Gints Narogs, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
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The board of the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) has decided to ban Russian and Belarusian citizens from playing in the Latvian hockey league from March 8, which will cause headaches for several teams.
The decision was made in response to the call of the Ministry of Education and Science not to allow athletes from aggressive countries, Russia and Belarus, to participate in the competition in Latvia. Legionnaires from nearby countries play in five of the seven Super League teams.
The biggest gap in the team of HK “Liepāja”, which has five Russian and one Belarusian players this season, three of them (Selutin, Anosov and Jarovinsky) are among the five most successful hockey players of the club. “It simply came to our notice then. We did not expect the decision to be so harsh, because there is not much left until the end of the season.
What is happening in Ukraine is utter madness, our guys certainly do not support Russia’s actions. They say that they are afraid to go home, they are worried that they will not be sent to the front to fight, so at the moment we don’t really know what to do with them. I understand politics is politics, Russia needs sanctions, but what are these guys to blame for?
They just play the hockey and can’t influence anything much, ”says Normunds Sējējs, the head coach of the Liepāja unit, to Latvijas Avīze. Until March 8, Premier League clubs may register additional players, the number of which may not exceed the number withdrawn from the championship. The choice is not great.
“Let’s look and think, but if we don’t find anything, then, to be honest, I don’t see the point in continuing to play. We talked to some of HK “Rīga” who remained there. The situation is very difficult at the moment, because in addition to all this, six players have had a coward in the last two days, so now we can collect less than three shifts, ”adds Sējējs, whose team has five more games left in the main tournament.
The coach also added that it is very likely that Russian and Belarusian hockey players would have had to go home without the decision of the LHF board, because in the coming days the international transfers of hockey players from these countries will be judged by the International Hockey Federation.
Two Russian players are in the ranks of “Olimp / Venta 2002”, in addition to both goalkeepers. An unusual situation with 22-year-old Andrejs Bončs-Brujevičs. He was born in St. Petersburg and is a Russian citizen, although he has been playing in Latvia since 2011. He will not be able to play either, following a decision by the LHF board.
“Zemgale / LLU” team includes one Russian and one Belarusian player, four in Daugavpils “Dinaburg”, two in “Prism”. The leaders “Mogo / LSPA” and HS “Riga” live on their own. The main league main tournament will end on March 15, after which the playoffs will start, in which “Mogo / LSPA”, “Zemgale / LLU”, “Liepāja” and “Olimp / Venta 2002” will participate.
Russia has also received sanctions on the other side of the ocean, as the National Hockey League has suspended any cooperation with the aggressor country. Russian hockey players can still play in the best league in the world. It should be noted that the agents of some players have expressed concern that aggression could be directed against the Russians, demanding that the league guarantee additional security measures for hockey players.
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