CEO”Salavat Yulaev “Rinat Bashirov told that the majority of KHL clubs are in favor of returning the previous limit for foreign players.
On Friday, a meeting of KHL club leaders took place in St. Petersburg. From August 1, 2023, by decision of the Russian Ministry of Sports, the limit on foreign players in the league has been increased. Previously, Russian clubs could include up to five foreign players in their application for matches; now the limit is only three foreigners.
— At a meeting of KHL club leaders, the issue of extending the KHL season until May was discussed. What do you think about it?
— The question at the meeting was about the start of the KHL championship from September 5-6 and until May 12. In this case, we benefit from 7 to 10 additional days. The number of matches remains unchanged – 68 per club. Most likely, they will accept this.
– What can interfere?
— There is a question regarding Kazakhstan: they are organizing a preliminary tournament before the World Cup, on May 3-4. But this still needs to be discussed. But no one opposed it.
— What is Salavat Yulaev’s position on the question of legionnaires?
— I think the vast majority of KHL clubs are in favor of returning five foreign players. KHL President Alexei Morozov asked for support at the meeting…
— If the league applies to the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation in order to restore the limit of foreign players to its previous state.
– Yes. The KHL also received support from the clubs of Chelyabinsk, where the All-Star Game was held in 2022. There we also discussed this issue and took our word. And so, we were simply presented with the fact that a decision had been taken at the top to reduce foreign players from five to three per club. Therefore, if the decision of the Ministry of Sports is made by the same people as a year ago, even if we support it again, it will have little effect.
At the same time, the process of naturalization of foreigners began in the KHL. This is also such a time… Why then reduce the limit if citizenship is granted? – Bashirov told .
Salavat Yulaev is third in the Eastern Conference standings with 50 points.
Watch live broadcasts of the Fonbet KHL Championship matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
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.
