom may refer to: *A1 Telekom Austria Group, Austria **A1 Telekom Austria *Deutsche Telekom, Germany **Hrvatski Telekom, Croatia **Magyar Telekom, Hungary **Crnogorski Telekom, Montenegro **Makedonski Telekom, North Macedonia **Telekom Romania, ...

defeated Vardar 1961 30–29 in the final to win their third title.

Competition format

Twelve teams, divided into two groups participated in the competition. Groups A and B were played with six teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top two teams in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals, while the teams that finish the Group Phase in positions 3–6 played in the Play off phase. ;Play off Phase 8 teams played home and away in the Play off phase, with the teams that finish the Group Phase in positions 3–6. ;Quarter-finals The four winners of the matches in the Play off phase, joined by the top two of Groups A and B, played home and away for the right to contest the SEHA Final 4. ;SEHA Final 4 The culmination of the season, the SEHA Final 4, continues in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title over one weekend. The host and schedule for this year's Final Four tournament was announced on 25 February 2020.

Team information

The SEHA – Gazprom League Executive Committee made decision that 12 participants will play in two groups in the upcoming season. Telekom Veszprem, Motor Zaporizhzhia, Eurofarm Pelister, Metaloplastika Sabac, HC Spartak Moscow and Beijing Sport University are the new clubs that will join the 9th SEHA – Gazprom League season.

Venues and locations

;Notes:

¹ Beijing Sport University will play all of their home matches in Zagreb, Croatia.

Personnel and kits

Following is the list of clubs competing in ''2019–20 SEHA League'', with their manager, team captain, kit manufacturer and shirt sponsor.

Coaching changes

Group phase

In the Group Phase, each team played ten matches within their respective groups. Five matches were played at home, and five matches away. The final position after the ten rounds determined if a club will play in the Play off phase or if they will earn a direct placement to the quarterfinals phase.

Group A

Group B

Playoffs

The Play off phase was made up of two matches for each participating team, one match played at home and one match played away. The teams that finished the Group Phase in positions 3–6 played in the Play off phase.

Overview

;Notes:

¹ Both legs were hosted by Meshkov Brest.

Matches

''Tatran Prešov won 63–45 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Vojvodina won 51–48 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Nexe won 45–44 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Meshkov Brest won 87–49 on aggregate.'' won 45–44 on aggregate.''

Quarter-finals

There will be eight teams competing in the quarter-finals phase. Four teams will have earned a direct placement after the Group Phase, and four additional teams will have earned a quarter-finals spot through the playoff phase. The SEHA – Gazprom League’s commissioner on Friday 13 March 2020 has made a decision to postpone SEHA - Gazprom League Quarter final 2nd leg matches: Telekom Veszprem – Vojvodina (14 March 2020) and Vardar 1961 - Nexe (15 March 2020), due to the ongoing developments in the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

across Europe. All further updates will be published accordingly.

Overview

Matches

''Vardar 1961 won 56–56 on aggregate on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

.'' ---- * HC Vojvodina has informed the SEHA – Gazprom League Board that due to epidemiological and transport issues which occurred in Serbia caused by the pandemic situation, they were not able to travel to Hungary, for the 2nd leg of the SEHA Quarter finals against Telekom Veszprém. SEHA - Gazprom League’s Commissioner regarding mentioned match, decided the game to be awarded 10–0 in favor of Telekom Veszprém, according to the League’s regulations. ''Telekom Veszprém won 41–26 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Meshkov Brest won 63–56 on aggregate.'' ---- ''PPD Zagreb won 53–37 on aggregate.''

Final Four

The four winners of the quarter-final matches qualify for the right to contest the SEHA final four. The SEHA - Gazprom League Executive Committee had made the decision for the final four tournament to be held at the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, on 3 and 5 April 2020. Due to the current situation in the spread of

across Europe and further objective reasons, SEHA Executive Committee has made a decision to postpone the Final 4 indefinitely. All further updates will be published accordingly. On 11 August 2020 the SEHA - Gazprom League Executive Committee announced the decision for the final four tournament to be held at the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, on 4 and 6 September 2020.

Bracket

Semifinals

----

Match for third place

Final

Top goalscorers

Awards

The all-star team was announced on 6 September 2020. *Goalkeeper: *Right wing: *Right back: *Centre back: *Left back: *Left wing: *Pivot: *Best Defender: *

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the Final four:

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 SEHA League SEHA League 2019–20 domestic handball leagues