2024-04-02 16:00:00
So far there are only two clubs on their side, and both are foreign.
The last days in our hockey are marked by an almost open war between SKA and the KHL. The top officials of the St. Petersburg club, one by one, and with increasing frenzy, speak out once morest refereeing in our league. They talk regarding bias, call for revolution, and they don’t hesitate to raise other topics. It is interesting that among these leaders is the first president of the KHL, Alexander Medvedev. Now he is on the other side of the barricades.
However, it is obvious that the army cannot win this hardware fight alone. While they are the only ones, this can be attributed to personal relationships with the KHL bosses or to banal excuses for failures. But the other day our colleagues from the “Championship” reported that the KHL received a letter from several clubs, including Dynamo Minsk, SKA and Barys, which spoke of the need for reforms.
Andrey Golovanov, photo.khl.ru
The listed clubs put forward a proposal to create a special independent committee under the KHL Board of Directors, which should be able to control the work of the chief referee. It is expected that the referee committee will evaluate the work of referees, especially controversial decisions, make recommendations for changes in the rules, and, together with the chief referee, coordinate the process of appointing referees for matches.
In order to promptly resolve controversial issues, it is recommended to invite the match inspector to press conferences following each game. The clubs have put forward the idea of making match inspection transparent for all championship participants. Evaluations of the performance of referees must be available to the KHL Board of Directors. These changes will contribute to more transparent and understandable refereeing of KHL matches for the general public.
All this sounds strange, considering that the KHL already has a sports and concert committee. It was created on the initiative of clubs, and quite recently. It was headed by Rene Fasel, and in addition to the Swiss, respected in Russia, it included Mikhail Karpushin, Konstantin Komissarov, Yakov Deev and Alexander Khavanov. What is the point of establishing another body? If you are not satisfied with the work of the SEC, raise this issue. If you consider its members incompetent, propose your candidates. Something tells us that they will be convenient for SKA, perhaps from among the FHR employees. However, the current SEC also has such a person – Mikhail Karpushin.
Alexander Mysyakin, Sport24
The second proposal is related to reforming anti-doping enforcement. According to the clubs, it is necessary to create an independent anti-doping service and enter into an agreement with RUSADA to conduct additional commercial testing of hockey players. At least four players per month from each team will be required to undergo testing, and two to three players in each round of the playoffs.
And then I remember how in anonymous telegram channels the question was constantly raised regarding whether CSKA, Torpedo, or someone else was using doping. As a rule, by coincidence, these were SKA’s playoff rivals, who, in the opinion of the St. Petersburg residents, “ran too fast.” The fact that Dynamo Minsk joined the “army team” in this initiative shows Roman Rotenberg’s close ties with the Belarusian side, which were strengthened during the May series. Barys has its own motives for being dissatisfied with the Kontinental Hockey League.
The club from Kazakhstan is, in fact, the only one that might suffer from the extension of the season until the end of May, which is planned for the next season. Russia and Belarus are in international isolation, and the vast majority of foreign players playing in the KHL are foreigners. And those Europeans who went to our league following February 2022, as a rule, are blacklisted at home and are not called up to the national teams. Barys and the Kazakhstan national team are a different story.
The KHL responded to Barys’ appeal. Earlier, the general director of the Astana club, Boris Ivanishchev, said that he would contact the league regarding maintaining the current terms of the KHL championship season, since the extension until May 31 entails risks for the club and all hockey in Kazakhstan.
— We will look for some kind of compromise. There will be no changes to the dates of the season; changes can only be made separately for Barys. We will gather, consult, discuss the situation,” said vice-president of the Kontinental Hockey League Valery Kamensky.
Maxim Shmakov, photo.khl.ru
What will they do at Barys? On the one hand, the Astana team has never made it past the second round, and recently it has not reached the playoffs at all. However, everything can change at any moment. And a number of Kazakh hockey players play for other KHL clubs. For example, the leader of the national team Nikita Mikhailis is right now preparing for the semi-finals of the playoffs as part of Magnitogorsk. Will they really become unavailable to the national team?
— For now, of course, we won’t leave the league. We have not yet contacted the government of the country; we have so far sent a letter to the league. Let’s wait and see. I think we’ll find a common language,” says Ivanishchev.
Barys may not be planning to leave the KHL, but the situation is not pleasant. And it may in the future lead to our league becoming a league exclusively for internal use. Without foreign players and foreign clubs. However, there is a small chance that the KHL will become such a strong and respected league that between the game for the Gagarin Cup and the World Championship, even foreigners will choose our main trophy. But a split among Russian clubs, which the leaders of the St. Petersburg club are probably counting on, is definitely not worth waiting for.
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