Hamza telephoned the president of the Ukrainian Biathlon Union, Volodymyr Brynzak. “Now they are really dealing with completely different things than biathlon than sport. There is a real war. Ukrainian biathlon has a promise from us that the Czech Biathlon Association will provide them with free training facilities as soon as the situation allows,” he said.
Russia attacked Ukraine last week, where thousands of people are fleeing. Hamza therefore came up with a private initiative. “I agreed that the representatives of Ukrainian biathlon – officials, athletes, coaches – can send their children and other family members to us in Hnanice. We will take care of them,” he said.
He does not agree that Russian athletes will compete in a situation where many Ukrainian biathletes, including the 2019 world champion Dmytra Pidručný, enlisted in the war. “And now imagine that Rus Loginov wins the World Cup race at the same time. My personal opinion is that at the moment, Russia has no place on the sports map, across all sports. There is no room for compromise here,” Hamza said. who is also the vice president of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
He did not assert his position there, the IBU, in accordance with the opinion of the International Olympic Committee, allowed Russian and Belarusian biathletes to compete as neutral athletes. Russia and Belarus disagreed and withdrew their World Cup competitors for the rest of the season. According to Hamza, the sport should be on the sidelines at this time. “I think that in the light of all the human tragedies that are taking place in Ukraine, sports on the international scene are not appropriate now,” he said.
Czech biathletes also help Ukrainians financially. Mikuláš Karlík started auction its Olympic collection and signed start numbers from the recent Beijing Games. Markéta Davidová and Eva Puskarčíková also joined.
Rowers and table tennis are also added
The management of the Czech Rowing Association offered Ukrainian athletes, especially rowers and canoeists who left their country due to the war, part of the accommodation capacity in the area of the Elbe Arena in Račice.
At the same time, the union presidency condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine at an extraordinary meeting. “We support steps leading to the isolation of Russia and Belarus from a democratic society, including the prevention of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international events,” the union president Ondřej Šebek said in a press release.
Czech table tennis sent an official letter to the Ukrainian Federation offering help, especially for young players. “We are not indifferent to the fate of all the inhabitants of Ukraine. For many years, our two federations have united strong friendships and also a number of sporting successes,” said Zbyněk Špaček, chairman of the Czech Table Tennis Association.
Young Ukrainians will be able to use the facilities in Havířov. “Including accommodation and meals and the possibility of preparation within international training camps organized at the NTC,” added Špaček.
