The Head of the HFR Sergey Shishkarev commented on the IHF decision to lift the ban on participation of Russian and Belarusian teams in the international competitions.
— Undoubtedly, it's a breakthrough solution we’ve long been waiting for and which will allow the national teams of Russia and Belarus, as well as professional clubs, to return to the international competitive process. We thank the IHF headed by Hassan Moustafa for a consistent and objective position. Now we need a confirmation from the European Handball Federation, since all the qualifying tournaments are held in a continental form. Anyway, we will closely contact the IHF and EHF and negotiate time frames of the resumption in tournaments for each national team.
The qualifying starts for participation in the women’s 2026 European Championship and the men’s 2027 World Championship are already completed. The women’s junior world championship among the teams, composed of players born in 2010 and later, is to be held in October in Morocco. We will explore the possibility of performance of our national team under the guidance of Irina Bliznova. Especially as the HFR has already received an information request regarding the formation of this team.
I congratulate all handball fans with the return to the international arena. At the same time we are conscious of the fact that serious efforts are to be made to achieve certain steps to implement the landmark decision, — the press service of the HFR quotes Sergey Shishkarev’s words.
Photo: the HFR press
