Treaty of friendship between handball players and rugby players

At a time when everyone quarrels and separates from each other, two federations of such different sports decided to be friends. On Friday, the parties signed a cooperation agreement at the office of the Moscow Rugby Federation. The President of the Russian Rugby Federation Igor Artemyev and the President of the Russian Handball Federation Sergey Shishkarev put their signatures under the document.

“In the world of sports, speaking in official language, the Russian Handball Federation is our closest partner. We still have a lot of work to do to achieve the same success as the Handball Federation. The popularity of football and hockey is understandable; these two sports have always been supported by the state. We are happy for them, this is the mass character that had absolutely fantastic results. But the big money that is in these sports has turned its back. Together with handball, we will strive for the third place among team sports,” President of the Russian Rugby Federation Igor Artemyev “started” at a press conference.

“It seems to me that the rugby and handball federations are not the second league. These are the sports that broke into the Russian sports reality. We already have unique achievements. I have been heading the federation for 7.5 years, we have made a serious leap forward. We are proud of the victories of our girls in Rio De Janeiro. This is only the third victory in playing sports at the Olympics among the Russian teams. Igor Yuryevich and I went in for sports for many years and went through more than one international match together. Our entire team supports rugby. As for our interaction, in addition to sharing the methodology, training programs for coaches and referees, we are making an infrastructure solution in the Fili complex. This whole sports project will get a new breath, and it will start with a new rugby one. A new handball arena with 5,000 seats will appear in the sports cluster of the Fili district, where you can play various sports, including tag rugby,” Sergey Shishkarev, president of the Russian Handball Federation, told reporters.

After the actual signing of all the papers and the exchange of handshakes, the turn of gifts, now friendly, came. One leader received a handball shirt, a ball autographed by Tokyo silver medalists, and a statue of a 19th-century rugby player (real, with a certificate). The second in return gave a rugby ball, a rugby shirt, a tie and even a calendar with rugby players in dresses of the 19th century.

And then there was a surprise – Sergey Shishkarev was awarded a badge for achievements in rugby. “I serve the rugby of Russia!” the sports official joked.

At the end of the meeting, a plan for the construction of a new sports cluster on the territory of the Constructor multifunctional complex was presented. At the presentation, everything looked beautiful, let’s believe that I will actually turn out no worse.

But, and the main stars of the meeting were veterans of the Fili rugby club, five-time champions of the USSR in the early 1970s. And although more than half a century has passed, the former athletes looked great. They asked specific questions: why are there two dressing rooms, and not four – Shishkarev succinctly answered: “We will make four” when they make a film about rugby, following the example of hockey, football and basketball? There is also information about the film – a film about the victory of the girls in Rio is planned.

It’s over, like it happens in rugby, with a battle cry: “Ululu, hey!”, with which the gathered Filyov veterans drew a line under the event of signing the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between handball players and rugby players.

Vladimir Sabadash.

Photo – Sergey Vinogradov.