The European Handball Federation (EHF) excludes teams from Russia and Belarus at club and national team level because of the war in Ukraine.
The association announced on Monday evening after a meeting of its executive committee that this measure applies “immediately” and “until further notice”.
For Andreas Michelmann, this is the “logical signal”. The President of the German Handball Federation (DHB) emphasized: “In view of the Russian attack on Ukraine, even from Belarusian soil, there is no basis for a sporting exchange. Our thoughts are with the people in Ukraine and all those who are fleeing from this senseless and criminal war.” It is “unthinkable that the players we saw at the European Championships in January are now facing off as soldiers.”
In its statement, the EHF emphasized “that there is neither acceptance nor understanding of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This also applies to all parties that are actively involved in such an act of violence or support it.” For the time being, the association will also refrain from using referees from Russia and Belarus.
The EHF had previously canceled games planned for this week involving Russian and Belarusian teams. Matches in the Champions League and the European League for men are affected, as well as the women’s European Championship qualifiers between Greece and Belarus. The games of the German qualifying group were scheduled for March 2nd in Chalkida, Greece and March 6th in Minsk.
The women’s qualifiers between the Czech Republic and Ukraine scheduled for March 4th and 5th will not take place as planned. In qualifying for the 2023 men’s World Cup, both play-off duels between Finland and Ukraine will be played as “double headers” with the northern Europeans (March 16 and 20).
