Club and National Federation representatives gathered once again during the Champions League Final Four tournaments in Malta for a special meeting on Friday morning, where European Aquatics leaders and staff members offered in-depth overviews of ongoing activities, recent milestones and ambitious plans for the future.

At the start of the meeting, European Aquatics President Antonio Silva provided an overview of European Aquatics’ key activities, including an update on the Action Plan, which focuses on promoting all aquatic disciplines, improving accessibility, ensuring the organisation is fit for the future, and strengthening transparency and good governance.

According to the report, water polo has benefitted significantly from these initiatives. Every match across all European Aquatics competitions is now live-streamed, while a new scheduling approach has helped create a much stronger television product. The figures reflect this progress, with viewership increasing dramatically not only across Europe but also in North America and Australia.

The continental governing body has also placed special emphasis on increasing the number of officials on pool decks. The EA Academy, which educates referees, delegates and jury table officials, will offer additional intermediate certification clinics this year.

Another major milestone is the introduction of coaches’ licensing. Only coaches holding an EA-certified licence can receive team accreditation for European Aquatics events.

President Silva also reminded club and federation representatives that EA is a signatory to several initiatives promoting sustainability and athlete safety. In 2025, water polo played a leading role in implementing the Sustainability Charter, with five major events, including the Champions League Final Four in Malta, receiving Gold Level certification.

EA Sports Director Apostolos Tsagkarakis presented a series of impressive figures, including a total of 558 matches played across all European club competitions. He noted that every competition delivered an outstanding season and exceeded expectations, adding that “the development of the Champions League clubs has really reached new heights.”

At the same time, he stressed that there was still room for improvement and encouraged clubs to focus on even small enhancements that could make a significant difference.

TWPC Secretary Matjaz Rakovec unveiled the calendar for next season, which will once again be packed with action as all four competitions in both genders return.

Cup winners will continue to be offered the opportunity to compete at the next level – Euro Cup winners in the Champions League, Conference Cup winners in the Euro Cup, and Challenger Cup winners in the Conference Cup – although it remains up to each club to decide whether to accept that opportunity.

The Conference Cup will also feature a change to its concluding stage, with a Final Eight replacing the current Final Four format.

Regarding the calendar, the early start of the 2027 World Championships on 28 June has pushed the season-ending Champions League Final Four tournaments forward to mid-May. The men’s and women’s events will once again be staged jointly, with the grand finale set to take place from 12-15 May.

As tradition dictates, the Super Cup finals will open the new season, with the men’s final scheduled for 30 September and the women’s final following on 3 October.

European Aquatics Water Polo Manager Renato Zivkovic delivered a presentation on clubs’ financial obligations and highlighted that EA had reduced fees in order to ease the burden on clubs.

“As we understood the financial hardships and wanted to help the clubs,” he said, while also noting that these fees are used to cover the travel expenses of referees and delegates appointed to matches.

Mr Zivkovic also highlighted the importance of involving specialist experts in areas such as media, television and marketing, particularly for organising clubs bidding to host European Aquatics events. He also praised the high-quality organisation of the 2026 European Championships in Belgrade and Funchal.

Furthermore, the Water Polo Manager outlined the qualification pathway for the 2028 European Championships.

Depending on the number of entries, qualification tournaments are scheduled for February 2027, while Division One tournaments will be staged in June 2027.

The top eight-ranked teams will join the nations that secured qualification through top-eight finishes at the 2026 European Championships.

To conclude the meeting, EA TV Manager Toni Zivkovic and EA Marketing Director Kirill Haller-Goncharov presented the encouraging audience figures generated by the Champions League and the recent European Championships.

Live broadcasts were available in 19 European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

The men’s European Championships attracted an average live audience of two million viewers, up from 850,000 in 2024, while the women’s event also recorded significant growth, increasing from 200,000 to 450,000 viewers.

The winter European Championships were also a major success across social media platforms. A presentation by EA Communications Director Nick Davies revealed how the two championships generated more than 170 million engagements.

Davies also highlighted the impact of the EA Ambassador programme at major events and noted that, in addition to covering all 558 club competition matches with support from the host clubs, the EA Media Team also provides on-site coverage at every final across all competitions.

This extensive coverage generated the largest growth ever recorded across EA’s Meta platforms, with an additional 13,700 followers gained during the current season.

Reach and mentions also reached record levels during the European Championships, while the Champions League generated 40.6 million views from the qualification rounds through to the Final Four tournaments.

To further strengthen water polo’s promotion, clubs have been invited to use EA’s new digital media hub, designed to improve digital cooperation, streamline asset workflows and increase media visibility.

EA partner EPAM has also launched a pilot project aimed at digitalising the game itself through the use of high-tech sensors in balls and caps.

The technology will generate real-time data, enhancing both broadcast quality and future promotional activities.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics