Basketball coach Andris Steļmahs calls the published information about his possible violations as slander and rumours, it follows from the letter sent to the media, the authenticity of which Steļmahs confirmed to the LETA agency.
Portal “Delfi” reported last week that several violations were recorded in the work of coach Stelmach – emotional violence against female students, seduction and alcohol consumption during the work process.
Stelmakhs emphasizes in the letter that he only started an “official relationship” with the coach’s student mentioned in the article when she came of age. Also, Stelmach notes that he has never come to a game or training under the influence of alcohol, but the cases mentioned in the article are related to insomnia or the effects of medications prescribed to him.
On the other hand, regarding accusations of aggression, Steļmahs admits that he is not the calmest coach by nature and that he may have accidentally and emotionally driven a word to one of his students during his career. Also, he does not deny that he hugged his female students after one of the games – this allegedly happened after a heavy loss to France, and not only the players, but also five members of the team staff hugged.
This week, the program “Spried with Delfi” also revealed the information that Steļmahs gave lipstick and sports bras to his students. Steļmahs admits that he ordered the same lip balms for all his students from the online store as gifts for Christmas, while his mother sewed the same sports bras for the entire team at her own expense, so that the parents would not have to spend money on buying expensive sports equipment and a student would not feel left out. Socks, towels, backpacks and game uniforms were also donated.
I have not committed criminal or fraudulent activities. Have all my decisions been ethically correct and my actions always righteous? Definitely no! I have never denied my mistakes. i’m not perfect
Stelmakh writes in the letter.
Stelmakhs also promises to take action, writing that the media that publish, in his opinion, one-sided, distorted information, as well as editors who delete supportive comments on media social network accounts, as well as those editors who illegally and unlawfully use pictures, will also have to answer for the situation. which show the faces of his students, underage girls.
The Council of Latvian Sports Federations (LSFP), in order to decide on Steļmah’s category B certificate, will ask the coach’s workplace – Jūrmala Sports School, as well as the federation of the sport represented by the coach – the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) – to provide information on the facts at their disposal related to the information about the coach’s actions published in the mass media.
LBS, on the other hand, suspended Steļmah from the competitions it organized and applied to the State Police with a complaint about Steļmah’s possible commission of the criminal offense defined in the first part of Article 161 and Article 162.1 of the Criminal Law. For the duration of the investigation, Steļmahs has also been suspended from work at the Jūrmala Sports School.
According to the information published on the LSFP website, Steļmah has a B category basketball coach’s certificate valid until April 23, 2025.
Steļmahs resigned from the position of head coach of the Latvian U-18 women’s basketball team at the end of March after his dishonest actions in the Latvian Women’s Basketball League (LSBL) game for bronze medals, in which “Jūrmala” won by him, caused a wide resonance. After this incident, Steļmahs also suspended his participation in the LBS Coaches Commission.
Steļmahs is also an assistant coach in the “TTT Rīga” unit, but cannot be with the team in the final series of the Latvian championship.