Court of Handball fines Vardar

The Court of Handball has released a decision following proceedings opened against HC Vardar following their home match played against PGE Vive Kielce on 1 December 2018 during which an offensive banner was affixed by spectators to insult Talant Dujshebaev.

The banner remained visible the entire match in the TV picture, as HC Vardar failed to udenrtake appropriate measures to remove it.

The court found in substance that the statement used in "this context as an insult towards Talant Dujshebaev constitutes, on the one hand, a direct offense to his dignity and right to privacy, regardless his sexual orientation and, on the other hand, a clear act of homophobia.

The panel hereby wishes to strongly draw the attention of the club to the fact that there is no room for such disrespectful and despicable attitude in our sport of handball which shall not be used as an instrument to promote any sort of discrimination or hatred towards any human being."

In addition, the court underlined that "the content of the banner is in violation of all principles that constitute the core values of our sport."

Finally, the Court of Hanbdall stressed that by failing to ensure the removal of the banner, HC Vardar "did not only fail its obligation to ensure fair and respectful conditions for all participants; they willingly tolerated an offensive and homophobic behaviour throughout the match."

Hence, according to several articles of the EHF Legal Regulations, as well as the EHF List of Penalties, the EHF Court of Handball decides to impose on the club a fine of €15,000 (fifteen thousand Euro), a third of which is imposed on a suspended basis with a probation period of two years starting from the date of the present decision.

An appeal may be filed within 7 days with the Court of Appeal.