A hockey player “Frets” Ostap Safin did not renounce Czech citizenship, he had a Russian passport for a long time, club general manager Alexander Chebotarev told .
Earlier, Lada sporting director Rafik Yakubov said Prague-born newcomer Lada Safin refused to play for the Czech national team in order to get a Russian passport. On August 14, Chebotarev told that Safin had received Russian citizenship and was no longer considered a legionnaire in the KHL. Safin later said in an interview with iDNES.cz that he had always had a Russian passport and had not renounced his Czech nationality.
– When negotiations were underway with him, information slipped that he had renounced Czech citizenship. As a result, it turned out that Safin had dual citizenship and could not play in the KHL as a foreigner.
The misunderstanding arose from the fact that Safin had a Russian passport, but a foreign passport. If a foreigner receives a Russian passport outside of Russia, he receives a foreign passport. That is, he did not have an internal Russian passport. When Safin came to us and they started registering him with the migration service, he was asked for an internal Russian passport. At that time, Ostap did not have it. They asked: “Are you a foreigner?” Answer: “Yes.” This is where the misunderstanding started. Then he began to issue a Russian passport.
So everything is in order, Safin has dual nationality: Czech and Russian, he has had it for a long time. So there is no problem, he will not be considered a legionnaire,” Chebotarev told .
In July, Lada signed a trial contract with Safin. In 2017, Edmonton selected him in the fourth round of the NHL Draft with the number 115. From 2017 to 2022, the forward played in North America. Last season, Safin played in the Czech Republic and played 43 games for Sparta Prague in the Extraliga, scoring 14 points (9+5) with +5 utility.
Source : MatchTV
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