After a long break due to the European Championship disputed in Hungary, the PSG handball players are back on the path to the Champions League. They are still in the very long group stage with the objective of qualifying directly for the quarter-finals. After a late Starligue match on Monday February 14 in Saran (Loiret) won 34-27, the French champions were to return to the European scene late Thursday afternoon in Zaporozhye (pronounced Zaporozhye). Yes, in Ukraine! Zaporozhye is located on the Dnieper, the country’s great river in the south-east of the country and about 450 km south of Kiev, the capital. The EHF, the European handball federation, decided this Monday evening before 10 p.m. to postpone this match to an undetermined date: “due to the situation in Ukraine and after a careful study of it, the EHF decided to postpone the meeting until later, hoping to be able to play it in Zaporozhye once the situation in Ukraine is less uncertain,” the institution said on Monday.
Considering a trip to Ukraine at this time did not seem appropriate. The situation can degenerate at any moment. Even if Moscow sees a “chance” of compromise with the West through diplomatic channels, the “precipice” feared by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still very real. Washington says a Russian invasion could come “at any time”. 100,000 Russian army soldiers are still massed at the border, awaiting only an order from Vladimir Putin to cross the Rubicon and invade the former granary of the former USSR, which the master of the Kremlin. In any case, this is what the Ukrainian people are considering, who are preparing for the worst.
A tense context
Was it necessary, under these conditions, to go and play a European Cup handball match in a country which could become a war zone at any moment? Since February 12 and 13, the Quai d’Orsay has strongly recommended not to go to Ukraine until further notice: “In the context of the tensions created by the concentration of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine, it is formally not recommended to travel to the border areas in the north and east of the country and it is advisable to postpone all trips to Ukraine”, recommends the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which, however, does not yet ask its nationals to leave the country. country. Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands have taken this step. Several airlines, such as KLM, have suspended their flights. Air France maintains them.
How in these conditions to play the Champions League match between Zaporozhye and PSG? 400 km from the border with Russia, it seemed inconceivable that it would be played, but it was kept for a long time in the sports hall of a city of 700,000 inhabitants. Until late in the evening, the EHF had not yet moved it, nor shifted it: “We are in close contact with PSG to find out how to manage the organization of this match, confides to us the European body. Internal meetings are taking place this Monday (February 14th) about the general situation in Ukraine, a situation that we are monitoring, of course”, indicated the federation.
Because in Ukraine, despite the threat, life goes on, sport too. On February 13, Zaporozhye played and won (40-22) in the league but behind closed doors due to the Covid, not the crisis. This Monday, the club extended the contract of one of its Spanish players with the smiles of the occasion. Nothing indicated any concern and the game against Paris is not in conversation. The club clarified that it did not request its postponement for security reasons. PSG had nevertheless requested that this meeting, if not postponed when the situation will be safer, be played at least on neutral ground, far from Ukrainian territory. The request ended up being successful: PSG will not go to Ukraine on Thursday.