The Malta Handball Association has announced that the closing weekend of the 2025/2026 season will be held on 25 and 26 April 2026, with EHF Level 2 Coaching sessions led by an EHF expert set to begin on Friday 24 April.
The weekend will bring together the climax of the local handball season, international refereeing expertise and elite coach education, with the University Sports Hall set to host the events.
The season finals will see the League Champions and Knock Out Cup winners from each age category face off in a championship final, with the last major trophy of the season at stake.
A total of six finals are scheduled across the weekend, spanning categories from Under 15 to Senior level, giving players across the board the opportunity to compete for honours on the biggest stage of the domestic season.
Four finals will be played on Saturday, 25 April, starting with the Under 15 Boys final at 12.30 pm, followed by the Under 15 Girls at 2 pm, the Senior Women at 3.30 pm and the Senior Men at 5.30 pm.
The programme continues on Sunday 26 April with the Under 17 Girls final at 9 am and the Under 19 Men final at 11 am. The final fixtures are expected to be confirmed closer to the date.
The Malta Handball Association will also welcome French international referees David Christmann and Thomas Iltis to officiate on the final day of competition.
The pair bring 15 years of elite refereeing experience and is classified in Elite Group 1 by the French National Refereeing Commission. They regularly officiate in the LNH, the men’s Proligue and the Women’s Butagaz Énergie League, and have handled major fixtures involving clubs such as Montpellier, Paris Saint-Germain, Nîmes, Nantes and Limoges.
Meanwhile, EHF expert Luís Santos will be in Malta from Friday, 24 April to Sunday, 26 April to deliver sessions as part of the Malta Handball Association’s Level 2 Coaching Course.
Santos brings more than two decades of experience in high-performance training and athlete development. He holds both a degree and a master’s in Sports Science, as well as the EHF Master Coach Pro Licence, and has worked as a physical education teacher, lecturer for the Portuguese Handball Federation and director of advanced coaching courses.
The Level 2 course forms part of the EHF Master Plan and is delivered by EHF experts, the Association’s Technical Director and experienced local coaches. It is designed to strengthen technical, tactical and managerial coaching competencies.
Coaches who are not enrolled in the Level 2 course are also being encouraged to attend the sessions as part of their Continuous Personal Development requirements for the 2026/2027 Coaching Licence.
These sessions will build on the work carried out by the Association’s Technical Director as well as coaches Allan Heine and Carlos Prieto, and will remain open to all coaches throughout the weekend.
Malta Handball Association president Daniel Tabone said the association was looking forward to closing the season with a weekend that reflects everything it stands for, namely competitive handball, high officiating standards and a strong commitment to coach development.
He described the event as another meaningful step in the implementation of the association’s masterplan in partnership with the European Handball Federation.
The Malta Handball Association also thanked the European Handball Federation, the French Handball Federation, the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta for their support.
