Everyone connected with British Handball has been shocked by the ongoing and developing crisis in Ukraine.
We condemn in the strongest possible way the invasion of Ukraine as we do any war or violence in the world and urge all parties responsible to come to a peaceful conclusion as early as possible.
Our thoughts are with all the innocent victims of this invasion and those affected by the developing humanitarian disaster.
From the start of the crisis, British Handball has been in contact – and had meetings – with the UK Government (Nadine Dorries - Secretary of State, Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Nigel Huddleston - Under Secretary of State, DCMS), UK Sport, the British Olympic Association (BOA), the European Handball Federation (EHF), fellow European handball NGBs and our two members, the England Handball Association and Scottish Handball Association .
We welcome and support the various statements and sanctions announced by the IOC, UK Sport, BOA, BOA AC and EHF over the past week and stand together in our support for the steps being taken.
In light of the events in Ukraine, British Handball urges people to visit ‘WithUkraine’ (https://www.withukraine.org/en) a platform set up by the Embassy of Ukraine to the UK to consolidate international efforts in raising funds to support Ukraine and its people. Links to various humanitarian and aid agencies can also be found there.
All six GB representative teams, coaching staff, officials and volunteers as well as our official representatives wish for a swift, peaceful resolution and our thoughts are with all of those affected by the crisis.
BOA AC Statement: https://www.teamgb.com/article/statement-from-the-british-olympic-associations-athletes-commission/2SDQqS729BtoZR0wgxklaL
BOA Statement: https://www.teamgb.com/article/boa-statement-on-russia-and-belarus/2KmmZCp2ERwAfwU26UtDl0
IOC Statement: https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-strongly-condemns-the-breach-of-the-olympic-truce
EHF Statement: https://www.eurohandball.com/en/news/en/decisions-of-the-ehf-executive-committee/
