Six years ago, she was celebrated by Vladimir Putin, and Anna Vyakhireva (27) is still a player for the Russian national handball team. Now he is ready for the Norwegian Viper.

Vipers announced on Thursday that Rostov’s Don will play at Kristiansand next season. According to coach Ole Gustav Gjekstad, it came after a “difficult process” in which the Norwegian Handball Association, its biggest sponsor, politicians and several others consulted.

– There may be many views, but we feel that we have confirmed that we are inside. We don’t believe in our own views yet, said Gjekstad to VG.

– Viper has made the correct judgment. He was just a player in the Norwegian club team, said Berit Lindeman, Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. He was clear that a distinction had to be made between ordinary Russia and the Putin regime.

– Very dangerous

– The pattern of reaction of the Norwegian authorities, sports and handball against the Russian regime and organizations. Not against individuals, says handball president Kåre Geir Lio. He supported the signing of Vyakhireva.

– It is very dangerous to mistreat individuals for what the regime is responsible for, Lio believes.

However, the situation could change if Vyakhireva plays an international match for Russia. He was named the most valuable player at the Olympics in 2016 and 2021.

The Russian women’s national team was sentenced to defeat in the final qualifying match for the European Championship this spring. Russia will not play the playoffs in November. Anna Vyakhireva played for the national team in a tournament in Moscow at the end of April, and the Viper transfer was backed by handball president Sergei Shishkarov.

– Do not forget that Vyakhireva remains the leader of the Russian national team. So we’ll see at training camps and tournaments, Shishkarov promises according to the website Russian Handball Federation.

However, Ole Gustav Gjekstad is unsure whether there will be a combination between playing for the Viper and the Russian national team.

– No activity there now. The initial dialogue is about him now a Viper player. Then we will see what happens around the Russian national team. We don’t know, he said.

– Can be abused quickly

– If this player plays in a national team that can actually play internationally, then we will have a more difficult situation, said Berit Lindeman at the Helsinki Committee.

– In the national team, an athlete can quickly be abused for purely propaganda purposes for the Putin regime, says communications manager of the Norwegian Sports Confederation, Finn Aagaard.

– In international sports, there is now an agreement that the Russian team and the national team will not participate in international competitions. This is in line with the decision of the sports council, he added.

The Norwegian Sports Confederation Board has yet to discuss Vjakhireva’s transfer. Immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, NIF was asked if Russia’s Nikita Haikin could continue to keep the Bodø/Glimt goal.

– Our answer is that as long as there is a Russian athlete representing a Norwegian club, this is not covered by the decision of the sports board, said communications manager Finn Aagaard.

The NIF believes there is a clear distinction between whether Alexandr Bolshunov represents the Russian national team in cross-country skiing and Anna Vyakhireva plays handball in the Vipers pink jersey.

– The decision relates to the importance of the position and achievements of practitioners who are not used for various propaganda purposes by the Russian authorities. It’s different when you’re part of a Norwegian team in Norway, says Finn Aagaard at NIF.

From within Russia, the transfer came under heavy criticism from longtime national team coach Yevgeny Trefilov (resigned in 2019). Russian news agency bag wrote that Trefilov believes that Vyakhireva’s transition in the current situation “looks ugly”.

– I have a negative attitude towards this, says Trefilov and compares with the most famous Viper players.

Welcome to the Kremlin

– If a Norwegian club asks a player of Katrine Lunde’s level to stay, she will not go to Russia or Romania, but stay at home, says the man who led Russia to Rio 2016 gold. Vjakhireva was named the best player at the Olympics.

After that, he and the team were greeted by President Putin at the Kremlin.

Trefilov also talked about Russian ice hockey heroes Aleksandr Ovechkin and Vyacheslav Fetisov going to NHL matches.

– All the apples eaten in the fields have fallen from their trees and gone to other countries. God will be their judge, said Trefilov, who has previously expressed support for Putin.