KHL club CSKA Moscow has opted to start Philadelphia Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov in their KHL regular-season opener today against Ak Bars Kazan, thereby violating the IIHF sanctions laid out against the club last month, as Szymon Szemberg of the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs reports.
The international governing body had ruled Fedotov’s tolled entry-level contract with the Flyers was valid for the 2023-24 season after CSKA Moscow attempted to sign Fedotov to a two-year deal earlier this summer. Fedotov had originally signed with the Flyers in the summer of 2022 but was barred from leaving Russia to complete required military service.
Shortly after the IIHF ruled, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation announced they’d submitted an appeal. That process has not been completed yet, however, and no follow-up ruling has been adjudicated. The KHL released a statement before today’s game, citing their legal grounds for CSKA to play Fedotov based on the Russian constitution’s grant of a citizen’s right to work. KHL president Aleksey Morozov also claimed the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian government warned the KHL and CSKA “about the inadmissibility of violating the right to work.”
As Szemberg notes, this decision will likely continue to further isolate Russian hockey on the international landscape and could further delay their return to international play, even if the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine ends. With Russian players and teams already barred from participating in international events, Szemberg believes the KHL has nothing to lose by violating IIHF sanctions, as there’s not much more that could be levied against them.
I don’t CSKA Moscow, the IIHF can not make a fair ruling with their anti-Russian bias.
Good. Fedotov gets screwed over more by this ruling then the team. Glad he gets to play.
Good, let him play, and let the players plays wherever they wants if they dont have a good spot in the NHL, and let the prospects come to north america if they wants.
Its like if the NHL miss some work for their lawyers, like if they wants a fight.
Josh, you need to Google: Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley
Since when does Russia follow the rules, I’m sure they learn from there murdering dictator.
Or, alternatively, it’s a stupid and uncool decision for adults to put someone who’s basically an innocent kid trying to get a career started into a position of having to defy an international authoritative body because they don’t like its ruling. Obviously I wanna see athletes get time to play and develop but what a crappy way to start a season and get your career rolling. The game is more fun when we agree on the rules.