Dear colleagues,
With this address, I reach to the entire large Russian handball family.
The leadership and the Executive Committee of the Russian Handball Federation are aware of the complex situation around Ukraine but believe that the principle of “keeping politics out of sports” is the unshakable foundation and cornerstone of fair sport.
The Russian Handball Federation will continue its planned activities as scheduled. Please note that some matches of the Russian Handball Championship may be postponed due to the restrictions on air travel that prevent some teams from arriving to the venues in time. Nevertheless, we are confident that the domestic competitions in Russia will be duly held and completed on time.
The Russian Handball Federation maintains close contact with the European Handball Federation and the International Handball Federation, who do not yet understand how the current situation will affect our activities and interaction with other federations. It is already known that the Polish Handball Federation has appealed to the European Handball Federation to postpone both qualifying matches against the Russian team (scheduled to take place on March 3rd in Koszalin and on March 6th in Astrakhan) indefinitely due to the exceptional situation in Russia and Ukraine. Today, on February 25th, the appeal will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of the EHF Executive Committee. There are several possible solutions: the transfer of the Russia – Poland match from Astrakhan to Moscow; the holding of both qualifying matches between Russia and Poland on neutral territory in Serbia or Slovakia; the postponement of matches for an indefinite period. We will inform you promptly about the decision made by the EHF Executive Committee.
Such changes caused by the situation around Ukraine may occur more than once in the future. However, the Russia national handball teams must continue to prepare for the upcoming international games as scheduled.
The Federation recommends that all representatives of the Russian handball community exercise restraint in public comments about the current situation and carefully weigh their personal assessments. Athletes and club employees should remain civil and polite on social media. Any rash statement can aggravate an already difficult situation and damage the reputation of Russian sports in the eyes of the international handball community.
The Russian Handball Federation is ready to support clubs, officials and players (including foreign ones) in case of any emergency situations. Any questions can be addressed to the Russian Handball Federation hotline by e-mail hotline@rushandball.ru. Keeping you and your families safe is an absolute priority for the Russian Handball Federation.
I am sure that by keeping an equal mind, level head and professional attitude, by supporting each other in our handball family, we will be able come out of any crisis with honor, even more united and enriched with new experience. Sport comes first!
President of the Russian Handball Federation
Sergey Shishkarev
Source: Russian Handball Federation