The head coach S.K.A. Romain Rotenberg said in an interview with that he saw nothing wrong with the fact that a number of foreign hockey players playing for KHL clubs would like to obtain a Russian passport, and later they might be able change sporting citizenship.
Previously, a number of foreign players from KHL clubs received or expressed a wish to obtain a Russian passport in order to lose their legionnaire status in the league. In particular, the American striker Dynamo has already received the document. Brennan Menell Canadian Amur advocate also applies for citizenship Cameron Lee and Canadian striker SKA Brendan Leipsik .
– Dynamo Moscow defender Brennan Menell has already received a Russian passport and has not played for the US national team. Can he appear in the Russian national team? Or will it become a challenge for our society?
– It is necessary to specifically consider the situation, what decision the head coach of the Russian national team will make, if he sees Menell in the team, instead of whom to take him. That’s the next question, and I don’t want to dwell on it now. No need to run in front of the locomotive, in front of the events.
Also, I didn’t immerse myself in Menell’s game, although I’ve known him for a long time, even when he was playing for Dynamo Minsk. At one time, SKA even had the rights to this hockey player. But it’s too early to say if he can play for the Russian national team. It doesn’t even make sense to discuss it now.
– Now more and more foreigners in the KHL announce their desire to obtain Russian citizenship …
– What’s wrong with that? The more foreigners want to become Russian citizens, the better for us! And I don’t understand why they talk about bypassing the foreign player limit in the KHL. Everything is invented by journalists! They didn’t quite catch the details. After all, this story has nothing to do with the limit!
Someone wants to artificially create a conflict situation, catch a hype. But obtaining Russian citizenship has nothing to do with circumventing the limit. Because for that you need to get sports citizenship. But if a foreigner played for the Canadian team at the same Olympics in Beijing, he must wait five years to escape Legionnaire status. And it doesn’t matter if he has a Russian passport.
– Slovenian agent Alyosha Pilko said that five more of his clients want to obtain Russian citizenship.
He’s just an agent! And he can say whatever he wants. Perhaps Pilko himself wants to obtain Russian citizenship. It is his personal desire. But that doesn’t mean he can play for the Russian national team or be considered a non-KHL legionnaire. You separate these two things – a Russian passport and a limit in our league, because legally they are not connected in any way.
– But it is obvious that the next step, the same Menell can change sports citizenship.
– You see how many young Russians are now outperforming many older players, including foreigners, in fair competition. Why do we need second-rate aliens? They are not needed, we have our guys. You saw for yourself how many new names sounded at the Sochi tournament. Our players, ours!
This situation needs to be looked at honestly. Ivan Demidov plays better than any foreigner – Demidov should play, not a foreigner. But agency business is often involved here, when he has agreed with the club manager or coach on some preferences for his client, and the stranger is drawn to the ears in the ‘team.
And then this legionnaire stops playing at some point – just during the game. There have already been such cases at SKA! Here the foreigners prevailed in the playoffs and stopped playing. And what do you do when the goaltender comes on the ice and sets a trap under the fly puck? Or the defender did not lie under the puck, not finishing the moment to the end. He seemed to be playing according to protocol, but they scored a goal against us and we flew to the conference final.
Unmotivated strangers are a huge risk. And you can’t blame them for the failure. And we need those legionnaires who want to live in Russia, and they are with us in spirit. Right now we have guys like that. They are eager to play with us no matter what.
“Patriots of Russia?”
– This is their position in life. They respect our country and our culture. In the case of SKA, they respect St. Petersburg. Respect Russia. We need these guys.
And those legionnaires who just come to us to earn money – they are not needed.
By the way, now we are standing next to the Olympic tribune, and under the glass is the helmet of the famous Viktor An, – shows Rotenberg. — He is Korean, but took Russian citizenship, played for our country and won three gold medals in short track, thanks to which we took first place in the overall medal standings at the 2014 Olympics. And he did a lot for the development of speed skating in Russia. An is a real stranger. And we need it! Rotenberg said in an interview with .
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
