The Ukrainian handball champions FK Motor Zaporozhye will be taking part in the 2nd Bundesliga as a guest starter next season.
This was confirmed by the president of the league, Uwe Schwenker, from the handball/Bundesliga (HBL) on Wednesday (06/08/2022) to the sports information service. The “handball-world” portal had previously reported about it.
“It was clear to us that the clubs had to make a grassroots democratic decision on this question. Ultimately, a clear majority voted in favor of inclusion. The clubs said: Here we help, handball players help handball players‘ said Swimmer.
“We are helping to ensure the existence of the club because it is not possible to play games in Ukraine due to the war“said HBL Managing Director Frank Bohmann of the German Press Agency.
Home games in Dusseldorf
The Ukrainians play their home games at the Castello in Düsseldorf. The North Rhine-Westphalian state capital is also responsible for accommodating the team and, according to Schwenker, played a major role in the fact that the project could be implemented at short notice. The season in the German lower house begins at the beginning of September.
Match practice for the Champions League
Since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, gaming operations in Ukraine have been suspended. Zaporozhye, who have always won the national championship title since 2013, could gather the necessary game practice for the Champions League through the games in the 2nd HBL. However, the European Handball Federation (EHF) would have to issue a wildcard to Zaporozhye to participate in the premier class.
Now even number of teams
The idea of integrating the Ukrainian series champion into the German game operation developed a few weeks ago. According to Schwenker, the right to start in the Bundesliga was ruled out due to the already packed schedule. In the 2nd league, the guest starters even come in handy: Since the league was originally supposed to be played with 19 teams in the coming season, weekends without games are now avoided.