The current season of the Fonbet KHL Championship has already presented many surprises and exciting matches, although only the second round of the Gagarin Cup is underway.
President of the Russian Hockey Federation (RHF) Vladislav Tretyak in an interview with said that the KHL has become more unpredictable, so he can no longer predict the favorite, and also appreciated the contribution of the former head coach of Ak Bars Kazan Zinetula Bilyaletdinov in Russian hockey. Tretyak stressed that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is violating human rights by imposing admission requirements on Russian athletes and explained why the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) would be against potentially granting the KHL the independent league status.
— Vladislav Alexandrovich, yesterday everyone was shocked by the tragedy in the Moscow region…
— The whole country is in shock. What happened is simply beyond my comprehension. How to fight against peaceful people? What kind of people are these? They are non-humans. The whole world condemns them. I think the perpetrators will be punished and we will find out who ordered this. I express my sincere condolences to the victims and the victims’ loved ones. We all cry with them.
— Do you think it is normal that the game “Automobilist” – SKA took place with spectators the day after the tragedy?
– It’s the club’s decision, I have nothing to say.
— “Avtomobilist” leads the series with SKA, “Traktor” eliminated “Dynamo”, CSKA and “Ak Bars” were eliminated. Do the results of the current playoffs surprise you?
— In general, this KHL season is very interesting. Most teams played very unevenly. This was due to the fact that there were fewer foreigners in the teams, so they became equal. Interest in the games was very high, the attendance was simply out of this world. Before, in 80% of matches, I could predict who would win, but this season it’s completely unpredictable! Teams rose and fell – CSKA, Spartak, Ak Bars, SKA. Nobody managed to get through it, because the championship is difficult.
Not all players are used to a tournament as important as the NHL. At one point we had three breaks, we could lick our wounds and prepare the injured for the match. There is no rest now. The KHL championship is almost the same as the NHL.
If we talk about the results, we all expected the playoffs to be nice and interesting, but not to this extent. No one could have predicted that Dynamo would lose with a score of 0-4, CSKA and Ak Bars – 1-4. I understand if there had been a stubborn series, 3-4. But since they lost with such a score, teams must analyze their defeats in depth. “Dynamo” is practically the national champion of the regular season, but they have not won any matches out of four. This means that there are some problems, but the coaches and club management will resolve them.
The interesting thing about sport is that it is unpredictable. This KHL season will be remembered by everyone. If before there were favorites in the playoffs, today it is difficult for me to predict who will win the Gagarin Cup.
— After Ak Bars was eliminated from the playoffs, Zinetul Bilyaletdinov resigned as head coach.
— I have a lot of respect for Zinetula Bilyaletdinov. I believe he is one of the best coaches in our country. It was his decision, he did the job. In the previous season, Bilyaletdinov once again showed that he is a coach with a capital C. This season something didn’t work, but it happens, it’s sport. Bilyaletdinov still remains one of our main coaches.
— Is there a movement to give the KHL the status of an independent league?
— There have been some conversations, but I can’t say anything concrete on this issue. We have good relations with the KHL, we are members of the IIHF. But the IIHF is always adamant about such initiatives. They only recognize the NHL, and the NHL was born at the same time as the international federation. This is therefore a separate case.
At one point we tried to leave (under the auspices of the IIHF), but René Fasel stopped all that. Because Russia will come out today, Finland and Sweden tomorrow. What will the international federation be responsible for? This is membership in the federation which organizes the world championships. If the league withdraws, hockey players will not have the right to participate in the World Championships or the Olympics, because they are not under the auspices of the international federation. There are international rules that must be respected.
To this day, I can’t say anything. Yes, such thoughts and documents exist, but there is nothing concrete.
— If the KHL obtained such a status, what advantages could there be?
“If it happens, we’ll talk about it.”
— How do you assess the conditions imposed by the IOC for the admission of Russians to the Olympic Games?
– I think this is all false. The International Olympic Committee has always been outside of politics, but now it is completely involved in politics. Apply double standards. Our hockey players play in America, but here we are not allowed to participate in the World Championships or the Olympics. The IOC is violating human rights by imposing such conditions on athletes. And team sports are not allowed at all, even in neutral status. It does not make sense!
Of course, all athletes want to participate in the Olympic Games. It is a grandiose competition that attracts athletes from all over the world. I’ve participated in four Olympic Games, it’s a real vacation. Today, unfortunately, there is no such holiday. The Olympic Games without the best Russian athletes are incomplete.
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.
