Fair choice

The European Handball Federation opened the Hall of Fame: Siarhei Rutenka is among the legends

To be honest, we were surprised! The Vienna office of the European Handball Federation recently summed up the results of the past season, celebrated and awarded the best, and did not forget about the anniversary date — their own 30th anniversary. That’s it, the EHF was founded relatively recently, and the first European Championship took place in 1994. Let us remember that among the 12 participants of the final stage there was the men’s team of Belarus. On the occasion of the festive celebration, the EHF decided to create a Hall of Fame, where 60 of the most stellar European representatives of the handball of both sexes over the past three decades have been solemnly enrolled. It is pleasant to note that the choice was not politicised and among the members of the pantheon is now our Siarhei Rutenka, as well as Russians and trainees of the Soviet handball school.

Siarhei Rutenka — second from right in the honorary row    eurohandball.com

During this time, an unprecedented number of stars have lit up in the handball sky, and, frankly speaking, it is not an easy task to choose the brightest among them. Specific criteria were used is not disclosed, however, the choice of EHF, although it turned out to be quite controversial in several points, in general can be considered quite objective and fair. Among the three best goalkeepers, the candidacy of the French maestro Thierry Omeyer looks absolutely indisputable, but Arpad Sterbik and Tomas Svensson are, of course, good, but hardly better than, say, Russian ace Andrey Lavrov — a three-time Olympic champion, by the way. Although we understand: the Hall of Fame is not endless, and you can’t cram everyone into it.    
All the more honourable choice, which was awarded to Siarhei Rutenka in the position of the left back. His partners in this nomination are Frenchman Daniel Narcisse, Serb Momir Ilic (today he is the coach of the Hungarian Veszprem KC, for which our Mikita Vailupau plays) and Czech Filip Jicha. There are best of the best, but Rutenka stands out in this series as well. Generously endowed by nature, he also possessed another, the most important talent — determination and the ability to sweat blood. Siarhei, one might say, made himself: he decided to leave for Slovenia, managed to loudly make a name for himself there, became the leader of the legendary RK Celje, with whom he won the first Champions League title (he has six in total), became the most expensive handball player in the world, excelled in BM Ciudad Real and was the main star of Barcelona. At the same time, at a certain stage of his career, having the citizenship of Slovenia and Spain, as well as tempting promises from representatives of the Pyrenees to join their national team, he returned to Belarus, where he became the foundation of the national team and the main figure in the revival of our handball. However, the EHF certainly did not take this fact into account when choosing Siarhei Rutenka. As well as the fact that after the end of his career, the handball player did not stay in Europe, but settled in his homeland, organised a business here and does not hide his political position — he supports the authorities in the country, stands for stability, development and peace. The given point of view is not at all popular in Europe, but to miss the elephant like Rutenka and not include him in the Hall of Fame would be too blatant injustice. So congratulations from the bottom of our hearts: this is a great honour for both the athlete and the country. 

Siarhei Rutenka

In men, only two more players from the post-Soviet space made it to the Hall of Fame — defender Andrei Xepkin and centre back Talant Dujshebaev (now the coach of the Polish Vive Kielce, for which Belarusian Artsem Karalek plays). The first was born in Nova Kakhovka, the second — in Bishkek. Both played for the USSR national team, and after taking the citizenship of Spain, they were the best in its composition. The girls’ pantheon includes the star of the USSR national team, who then took Austrian citizenship, Ausra Fridrikas, as well as two Russians — Ludmilla Bodnieva and Irina Poltoratskaya. Irina, by the way, is married to Timur Dibirov, and only the status of the acting star of the latter apparently prevented both of them from becoming the only married couple in the list of the main stars of European handball over the past 30 years.
Now the EHF officials have only to stop fooling around and finally allow the national team of Belarus to participate in international competitions. Everyone will benefit from this decision.

By Sergei Kanashits