The Head of the HFR Sergey Shishkarev spoke about the relationship with Michael Wiederer in his TG channel, having congratulated the President of the EHF with his 70th birthday.
— I sincerely and heartily congratulated Michael on his 70th birthday. I wished him health and success for the benefit of our favorite sport. Believe me, there is not a grain of politesse or falsehood in my words. I deeply respect Mr.Wiederer as a true professional, I appreciate his position.
Michael was behind the creation of the EHF, worked in the organization for many years, headed it in 2016 and was re-elected for the third term last September.
Wiederer is an example of a sports functionary for me, who looks realistically at what’s going on in the world, adequately treats Russian handball, understanding the situation we and Belarusians are in. I've known Michael for over a decade, since my election to the post of head of the HFR.
In due time the federations of CIS Countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia...) feasibly contributed to take the helm of the European Handball Federation and soon he proved in practice that we had made the right choice. It’s about an extremely acute situation with the doping scandal, when a provocation was set up against our women’s youth national team, which had won silver medals at the 2017 European Championship, girls were deprived of awards. The charge was that a banned substance meldonium was found in the samples of several athletes.
Antonina Skorobogatchenko, Maria Dudina and Maria Duvakina were disqualified for twenty months and the team of Russia was deprived the honestly deserved second place. It was a serious blow to our federation.
The work of the HFR and personal contribution, Michael Wiederer’s immersion in the issue led to the fact that we managed to prove that meldonium had been spiked, girls weren’t guilty of anything. The disqualification periond was eventually reduced to one year, and it didn’t prevent the athletes from developing further career. And more importantly, the national team of Russia hasn’t been excluded from participation in international competitions. It was a great legal victory.
Specialists remember that Russia received the right to hold the 2026 Women’s European Championship under the leadership of Wiederer. Later it was relocated from our country for reasons beyond the HFR control. And we are in constant dialogue with Michael now. He does a lot for the return of Russia and Belarus to the international arena. Objective, realistic, reserved, pragmatic in own way person. A true Austrian! He is exactly what the EHF needs in the current difficult time.
It turns out, Wiederer celebrates a double anniversary in 2026 — his personal seventy years and the first decade since the election of the President of the European Handball Federation. Applause from the entire Russian handball community, — Sergey Shishkarev said.
Photo: Rostov press service
